Post+card+to+Alexander

MD.ELA.2.4.A.2: Use the writing process to plan/pre-write, draft, revise, edit, and publish MD.ELA.2.4.A.2.2: Plan and organize ideas for writing. MD.ELA.2.4.A.2.5: Edit and proofread writing for complete sentences, capitalization at the beginning of sentences, capitalization of proper nouns, punctuation at the end of sentences, commas with dates, salutation and closings, and items in a series, apostrophes in contractions, and quotation marks in simple dialogue.
 * Standards:**


 * Activities:**
 * 1) Have students move to the reading carpet. Remind students that it is a privilege to read on the reading carpet and that if we are not respectful then we will go back to our seats to read.
 * 2) Show students the cover of the book that we are going to read today.
 * 3) Ask students to predict what may happen in the story by looking at the cover.
 * 4) Read “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” by Judith Viorst.
 * 5) Tell students that they are going to write a postcard to Alexander, and they are going to tell him about a bad day that they had and what they did to make it better.
 * 6) Have students brainstorm ideas and put them on the white board part of the easel.
 * 7) Pass out the 12 laminated postcards. Let students explore them for a few minutes.
 * 8) Discuss parts of a postcard. Heading, Body, Closing, Address, and Stamp.
 * 9) Send students back to their seats with the rough draft worksheet.
 * 10) Remind students to include the parts of a postcard and that they are writing to Alexander about a bad day that they had. Students can choose one of the ideas shared or may write about a time that was not shared during the class brainstorming.
 * 11) After students create their rough draft have students revise and edit their work by themselves and by a peer.
 * 12) After peer editing and revising the work needs to be shown to the teacher for any other corrections. This also gives the teacher time to check the work of the peer editing.
 * 13) Students will then complete their final draft on a 4”x6” note card.
 * 14) When students have completed their note card they can use the extra time to draw a picture on the front.
 * 15) At the end of the lesson students can present what they wrote to Alexander. Students who would like to share can earn a bonus point on this activity

I believe that my lesson went very well. The students enjoyed the whole lesson. Their favorite part was when I used the jumbo post cards to talk about the parts of a post card. I would definitely use them again to enhance a lesson. This was the last lesson that I taught so I had more authority in the classroom and the teacher did not have to step in for any behavioral problems. I did have to take away half of recess for a few students that were not showing good behavior. First I had given the two students verbal warnings and the second time I had moved their star on the board to the -15 column. This is the way my teacher used to easily keep track of who needs to stay in for recess. My weakness in this lesson was trying to get students to write more than one sentence to Alexander. Most students would write; I had a bad day when I fell on the ground. They did not want to write anymore. I think that part of the reason is that the students are used to just writing down their answer and moving on. They never really have a chance to extend their thoughts and write them down. For most of the students I really had to push them to write more but even then I still got very little from them. The students also had a hard time editing and revising. This is because they never did it before. The last time there was a writing assignment the teacher did all of the editing and revising. Since the students had never revised or edited they did not really understand what they were supposed to do. Next time I do this lesson it would be helpful to give the students a checklist of things that they should look for when revising and editing their work and their peers work.
 * Comments:**

I have attached three student samples. Sample number one show that the students only wanted to write one sentence in their letters. This letter also has some problems with the parts of a post card. This activity could use a second lesson following it where the students create another post card. Example number two was a good letter the student had written two sentences in her letter but she had all of the parts of a post card. Example number three was absolutely amazing. This student has cerebral palsy and therefore has an assistant write his work. However all of the words written are what he said. The assistant only writes what he says and does not add anything. His ideas were wonderful but there is no way to tell if he understood the parts of the postcard because his assistant asked him what she should write for each part. I enjoyed doing this lesson, I wish that next time I do an activity that I can get the students to write more and be more creative like in example number three.