Understanding and planning open letters
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explore the various purposes of an open letter and use examples to inspire my own.
Key learning points
- Open letters are letters with intended recipients but made publicly available for anyone to read.
- Open letters may be written to raise awareness on topics or galvanise the public.
- Open letters can be written by anyone to any person, group or indeed thing.
- Open letters have various purposes such as: entertain, complain, encourage, provide hope.
- Open letters are usually inspired by a topic that the writer feels strong positive or negative emotions towards.
Keywords
Hobbyist - a person who pursues a particular hobby
Galvanise - shock or excite someone into taking action
Conquest - the act of taking control or possession of land
Ocmplacence - a feeling of calm satisfaction that prevents you from trying harder
Common misconception
Students may believe that open letters have to be written to those in powerful positions.
There are open letters on a wide range of topics and niches. All that an open letter requires is a strong feeling about something.
Teacher tip
Tell students what/who you would write an open letter to. This will help students share their genuine interests, which is important as open letters portray strong opinions.
Equipment
You will need Siegfried Sassoon's 'Soldier's Declaration'. It is in the additional materials.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of peer pressure or bullying
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match the key term with the correct definitions.
text type
why the text is being written
who the text is addressed to
Q2.Which of the following are examples of text form?
Q3.Which of the following are purposes in writing?
Q4.In writing, what do we mean by structure?
Q5.Which of these is the less strong emotion?
Q6.If we are writing a letter hoping to persuade someone to do something, why is it important that we understand what they think?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is an open letter?
Q2.Which word means to shock or excite someone into taking action?
Q3.Every open letter is prompted by ...
Q4.In his open letter 'A Soldier's Declaration' what does Siegfried Sassoon accuse those at home of being?
Q5.Why did Siegfried Sassoon write 'A Soldier's Declaration'?
Q6.What might be the purpose of an open letter titled: 'An open letter to Mondays'?
To help you plan your 11 English lesson on: Understanding and planning open letters, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 11 English lesson on: Understanding and planning open letters, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
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