English Language Arts and Reading.4.12.D

The student is expected to

compose correspondence that requests information.

composition strand teks talk image

Knowledge and Skills Statement

Composition: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts--genres. The student uses genre characteristics and craft to compose multiple texts that are meaningful.

A teacher may wish to pair SE 4.12.D and SE 4.11.A and teach them together. With SE 4.11.A, students plan a first draft by selecting a genre for a particular topic, purpose, and audience using a range of strategies such as brainstorming, freewriting, and mapping. Task students with writing a letter to an inventor about an invention they are interested in learning about. As students begin the writing activity, instruct them to select a topic and purpose for their inquiry. They should use brainstorming, freewriting, or mapping to organize their work.

Student correspondence should include the following:

  • A central idea
  • Clear organization
  • Development of ideas
  • Use of grade-appropriate language and conventions such as purposeful word choice
  • Sentences that are varied and well controlled
     

Further Explanation

This assessment requires that students use correspondence to request information from an inventor. Students are expected to create an organized and coherent form of correspondence which includes a greeting, a body, and a closing. The correspondence should make an explicit request and include relevant details.

Students will compose correspondence for a variety of purposes, including to request information. Students should recognize that correspondence may be formal (e.g., requesting information from a company) or informal (e.g., an email asking a friend for information) depending on the purpose and audience. Student writing is expected to be organized and coherent and include a greeting, a body, and a closing.

Research

McManus, M. S., & Theamwong, L. (2015). Enhancing fourth grade students' writing achievement through purposeful experiential learning: an action research study. Universal Journal of Educational Research. 3(12), 997–1000. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1083248.pdf

Summary: Fourth grade students had a writing task that involved improving the school. It required students to call on community, agency, area business, and high school student support. Students wrote letters applying for grants, asking for materials, and requesting additional support. Student orally presented their prewriting, and these presentations proved to be an effective method for the revision and editing of their written work.