1 Writing Letters Exploring Other Worlds A lesson that examines an introductory letter from Mr Harris and how you might write your own.
2 TITLE: Writing Letters STARTER Write Who do people write letters to? in the middle of your page. Around the outside, write down as many ideas as you can to answer the question.
Formal and Informal 3 What is the difference between a formal letter and an informal letter? Formal Letters Formal letters use language that is appropriate to communicate with someone that you do not know personally. Formal letters are often used to communicate with someone when you are trying to make a good impression or to make serious point. Often the content of the letter will be straightforward and factual. EXAMPLE: Dear parent I am writing to you to inform you that your son has received a detention today as a result of his poor behaviour in English.
Formal and Informal 4 What is the difference between a formal letter and an informal letter? Informal Letters Informal letters use language that is appropriate to communicate with someone that you know very well. Informal letters are often used to communicate with someone when you are sharing news or telling them about yourself. Often the content of the letter will be friendly and contain interesting information for the reader to enjoy. EXAMPLE: Hi John I saw a really interesting play the other day that I think you would really enjoy. It was about a man who had just joined a new football team but hated it.
London Nautical School 61 Stamford Street Blackfriars London SE1 9NA Tinsley Lane Three Bridges Crawley RH10 6AE Tuesday 8th September 2015 Dear English student It feels strange to be writing to a class that I haven t properly met yet, but I want to let you know some things about me so that we won t be complete strangers when we do. I think it is important for you to know about me because we will be spending lots of time together. I want you to be able to understand what I am passionate about because I want to share some of those passions with you this year - and find some new ones! I was born in a town in the South East of England called Crawley. When people ask me where I am from I usually say near Gatwick Airport because lots of people don t know where Crawley is and those that do probably think bad things about it. I went to a secondary school called Hazelwick in Crawley when I was your age. I really enjoyed school because I am really competitive and I used to like competing against my friends. I would compete against them in everything from reading to sports. While I am still competitive, I think that I wasted a lot of time at school worrying about what other people were doing, rather than actually thinking about what I was really interested in. I still made some really good friends though, lots of whom play for my current football team in Crawley. Don t tell anyone, but I didn t like English at school. My English teachers didn t seem very passionate and I secretly found it quite hard. I didn t mention this to my teachers because I was scared of asking for help; I didn t want to look stupid. I wish I had asked more questions now. It was only in Year 10 that I really started to enjoy English, mostly because my teacher introduced me to literature about the First World War and I realised that words offer us windows into other people s experiences. That s when I really started to learn. Mr Harris Letter Do you think Mr Harris letter is formal or informal? My biggest passion is Drama. I went to the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in Swiss Cottage to study once I left school, rather than a normal university. It was very posh and I felt very lucky to get in. I have since started my own theatre company called Bridges Arts Group, which I run alongside my teaching at the London Nautical School. I think Drama is the most important tool we have for trying to understand the world because it allows us to be other people and to think about their experiences. We can also make theatre for other people to watch and they will be forced to listen to what we have to say. If it is any good, we might stand a chance of changing the world for the better. There is lots more that I could tell you about me, but I think we can find out those things as the year goes on. I would really like to find out more about you. Perhaps you could find time to write me a reply? Yours sincerely Liam Harris
London Nautical School 61 Stamford Street Blackfriars London SE1 9NA Dear English student Tinsley Lane Three Bridges Crawley RH10 6AE Tuesday 8th September 2015 Label the It feels strange to be writing to a class that I haven t properly met yet, but I want to let you know some things about me so that we won t be complete strangers when we do. I think it is important for you to know about me because we will be spending lots of time together. I want you to be able to understand what I am passionate about because I want to share some of those passions with you this year - and find some new ones! I was born in a town in the South East of England called Crawley. When people ask me where I am from I usually say near Gatwick Airport because lots of people don t know where Crawley is and those that do probably think bad things about it. I went to a secondary school called Hazelwick in Crawley when I was your age. I really enjoyed school because I am really competitive and I used