Letter Home

Overview / Objectives

Along the way, the families found sign boards or wooden barrels with messages left by the travelers. Mail was carried back by people traveling in the opposite direction. Students will write a letter home using a thesaurus to describe the sight they would have seen if they had traveled with the Donner Party as they came upon the summit of the mountain.

Procedure

Share a model with the students of a descriptive writing such as a journal entry written by Virginia Reed.

Review the elements of a friendly letter (Greeting, Body, Salutation).

Brainstorm the time period, scene, situation, and other elements that influence the letter. Flush out descriptive words.

Write a letter home telling of the sights and experiences along the way. Remind the students who their audience is (People at Home).

Use a thesaurus to find vivid and precise words for writing the descriptive passages. To ensure that students use the correct connotation of a word, encourage them to choose only familiar words that they just hadn't thought of, rather than an unfamiliar word.

Students should peer edit their work and write a final draft. It may be fun to artistically age the paper to fit the time period.

Teacher Tips

If a student uses an unfamiliar word, the connotation may be wrong, such as "The sun was torrid." Review strategies for using words from a thesaurus.

Using a sign board or a wooden barrel as a background, make a bulletin board posting these letters in your classroom.

Illustrations are a good strategy to accompany written work.

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Overview / Objectives Along the way, the families found sign boards or wooden barrels with messages left by the travelers. Mail was carried back by people traveling in the opposite direction. Students will write a letter home using a thesaurus to describe the sight they would have seen if they had traveled with the Donner Party as they came upon the summit of the mountain. Procedure Share a model with the students of a descriptive writing such as a journal entry written by Virginia Reed. Review the elements of a friendly letter (Greeting, Body, Salutation). Brainstorm the time period, scene, situation, and other elements that influence the letter. Flush out descriptive words. Write a letter home telling of the sights and experiences along the way. Remind the students who their audience is (People at Home). Use a thesaurus to find vivid and precise words for writing the descriptive passages. To ensure that students use the correct connotation of a word, encourage them to choose only familiar words that they just hadn't thought of, rather than an unfamiliar word. Students should peer edit their work and write a final draft. It may be fun to artistically age the paper to fit the time period.



Teacher Tips If a student uses an unfamiliar word, the connotation may be wrong, such as "The sun was torrid." Review strategies for using words from a thesaurus. Using a sign board or a wooden barrel as a background, make a bulletin board posting these letters in your classroom. Illustrations are a good strategy to accompany written work.
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