A SHLEY B ARNETT
S HAE H ARE
D OROTHY M C D OUGAL
Grade 3
D R . T ONJA R OOT
ECED 4300A
S PRING 2010
 GPS:
ELA3W1 The student
demonstrates competency
in the writing process. The
student
m. Pre-writes to generate
ideas, develops a rough
draft, rereads to revise,
and edits to correct.
 PLO:
The student will prewrite by completing a
graphic organizer to
arrange ideas using only
words and phrases.
 Communication
from the
student to the author or
illustrator in the form of a
letter
 Response
to Literature
 Students
express
 Feelings
 Thoughts
 Concerns
 Likes/Dislikes
 Lessons learned, etc.
 Heading
 Name
& Address
 Date
 Greeting
 Dear____________,
(author/illustrator)
 Body
 Thoughts,
feelings,
concerns, likes/dislikes,
etc.
 Lessons
learned
 Questions
and ideas
 Closing
 Closing
 Sincerely,
 Yours
Truly,
 Your Friend, etc.
 Signature
 Identify
 Form
 Topic
 Audience
 Purpose
 Focus
on thoughts & ideas
 Largest
part of the writing
process spent here
 70%
 Spelling
& grammar not
important (at this stage)
 Words
 No
and phrases only
complete sentences
 Graphic
organizer is very
important
 Structures
information,
ideas, thoughts, etc.
 See
where more
planning is needed

Hare, S. (2010). Author/Illustrator
letter graphic organizer.
Unpublished graphic organizer.
Valdosta State University,
Valdosta, GA. Modified from:
Root, T. (n.d.). Friendly letter
graphic organizer. Retrieved
April 2, 2010, from Dr. Tonja
Root’s website:
http://coefaculty.valdosta.edu
/troot/eced4300/Graphic%20O
rganizers.htm
Heading
What is your address? ________________________________________
(Your street number, street name, & apartment number (if living in an apartment))
_________________________________________
(Your city, state, and zip code)
_________________________________________
(Today’s date)
Who will get your letter, the author or the illustrator?
___________________________
(Greeting)
Body
What are your thoughts, feelings, concerns, likes/dislikes, etc. about the story and/or illustrations?
•_________________________________________________
•_________________________________________________
•_________________________________________________
•_________________________________________________
•_________________________________________________
Did you learn anything by reading this book?
•_________________________________________________
•________________________________________________
Do you have any questions or ideas for the author and/or illustrator?
•_________________________________________________
•_________________________________________________
•_________________________________________________
_____________________
(Closing)
_____________________
(Your signature)
 Letters
to Jack. (n.d.)
Retrieved April 2, 2010,
from Jack Prelutsky’s
web site:
http://www.jackprelutsk
y.com/flash/index.html
 Read
The Giving Tree aloud
to students
 Class
discussion
 thoughts on text
 Complete chart-sized
graphic organizer as a class
providing specific feedback
 Read
class
The Lorax aloud to
 Discuss
a class
thoughts on text as
 Individually
complete
graphic organizer
following example
provided during practice
activity

GPS: ELA3W1 The student
demonstrates competency in the
writing process. The student
m. Pre-writes to generate ideas,
develops a rough draft, rereads
to revise, and edits to correct.


Discuss drafting

Creating ‘sloppy copy’

