Students Write to U.S. President
A Primary Language Arts Lesson Plan to Teach Letter Writing Skills
Oct 6, 2008 Margaret M. Williams
Primary students need a purpose and a context for improving writing skills. Writing to the President of the United States to express their views sets the purpose and provides a context within which to focus on planning, writing, and rewriting. And the best part of the lesson: if the letters are mailed to the White House, the class will get a response!
Objective of Presidential Letter Writing Exercise
Students will learn a strategy for planning a letter, proper letter format, and revision and editing skills.
Materials Needed to Write a Successful Letter
- a graphic organizer (either teacher made or student made)
- draft writing paper
- stationary or final writing paper
- pencils
Lesson Steps for Writing to the President
Start by setting stage during Social Studies: establish who the president is and what he does. Discuss the concept of freedom of speech and why Americans value this freedom. Brainstorm what the students would say if they could talk to or write to the president.
During Writing Workshop, provide students with – or show them how to make – a simple four-square graphic organizer. Section headings on the graphic organizer can be flexible, but might include:
What I want the president to know about me – encourage students to list three or four things about themselves. Examples include gender, age, their school, their city, if they speak more than one language, or where they were born.
What I want to ask the president – ask students to choose one or two questions they would like to ask the president, perhaps about his job, our country, or a current event.
What I want to tell the president – children have very strong opinions about what is going on in the world. Encourage students to express those opinions. Topics might include pollution or global warming; safety in their school, city, or country; and even war. Sometimes the topics will be more personal, such as when a child has a parent who is out of work or in prison.
Something I can say to conclude the letter – encourage students to think of appropriate ending statements for their letters. If the students like the current president, they should say so and say why. Rather than end on a negative comment, encourage those who don’t like the president to end with a wish or a hope either for him or for our country. Something as simple as “I hope you have a good day,” can be a perfect ending.
The next step is to take the information from the graphic organizer and to write it into a coherent letter. Not everything on the organizer needs to be used. Children should be guided to pick the most meaningful and salient items. Depending on their ability levels, some students will write long letters, others might be quite short. The key is to stay on topic and avoid rambling.
Revising and Editing Student Letters
Children can share their letters with a peer or with the class to receive peer-to-peer suggestions for revising and editing. Students should also conference with the teacher for more revision and editing support.
Students should then write a final draft, possibly including illustrations. While there are many situations when students’ original drafts are appropriate to send out (for example, when writing to a grandparent who will appreciate the child’s unedited work), students can learn that there are times when the editing should be very precise. Writing to an authority figure such as the president is one of those times.
Sending the Letters to the President
Student letters should be sent in one class envelope to the White House. Students can take part in a shared mini-lesson on how to properly address the envelope.
White House address: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500
Evaluation, Enrichment, and Follow-up
Photocopy the final draft and staple it to the graphic organizer and first draft, both for evaluation purposes and to send home. Students can be evaluated on the coherency of their ideas, their ability to write using proper letter format, and their level of independence in revising and editing.
Expect a response from the White House in about 4 to 8 weeks. Even though the response will likely be a single generic letter to the class, it is exciting to receive a reply. And there may be a photo included. The reply can be photocopied for each child to take home.
Make a book with copies of the students’ final drafts for inclusion in the classroom library. When the reply arrives, include it in the book as well, as evidence of the result of their hard work.
Resource for students: White House Kids
For another writing opportunity rich in context, check out this ESL Friendship Journal Lesson Plan designed for early primary grades.
President's Address
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Letter Writing Lesson
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