Lesson Plan #4

 The Great Mail Race 

Duration:       5 days

Objectives:    Students will:

• select a town in a designated state.
• locate the state postal code and town zip code on the Internet.
• create and refine a survey with the whole class.
• word process the survey.
• create an introductory letter for The Great Mail Race to send the survey created.
• use a word processor to create a letter in the correct form.

Materials: 

Name of each state on separate slips of paper

Class set of atlases

Microsoft Works, Word, or other word processing program.

Sample Survey

Friendly letter

Format of friendly letter.

Characteristics

Key Vocabulary:

greetings

closing

signature

body

indentation

salutation

heading

postal code

Procedures:  

 Survey:

1.  Put the names of the states in a hat or container.

2.  Introduce The Great Mail Race by explaining its purpose and how it is carried out.  This is a nationwide activity in which students send letters of request to each of the fifty states seeking some sort of reply.  The desired outcome is to get a response from all of the states.

3.  Each student picks the name of a state.

4.  Using an atlas, the students selects a town in his/her designated state.

5.  Explain postal codes and zip codes.  Using the Internet and with assistance from the teacher, the student finds his/her postal cod and town zip code at: 

http://usps.com/zip4/citytown_zip.htm

6.  A short lesson is given discussing the survey (its purpose and size).  This survey will be sent to each state. Sample Survey

7.  The class creates a survey by brainstorming possible questions and refining them. The points to be considered are:  what we already know about individual states, what we want to know, who will be filling out the survey, and how many questions should be on it.  Keep notes from the brainstorming session on the board or display a chart so students can refer to them during the lesson.

8.  Student word processes the final draft of the survey on a computer using a word processing program.

Letter for Mail Race:

1.  Go over the purpose and procedures of The Great Mail Race and the survey they created.

2.  Review the format of a friendly letter. Format of friendly letter.

3.  Brainstorm what characteristics make a letter interesting and informative to the recipient.  List these ideas on the board.

4.  Direct students to create a letter to a participant in the Great Mail Race.

5.  Edit the rough drafts.

6.  Students will word process the letter using a word processor.

7. Students will get a brief review on addressing envelopes.  They will address their envelopes.

8.  The letters and surveys will be mailed out.

Assessment:

The letter will be assessed for completeness in format, content, complete sentences and conventions. Students will receive a rubric score between 1-4.

Score 4: all five parts of the letter included correctly; ideas expressed with detail; compete varied sentences; correct use of conventions.

Score 3: (at standard) all five parts of the letter included; appropriate content; complete varied sentences; correct use of conventions.

Score 2: part of the letter may be incorrect or missing; some sentence fragments, still comprehensible.

Score 1: incomplete; does not address the topic, unreadable.

Home Learning: 

Students will create a well written friendly letter about the class Student of the Week. The letter will contain the date, salutation, body, closing and signature and will show use of correct spelling, descriptive words and punctuation.
The subject of the letter will be the Student of the Week and their sharing. The students may write anything, but it must be about the Student of the Week. All of the letters will be put in one book to give to the Star of the Week.

Extension Activity:

Students can get involved in Military Mail Friends of Our Troops.