Rebekah Witt

Comprehension Mini Lesson

Dear Mrs. LaRue Letters from Obedience School by Mark Teague (provided by the Reading Center)
Handout: https://www.teachervision.com/tv/printables/TCR/1576903443_37.pdf
Letter Writing
Pre-Reading (Think-Pair-Share with Brainstorming)
1. Brainstorm! Think individually about parts of a letter
2. Share with a partner and come up with a list
3. Call on students to verbally give parts of the letter
4. Put ideas on the board for everyone to see
5. Ask if theyve ever written a letter and what theyve included in it
During Reading (Identify/Add to the list)
1. Ask students to pay attention to the format and parts of the letter
2. Read Dear Mrs. LaRue Letters from Obedience School by Mark Teague
3. Raise their hands if they see another part of a letter to add to the list
4. Identify parts of a letter throughout the story
After Reading (Write a letter)
1. Pass out the handout on parts of a letter and review it
2. Look at the letter they received and write a class letter in response
3. What parts do we need to have in our letter?
4. What information should we include in the letter?
*When you write a letter you need to remember to restate the question the person asked so
that they know what youre talking about. That person doesnt have a copy of the letter they
sent you. Its just like with your written responses, you have to restate the question.

The week before, I had shown my teacher the lesson as well to make sure it would be
appropriate at this time. For my pre-reading activity, I had the students do a think-pair-share with
brainstorming to activate prior knowledge about letters. I knew the students would be able to talk
about letters because my first day at this placement they had each written me a letter describing
themselves. Some of the students in my class are quiet or they dont get a chance to answer because of
those in the class that are very vocal. There are students who will raise their hand for every question
asked. I thought it would be helpful to have students think individually before sharing with a partner
about their ideas. Then, I would call on a few pairs to share their thoughts with the class. This would
help mix it up since the regular hands wouldnt be called on. We created a list on the board of parts of a
letter. I also asked what might be included in a letter. Students did well talking with their partners and
having information to share when I called on specific pairs. The list we created had most of the parts of
a letter, but not all. That worked because then students were able to add to the list during the reading
portion of the lesson.
Next, I moved into the second portion of the lesson. This included a read aloud of the book,
Dear, Mrs. LaRue Letters from Obedience School by Mark Teague. I used the document camera to
make sure students were able to see the pictures and text for each page. This was a good book for this

Rebekah Witt
lesson because on every page there was a letter shown. I had asked the students to pay special
attention to the format of the letters. While reading, students were able to raise their hand if they had
ideas to add to the list already on the board. I made sure to ask questions throughout the story that
would help point out specific parts of the letters. Students participated, had their eyes on the book, and
asked questions about the letters.
After reading, I passed out a handout that talked about parts of a letter in terms of a human
body. The students added this to their writing notebooks as I went through the sheet. This paper could
help students when formatting a letter. I then explained to the students that they had received a letter
from a fifth grade student in Florida. We looked at the letter on the document camera and pointed out
the parts. Next, I asked the students to respond to the letter individually. As a class, we talked about
different things to include such as where they go to school, how big their class is, and descriptions of
themselves. I also had students think back to the read aloud in order to make sure they were formatting
their letters correctly. The students struggled with this portion of the lesson. They complained about
writing, said they had nothing to put in the letter, and did not follow directions about formatting. I
walked around the room helping students when they asked questions.
As I strolled around the room, I was a little disappointed to see that some students had nothing
on their pieces of paper. I had informed all of them that they should start with Dear Aaron, and put
the date in the upper right hand corner. Next time, I might make a list of ideas on the board to include
in the letter instead of simply discussing them out loud. Another idea would be to write a class letter in
response instead of asking the students to respond individually. That would help show formatting, how
to reply by answering questions asked in the letter, and would move along the activity. The letters
written by the students were given to my cooperating teacher so that she could send them back to the
student/teacher who had corresponded with my practicum class.
In my own classroom I would definitely use read alouds because I think they are beneficial at
any age. Students enjoy being read to along with seeing pictures. Many of the strategies we talked
about in class would be great to use for comprehension. I really like the Somebody Wanted But So
activity and I think that KWL charts can be very effective. Giving students journals at the beginning of
the year is a great idea. I would love to have students reflect on what they have read or learned
throughout the day. Assessment data needed to plan lessons would most likely be the reading levels of
my students. One read aloud might not work for the entire class so I could do comprehension through
small groups. If students were put into reading level groups, then I would have them rotate through
activities during literacy time. Some could work on word study, others could read silently, and then one
group would work with me on comprehension. I would need various level books and journals. To really
get going with reading groups, I would try a few things out. Each day, I might incorporate a new activity
so we werent always journaling or always creating a chart. The journals would be a place for recording
information and it would be up to the students how they would like to format them.