LETTERS ABOUT READING—Quarter One Instructions
You will be expected to turn in TWO letters to me about what you have read. You must follow the
EXACT directions below :
1. Write letters in your journal.
2. Fill at least the back and front of one page in your writing journal and follow the “friendly letter”
format .
2. Headline for the journal page is “Reading Letter #1” (or #2 or #3).
3. Include the title of the book and author in the first paragraph. Underline the title OR use italicize type.
4. Include the theme of your book in the first paragraph OR how a symbol helps to develop a universal
theme in the book.
5. Use at least three sentence starters below to create paragraphs.
6. Use letter format—see sample.
7. A response from a classmate (two sentences at least) must be
present. You are responsible to make sure your classmate signed the
response; otherwise points are deducted.
8. Use more than one paragraph in your writing and indent!
DEADLINES
-Letter #1 due Friday, Sept.18
-Letter #2 due Friday, Oct. 2
These deadlines apply to BOTH A and
B day classes. I will grade the letters
after the second due date so make
sure your journal is in the classroom
bin by close of school on Friday, Oct. 2
9. No excuses for misspelled words. Points will be deducted for
misspelled words so use a dictionary.
10. Highlight (with a highlighter) all sentence starters used in your letters. Letters MUST include at least
THREE sentence starters. Following are the sentence starters that must be used:
 Relate a personal experience that connects with the plot, characters or setting.
 Quote and respond to a brief passage: what catches your interest; what is the symbolism
contained in it; what is inspirational about it?
 I do not understand this part because…
 I like or dislike this part because…
 This situation reminds me of similar situation in my own life…
 This character reminds me of someone whom I know…
 This character reminds me of myself because…
 This incident or setting is important to the plot or meaning of the book because…
 This scene reminds me of a similar scene in another work (book, movie, etc.) because….
 This part is realistic or unrealistic because…
 This section makes me think about….because…
 This section is particularly effective because…
 The relationship between…and…is important because…
 I admire (name of character)…
 I were (name of character), at this point, I would…
LETTER SAMPLE: This letter was written by a student who received a perfect score. The
names have been changed.
Reading Letter #1
For this statement
to be true,
sentences about
theme would be
included in the first
paragraph.
January 18, 2014
There are several themes
found in the story; a
major one is revenge. But,
to be more specific, “Lies
lead to trouble,” is a
theme inserted in
practically every chapter.
[add another sentence
here with more specific
detail about theme]
Dear Maggie,
I am reading the book, City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare. The relationship
between Clary and Jace is important in this book because if Jace hadn’t trusted her so
much, then she (Clary) would never have found him or her mother or found out their
plans. Since Jace loves her, Clary was able to find him and convince him to let her tag
along.
Also, several parts of the book are unrealistic because they involve time travel and
travel across dimensions. The house that Clary, Jace and Sebastian are living in now
has the ability to travel across time and through dimensions. To me, this part is so
unrealistic because time travel is virtually impossible in the real world, but so easy a
house can do it in this book.
I admire Clary because she is so brave and strong. She left behind her mother,
stepdad, and friends to help find out the plans of their enemies. Also, she has very little
experience with fighting, so she is not easily able to defend herself. To me, that takes
extreme courage and strength.
I hope you write back soon. I can’t wait to hear about your book and what you think
of mine.
From,
Maribel
Maribel,
I saw you reading this book and was intrigued by the cover. The story line sounds worth reading
so I’m going to check it out during resource. Thanks for sharing.
Maggie
Because I
added theme
info to first
paragraph,
this sentence
should start
a new
paragraph.