Ashley Leitschuh

PDS1 Language Arts Tk20 Assignment

Language Arts Teach-A-Lesson Assignment

Pre Assessment Criteria:

1. Heading: (Always includes date, written on the top right side
of the page)
2. Greeting: (Dear____, correct capitalization, spacing and
comma)
3. Body: (Indent paragraph, skipped line after date, writing goes
all the way over to the red line)
4. Closing: (Written on the right side of the page in line with the
heading/date, closing is appropriate for who the letter is
written to; love, yours truly, sincerely, your friend, etc.)
5. Signature: (Name is signed below the closing)

PRE ASSESMENT
Strengths Needs

Gage H, G, B, C, S

Greyson H, S G, B, C

Loammi H, B, C, S G
Post Assessment Criteria:
1. Heading: (Always includes date, written on the top right side
of the page)
2. Greeting: (Dear____, correct capitalization, spacing and
comma)
3. Body: (Indent paragraph, skipped line after date, writing goes
all the way over to the red line)
4. Closing: (Written on the right side of the page in line with the
heading/date, closing is appropriate for who the letter is
written to; love, yours truly, sincerely, your friend, etc.)
5. Signature: (Name is signed below the closing)

POST ASSESSMENT
Strengths Needs

Gage H, G, B, C, S

Greyson H, G, B, C, S

Loammi H, G, C, S B (she did not indent

her body paragraph)
 UNT Lesson Plan Template
Pre-service Teacher: Grade(s): 3rd School/Mentor Teacher (if
Ashley Leitschuh applicable): Mrs. Waterman/
Haslet Elementary

Subject area(s): ELA Unit Topic/Theme: Lesson Title: Letter to a Veteran!

Relevant TEKS:
(b) 1:
(20) Writing/Expository and
Procedural Texts. Students
write expository and
procedural or work-related
texts to communicate ideas
and information to specific
audiences for specific
purposes. Students are
expected to:
Letter Writing
Relevant ELPS: Relevant TX CCRS:
74.4.c.5 Writing I.A.4. Recognize the
importance of revision as the key to
(G) narrate, effective writing. Each draft should refine
describe, and key ideas and organize them more logically
explain with and fluidly, use language more precisely an
increasing specificity effectively, and draw the reader to the
and detail to fulfill authors purpose.
content area writing
needs as more
English is acquired.

(B) write letters whose

language is tailored to the
audience and purpose (e.g.,
a thank you note to a friend)
and that use appropriate
conventions (e.g., date,
salutation, closing)

Lesson Objective(s)/Performance Outcomes

The student will be able to:
- Compose a letter with a purpose that includes all parts of a letter and is written to
specific audience (a Veteran).

Essential Questions
- Why is it important to change the content of letters based on who they are written
to? Would you say the same things in a letter to your best friend that you would sa
in a letter to a Veteran?
- How can you tell that a piece of writing is a letter? What can you look for?
- Where are letters used in the real world? Have you ever written a letter? If yes, who
was it written to?
 - How would you feel if you were a Veteran and you received a nicely written letter
from a 3rd grader?

Assessment (Description/Criteria)
The student will be assessed on:
- Final draft of letter: Does the letter contain all correct parts of a letter? Is it written
well and tailored to the specific audience (a Veteran)?

Materials and Resources

- Writing notebooks
- Pencils
- Highlighted first draft of letter for reference

Management of the Instructional Environment

- Students will be in desk groups of 4 while watching me teach this lesson on the
ELMO and on the board. They are seated at certain tables to separate the difficult
students from each other.
Technology Integration
- ELMO
- Projector

Diversity and Equity (Accommodations, Modifications, Adaptations)

Accommodations:
- Sentence stems are provided when necessary
- Modeling expectation
- Modeled example
Modifications
- Acceptance of conclusion that includes most criteria
- Chart progress to monitor letter writing steps

Activities/Procedures
ANTICIPATORY SET
- Students began this letter writing lesson the day before this specific section of the
lesson was taught. TLW work to improve on their letter written Wednesday and
write a new letter to a Veteran.
- Start by asking students Is there a holiday tomorrow? What is that holiday? Get
answers from the class and then ask students What is Veterans Day? and Who
are we honoring on this day? Discuss the purpose of Veterans Day and why it is
important to honor those who have served our country.
- Show the student-friendly YouTube video Veterans Day
https://youtu.be/7GvEK83TLjM and have the students listen for new and interesting
information that they may want to include in their letter to the veteran.
INPUT
 -
After the video is finished, ask the students if there was anything new they learned
from it that they did not know before. Create a brainstorming area on the white
board titled, IDEAS FOR MY LETTER TO A VETERAN. Ask students for ideas of things
that would be good to include in their letter. Write them on the board. Examples
include:
Questions about their time in the military/sacrifices
Facts you have learned about Veterans Day
Things you want them to know about you
Thanking them for serving
MODELING

