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Texas Adult Education Standards and Benchmarks
for ABE ASE and ESL Learners

esl LESSON PLANS

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Texas Adult Education Standards
Lesson Plan

Before you begin

Title: Writing to Request Information from Three Agencies

Setting: ESL

NRS Level(s):

Level 3: High Beginning
Level 4: Low Intermediate

Open entry/exit: Yes

Context: Community

Standard(s): ESL Convey Ideas in Writing

Benchmark(s): 1.3, 1.4, 2.3, 2.4, 3.3, 3.4, 4.3, 4.4, 5.3, 5.4

Objective: To develop writing skills, use correct grammar, tone, and vocabulary; develop confidence and expect a response when writing public assistance agencies.

Materials: Computer Lab, 3 ½ floppy disk, envelopes, stamps, several telephone directories, samples of different styles of letter formats, reflection worksheet

Estimated time needed to prepare for this lesson plan: 15 minutes

Estimated time needed to complete this lesson plan: 14 hours (2 hours once a day for two weeks)

The Lesson Plan

Introduce the lesson:
Plan a field trip to a local agency such as the Chamber of Commerce. Students should be aware of the type of information offered by this agency.

During the next class session, discuss the field trip experience with the class. Students should brainstorm what they learned placing emphasis on the type of information disseminated by the Chamber of Commerce.

Review basic computer skills using word processing software.

Teach the lesson:
Hand out copies of a sample letter to the class. Discuss the basic parts of the letter.
Create lecture that includes using computers to draft letters, format letters, printing, signing, addressing envelopes and mailing their letters.

Practice the lesson:
Using the computer, each student will write a letter to the Chamber of Commerce requesting travel and tourist information. Students should draw from their field trip experience to help them create their letters.

Students will write letters to 3 other different local and out of state public assistance agencies requesting various types of information. Students will save their letters on a floppy disk and print out hard copies of their work.

As students begin to receive responses from the Chamber of Commerce they should draft thank you letters.

Assess the lesson:
The instructor should assess each student’s letter individually. A reflection activity is also a good assessment of learning. In this exercise, each student is asked to reflect on the assignment just completed and write about what they learned.

Apply the lesson to the real world:
Students should be able to apply this lesson to personal situations where information is needed from public agencies.

Submitted by: Oscar Gomez

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