Use phrases from graphic
organizer to write sentences
Explain Revising

Focus on content, not mechanics

Add, delete, and change facts
and information
F. From readers.
Retrieved April 1, 2010
from Fiona Dunbar’s
web site:
http://www.fionadunbar.
com/lulubaker/lulubaker_
reviews.htm
 Dunbar,
I am11 years old and I think you are the best
author in the world and your books are fantastic,
but my favourite would have to be CUPID
CAKES.
At the moment I am doing a project about you
and the books you have written. I think the
characters in your books are fantastic.
I would just like to know what made you decide
to be an author instead of an illustrator. I would
also like to thank you for making reading fun.
thank you,
from Clodagh
 Class
activity
 Use
phrases from the
graphic organizer from
pre-writing
 Create
complete sentences
and place them in order
to form a rough draft
 Revise
the draft by reading
the piece as a class
 Make
any necessary
additions, deletions, or
changes to the content of
the piece using the correct
proofreader’s marks
 Students
use individual
graphic organizers
 Follow
the class practice
example to write their
own draft of a letter to an
author
 Use
correct proofreader’s
marks
 Revise
 add
piece for content,
and delete
information as needed
 GPS:
ELA3W1 The student
demonstrates competency
in the writing process. The
student
m. Pre-writes to generate
ideas, develops a rough
draft, rereads to revise,
and edits to correct.
 PLO:
The student will edit
the revised rough draft to
correct mechanical and
grammatical errors.
 Letter
written by the
reader
 Reader expresses thoughts
and ideas about text
and/or illustrations
 Reader may pose questions
to author/illustrator
 Focus
on mechanics
 Proofread
piece by reading
word-by-word
 Find
errors
 Make
corrections using
correct Proofreader’s Marks
 Pay
attention to
 Spelling
 Capitalization
 Punctuation
 Paragraph
formation
 Look
for capitalization
errors
 Look
for punctuation
errors
 Look
for spelling errors
 Look
for grammatical
errors
 Check
sentence
structure, usage, and
formatting

Guide to proofreading marks.
(2009). Retrieved April 5,
2010, from The
Proofreading Girl:
Professional Proofreading
Services’ web site:
http://www.theproofreadin
ggirl.com/index.php/proofr
eading-marks-guide/

1. ____ I have checked to make sure each sentence begins with a capital letter.

2. ____ I have checked to make sure each sentence ends with correct
punctuation.

3. ____ I have checked to make sure proper nouns within sentences are
capitalized.

4. ____ I have checked to make sure each sentence has subject and verb
agreement.

5. ____ I have checked to make sure commas are used correctly in sentences.

6. ____ I have identified misspelled words and listed the correct spelling.

7. ____ I have checked for run-on sentences.

8. ____ I have checked for pronouns being used correctly in sentences.

9. ____ I have inserted proofreaders’ marks correctly with a red pen.
 Foster,
M. (2009). 2009
Read Across America
KNEA Read Aloud
Contest Entries. Retrieved
April 5, 2010, from the
KNEA web site:
http://www.knea.org/readac
ross/maddiefoster.html
//www.knea.org/read
across/maddiefoster.html
Dear Christopher Paul Curtis,
I read Elijah of Buxton. This book taught me to be thankful for everything new that I get. When this
book takes place Elijah Didn’t get to use his parents money to go out and buy new clothes, shoes, ect.
He had to raise the money or just do helpful things just to be nice. Now days, kids just say I need some
money and they get money so it taught me to not just say I need money, I need to earn it.
It also made me proud to be an American because I am free to go and do whatever I want. It made me
really stop and think about all that I get to have and do, because Elijah was the first child bon into
freedom, so he was lucky just like me. So we have some in common. It just makes me feel good to think
that I am like a character in one of my favorite books. A lot of people feel that they need to go
everywhere and do everything, so I think Elijah should make them think that they don’t need
everything.
It reflected me as a person because it showed me how much I have and how lucky I am. I am lucky
because my parents work for me so that I can have food, a home, and everything I need to survive. Just
like Elijah. This book was like one of my life experiences because it taught me how to live without
electricity. I had to live with out electricity during and ice storm in Northeast Kansas. We had now
electricity for about a week. When I stared to get cold I thought what would Elijah do?
In this book Elijah was very fragile. He was scared of snakes. So it taught me to not be so scared of
everything because when you are scared it takes up your whole lifetime. So you have no time to do
anything fun. It made me think that I need to stop being so scared of everything and get out there and
have some fun, because before I know it my life will be over. I don’t want to be inside scared of
everything all day long every day. So I thought about it and I told my self quit being scared and I did. So
I think that beings cared is just mind over matter. These are some ways the book reflects on me and how
it changed me as a person.
Maddie Foster
5th grade, Central Elementary School
Holton, KS
 Class
activity
 Use
the revised drafted
piece
 Edit
 Use
using red marker
correct proofreader’s
marks
 Individual
activity
 Use
the revised drafted
piece
 Edit
 Use
using red pen
correct proofreader’s
marks