Letters to Santa

With teaching middle school, the magic of Santa is somewhat lost.  However, this year I came across a post (unfortunately, I do not remember where) that shared a lesson plan about writing letters to Santa from the perspective of a villain.  I thought it would be a perfect creative/persuasive writing assignment and I could also use it to teach students how to write a business letter.  So first of all, I had student select a villain of their choice.  Next, they had to brainstorm ideas why their villain would be worthy of a Christmas present this year.  From there, I told students they would be writing a letter to Santa asking for a Christmas present through the point of view of their villain.  The kids loved this and had so much fun thinking of reasons why their character was worthy.  I loved that my students had the chance to be creative and at the same time were learning how to write a business letter with a clear purpose.  The results were great and very amusing the read.  Here are some examples:

Common Core Writing Standards:

1.  Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
      a.  Introduce claim(s), acknowledge alternate or opposing claims, and organize the reasons and evidence logically.

4.  Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.  (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)

Objectives:

Students will:

-write a business letter 

-create arguments that support the worthiness of their villain

-organize ideas to fit the format of a business letter

Assessment:

Students were assessed based on the final draft of their business letter.  They were evaluated on the format of the business letter, ability to maintain a formal tone, and the quality of their persuasive reasons provided in the letter.