to like competing against my friends. I would compete against them in everything from reading to sports. While I am still competitive, I think that I wasted a lot of time at school worrying about what other people were doing, rather than actually thinking about what I was really interested in. I still made some really good friends though, lots of whom play for my current football team in Crawley. Don t tell anyone, but I didn t like English at school. My English teachers didn t seem very passionate and I secretly found it quite hard. I didn t mention this to my teachers because I was scared of asking for help; I didn t want to look stupid. I wish I had asked more questions now. It was only in Year 10 that I really started to enjoy English, mostly because my teacher introduced me to literature about the First World War and I realised that words offer us windows into other people s experiences. That s when I really started to learn. My biggest passion is Drama. I went to the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in Swiss Cottage to study once I left school, rather than a normal university. It was very posh and I felt very lucky to get in. I have since started my own theatre company called Bridges Arts Group, which I run alongside my teaching at the London Nautical School. I think Drama is the most important tool we have for trying to understand the world because it allows us to be other people and to think about their experiences. We can also make theatre for other people to watch and they will be forced to listen to what we have to say. If it is any good, we might stand a chance of changing the world for the better. There is lots more that I could tell you about me, but I think we can find out those things as the year goes on. I would really like to find out more about you. Perhaps you could find time to write me a reply? features below on Mr Harris letter: - The sender s address - The recipient s address - The date - A salutation - The main body of the letter - A sign off - The sender's name Yours sincerely Liam Harris
Why do we use paragraphs? Write a sentence to explain why we might use paragraphs in our writing. How has Mr Harris used paragraphs? 1) Put a number next to each new paragraph. 2) In pairs, write down a title for each paragraph (e.g. Paragraph one: Mr Harris introduces why he is writing to the reader) London Nautical School 61 Stamford Street Blackfriars London SE1 9NA Dear English student Tinsley Lane Three Bridges Crawley RH10 6AE Tuesday 8th September 2015 It feels strange to be writing to a class that I haven t properly met yet, but I want to let you know some things about me so that we won t be complete strangers when we do. I think it is important for you to know about me because we will be spending lots of time together. I want you to be able to understand what I am passionate about because I want to share some of those passions with you this year - and find some new ones! I was born in a town in the South East of England called Crawley. When people ask me where I am from I usually say near Gatwick Airport because lots of people don t know where Crawley is and those that do probably think bad things about it. I went to a secondary school called Hazelwick in Crawley when I was your age. I really enjoyed school because I am really competitive and I used to like competing against my friends. I would compete against them in everything from reading to sports. While I am still competitive, I think that I wasted a lot of time at school worrying about what other people were doing, rather than actually thinking about what I was really interested in. I still made some really good friends though, lots of whom play for my current football team in Crawley. Don t tell anyone, but I didn t like English at school. My English teachers didn t seem very passionate and I secretly found it quite hard. I didn t mention this to my teachers because I was scared of asking for help; I didn t want to look stupid. I wish I had asked more questions now. It was only in Year 10 that I really started to enjoy English, mostly because my teacher introduced me to literature about the First World War and I realised that words offer us windows into other people s experiences. That s when I really started to learn. My biggest passion is Drama. I went to the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in Swiss Cottage to study once I left school, rather than a normal university. It was very posh and I felt very lucky to get in. I have since started my own theatre company called Bridges Arts Group, which I run alongside my teaching at the London Nautical School. I think Drama is the most important tool we have for trying to understand the world because it allows us to be other people and to think about their experiences. We can also make theatre for other people to watch and they will be forced to listen to what we have to say. If it is any good, we might stand a chance of changing the world for the better. There is lots more that I could tell you about me, but I think we can find out those things as the year goes on. I would really like to find out more about you. Perhaps you could find time to write me a reply? Yours sincerely Liam Harris
BEFORE YOU GO: 8 Write down one difference between a formal letter and an informal letter. SENTENCE STARTER: One difference between a formal letter and an informal letter is