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b. Underline the purpose of the letter. How do the writers establish a clear purpose in the opening paragraph of the letter? If the purpose is unclear, how could it be improved?
c. Highlight the reasons or support for the purpose provided in the letter. Are the reasons specific and connected directly to the purpose? Do the reasons used make the letter more or less effective? What suggestions do you have for making the reasoning more persuasive to the audience?
d. Draw a box around the final paragraph of the letter. Does this paragraph provide a sense of closure to the letter? If not, what could be added, changed, or removed to improve the closing paragraph?
e. Make a checkmark next to the heading, date, inside address, salutation, closing, and signature. If any of these elements is not present, mark the draft where elements are missing.
3. Share your written feedback on the letter written by the other team. Revising/Editing
4. After sharing your feedback and receiving feedback from your peers, work with your group to revise your letter as necessary. Edit the draft for mistakes in spelling, punctuation, grammar, capitalization, etc., and produce a final draft for submission to your teacher.
ACTIVITY 4
Independent Writing
WRITING PROMPT: The community center in your neighborhood has discussed funding an after-school program for teens. The board of directors is not sure whether this idea would be a worthy use of community funds, since the money could also be used for park beautification and equipment maintenance on community playgrounds. Write a formal letter to the board of directors, expressing your opinion on which option you believe is more beneficial to your community. Refer to the Scoring Guide for this writing task to help you understand where to focus your attention and efforts. Make sure your letter meets the requirements listed in the learning targets for business and other formal letters. Review the writing steps from the previous activities and apply them to your individually written letter.
a. Brainstorm a list of ideas for/against each option and the benefits of each.
b. Create a list of any questions you have about the after-school program and/or the park maintenance.
c. Decide which of these details to use; outline the order in which to use them.
d. Draft the letter based on the outline.
e. Create a sense of closure in the last paragraph.
f. Read the letter together, making revisions as necessary. Keep in mind
your purpose and audience when considering the tone and level of
formality.
g. Add the elements of a formal or business letter and edit for mistakes,
including commas to coordinate adjectives.
h. Produce a final, polished draft to submit to your teacher.
Writing Workshop 10 • Procedural Texts: Business Letters 9
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