-Tell students to take out their writing journals and turn to the next free page. Tell
them to look up at the board while I make a poster reviewing the parts of a letter.
Go over each step with the class as I model a letter to a veteran. Remind them that
they need to look back at this example if they get stuck writing. They may also use
the parts of a letter handout that is glued in their journals for help as they write
their rough draft.
CHECK FOR UNDERSTADING
- Give students 15 minutes to write their rough draft. Walk around and help students
as needed, giving productive feedback and critiques as they write.
- Once the 15 minutes is finished, have them trade papers to their left shoulder
partner and look at it as I got through all the parts that they should have included
in their letter. Friends may mark on the papers to let them know what they are
missing.
GUIDED PRACTICE
- Trade back papers and hand out the final draft paper.
INDEPENDENT PRACTICE
- Tell students they have 15 minutes to begin writing their final draft. They must
remember all the critiques and make their final draft as flawless as possible. Tell
them to check for spelling, capitalization and punctuation as well.
CLOSURE
- Collect the final drafts once the entire class has finished.

Reflections and Documentation/Evidence of Lesson Effectiveness

Overall, this lesson was extremely successful. This was my first full lesson to teach
in Mrs. Watermans 3rd grade class, so I was slightly nervous because I didnt want
to mess up and teach something that was incorrect. However, I did a great job of
teaching the lesson and keeping the students highly engaged throughout.

Most everything went well during this letter writing lesson. I saw improvement in
myself on my pacing compared to the last smaller lesson I taught to this class. I
consistently have a difficult time keeping track of my pacing and I either go too
slowly through things and the students become bored, or I progress too quickly and
some students get left behind. This time a made a conscious effort to set timers on
my watch and check the clock often so that I would stay on track. It went so much
 smoother when I simply set timers, so that is something I plan to use for the rest of
the year. Another thing that went well was the students engagement. Mrs.
Waterman had to tell the class to sit down in their chair when they raise their hand
because they were so excited to answer my questions. I loved seeing how
interested the students were in this letter to the Veterans. I also thought I did a
good job of using higher Blooms questioning when talking to the class, and this
prompted them to think more critically about what they could be using in their
letters. I saw a difference in the quality of their work when I asked them more deep
questions. This showed me that the questions I am asking really are so important t
student learning.

Something I could have improved during this lesson would have been my
preparation. Mrs. Waterman gave me a brief overview of what needed to be
included in the lesson, but it would have been helpful to have written my plan for
the entire lesson down. It is easy for me to forget all the smaller parts of the lesson
that I want to include, so next time when teaching it, I would make sure to keep a
small sticky note or piece of paper with all the parts of the lesson written on it.
Another thing I could have improved on was just the way I accepted answers to
questions during brainstorming. I turned around each time and called on specific
students, but I think the brainstorming session would have been more productive if
I had just listened for all of the great answers to be called out. There is a time and a
place for organized chaos, I this would have been fine for this part of the lesson.
Next time, I will not make the brainstorming so structured so that all great answers
have a chance to be included.

I plan to use this lesson in my classroom because it is so important for students to

learn how to properly write a letter. In this age of technology, I fear that the next
generation will not know something as basic as how to write a letter to someone.
This lesson is simple enough to be included in a tight week of lessons, and very
important for when they grow up. It is also important for students to understand
that the audience reading their writing will help determine what is said in it. You do
not write the same way to a veteran you respect as you do to your best friend. This
lesson has multiple real world applications that make it important to include in my
future classroom.

Rubric for Pretest and Posttest:

Strength (mastered) Need (needs more
instruction)
Heading (Always includes date,
written on the top right
Date not written or in the
wrong place
side of the page)
Greeting (Dear____, correct No greeting, incorrect
capitalization, spacing capitalization/spacing/com
and comma) mas
Body (Indent paragraph, No intention, line not
skipped line after date, skipped, writing doesnt
writing goes all the way reach red line
over to the red line)
Closing (Written on the right
side of the page in line
Written in wrong place, not
appropriate closing word
with the heading/date, choice
closing is appropriate
for who the letter is
written to; love, yours
truly, sincerely, your
friend, etc.)
Signature (Name is signed below No name signed
the closing)
Greyson Pre Work
Greyson Post Work
Gage Pre Work
Gage Pre Work
Loammi Pre Work