Lesson video

Hi everybody, and welcome to our lesson today.

Today we are beginning our brand new writing outcome.

We are going to be writing a letter this time.

Our learning objective today is to identify the features of a letter.

This is lesson number one of 15.

In this lesson, you will need your exercise book or paper, your pen or pencil and your best learning brain.

Make sure to pause the video if you need to get anything.

Here's our agenda.

So today we are going to start with a spelling focus.

Then we are going to think about the PALLP and the features of a letter.

And then we're going to identify the features in a model.

So we're going to begin thinking about the PALLP of a letter.

Can you remember what PALLP stands for? Try thinking back to our diary entry outcome and pause the video while you have a think.

Okay everyone, are you ready? P stands for purpose.

So why was it written? The audience, Who was it written for? The language, Is it got a formal or an informal tone? The layout, How it set out on the page and how is information grouped together? And finally, punctuation.

So is there any key punctuation we would expect to see? And is there any punctuation that we would not expect to see? Maybe because of the formality level of the outcome.

My turn, purpose, audience, language, layout, punctuation.

Your turn.

Well done everyone.

So the PALLP of a letter, the purpose of a letter, the audience, the language, the layout and the punctuation.

Why do you think a letter is written? Have some thinking time? Why do people write letters? People write letters to communicate with each other, also they write things down in a letter.

It's a really good way of recording or recounting something that's happened.

Let's think about the audience.

Who might you write a letter to? You might write a letter to family or friends.

Sometimes you might write a letter to someone you don't know personally for a certain purpose.

For example, if you join me for our Sherlock Holmes writing unit, Lord and Lady Staunton, didn't know Sherlock Holmes personally, but they were writing to him to ask for his help on something.

The language.

This depends on who you're writing to.

But if you're writing to family and friends, you're going to write in an informal style.

And you're also going to be using first person pronouns such as I, may, we, us, because you're writing about things that are happening to you.

So, the layout hires information grouped in a letter.

We would organise the text in paragraphs, very similarly to a diary entry, we would have an opening, a main body and a closing paragraph.

And finally, just like with a diary because we're going to be writing an informal letter in this outcome, we would expect to see some sentences that ends in an exclamation marks and some sentences which include words that are contracted.

This letter is going to be very different from the formal persuasive letter that Lord and Lady Staunton wrote to Sherlock Holmes.

Because this time we are going to be writing as a person who travelled on the Windrush and who is writing back to their friend or family member in Jamaica.

So it's going to be very informal, compared to that persuasive letter we wrote in our last writing unit.

So let's talk about the features of a letter.

I think you're going to notice that there's a lot of features, which are also found in a diary entry.

I would like you to pause the video while you take some time to mind map, what things you would expect to see in a letter.

And if you're not sure, think back to your diary.

And are there any things that you think would also be features of a letter? Off you go.

Okay everyone.

So hopefully you've paused the video and you've all had a good mind mapping the features of a letter.

Now I'm going to reveal some of those features.

So fronted adverbials of time or place to order events, just like a diary, because in a letter, we retell the story in chronological order.

We would expect to see an informal tone so contracted words and exclamations.

We would ask the reader questions.

So you wouldn't necessarily write a letter and only write about yourself, because whenever we communicate with people, we want to have a two way conversation and ask them about things that are going on with them as well.

So we might see some questions in there.

We'll definitely be recording our thoughts and feelings.

And we'll talk about how different events have made us feel.

So, here is a checklist of the features of a letter.

So we address it to someone.

Dear, whoever it is you're writing to.

Our fronted adverbials of time or place to order events, an informal tone, we ask the reader questions, and we would describe our thoughts and feelings.

Now we're going to have a go at identifying those features in a model.

So, here is a model.

I'm going to read it aloud myself.

And then you can pause it and read it if you'd like to.

Now, this is not a model, right, of someone who travelled on the Windrush.

I wrote this as an example.

It's a bit similar in that I'm describing a journey to I took on a ferry.

However, my letter is written to a parent and describing a journey.

And this is maybe got a few similarities with the letter we will write, but it's not about the same thing.

Dear Mum, after a very long, tedious journey on the ferry, I have finally made it to London! Even though it's only been a few days since I last saw you, there's lots to catch up on already.

When we set sail from Dublin, I felt a huge mix of emotions about leaving: fear, sadness and excitement.

I'm already missing you all terribly.

There were lots of vehicles tightly crammed together on the ship, so I had a short walk around on deck to stretch my legs, but that was about all the exercise I could get.

I mainly passed the time by reading my book and listening to music.

After what seemed like days, we arrived at the Tilbury Docks in Essex.

I was feeling a little queasy as I drove off the ferry, but I had butterflies in my stomach as I drove closer and closer to London.

Finally, I'd made it to my destination! Everything seems different here: the buildings, the lifestyle, the people.

I'm sure I'll find my way here eventually, but it's taking me a while to settle in.

I feel like I've left my home behind with you.

Anyway, enough about me.

How are you and the family? Please send my love to them and write back soon.

All my love, Gemma.

So, that was my example of a letter back home to a family member.

There might be a few words and phrases here that we will magpie when we come to writing our letters, for the Windrush.

Now for now, I would like you to try spotting an example of each feature in my letter.

So, pause the video while you look at this first section of the letter, can you find any of those features? And press play when you are ready.

Okay everyone, hopefully we've all paused the video we've all had a go at spotting some of those features in this letter.

So, dear mum, that was the first bullet point there.

I've addressed it to my mum in this case.

Up next, any fronted adverbials of time or place? On the ship, there's one.

This is a fronted adverbial.

Is it of time, place or manner? On the ship? Tell me out loud.

Fantastic! This is a fronted adverbial of place.

It's also if you can remember what the other name for it is, that would be so fantastic.

We can call it a fronted adverbial of place but we can also refer to it as a, something time.

Well done if you remember it.

We can also refer to this as a prepositional phrase.

Up next, can you find any examples of where I have used informal tone in this letter? So we've found the address, we've found an example of a fronted adverbial.

Now, can you find anywhere that shows an informal tone in this letter? So I'd be looking maybe a contracted word or perhaps a sentence and an exclamation mark.

I'm going to show you what I used.

I'm.

So this is a contracted word.

Can you tell me what the uncontracted version of I'm is? I am.

Well done.

I, I'm, I am.

Your turn.

Well done.

Okay, now I could also see there's a sentence there that finishes with an exclamation mark, after a very long tedious journey on the ferry, I have finally made it to London! You could also have perhaps use that one.

So, we've found an address, we've found a fronted adverbial, we've found an example of where the author has used an informal tone.

Now, can you find an example of where the author writes a question to the reader? Pause the video if you need some time.

Okay well done, if you've found it.

So, a good tip would be to skim which means to read quite quickly and scan which means to look in particular for a question mark.

So I can see a question mark.

How are you and the family? And finally, can you see an example of where the author writes about their thoughts or feelings? Pause the video if you need some time.

And I'm going to reveal in three, two, one, I had butterflies in my stomach.

So, that's a bit of show not tell there.

So the reader might be saying butterflies in my stomach is normally a sign of being a bit nervous or apprehensive about a big decision.

Okay everyone, and that brings us to the end of our lesson.

So we've worked so hard today on it Identifying the features and the PALLP of a letter.

We've thought carefully about the similarities and the differences between this letter versus the letter, the persuasive letter that we wrote as Lord or Lady Staunton to Sherlock Holmes.

We've then read a model, and we've identified the features in that model.

You should be so proud of yourselves.

What a great start, to our new writing outcome.

I'm really looking forward to our next lesson.