Greeting Card Lesson Plan

Teacher: Mrs. Elizabeth Martin, taught in Mrs. Aimee Porco’s Vernfield Elementary Class
Grade Level: 1st grade

I. Content and Standards:

a. PA Standards Aligned System - Standard - CC.1.4.1.B Identify and write about
one specific topic.
b. PA Standards Aligned System - Standard - CC.1.4.1.E Choose words and
phrases for effect.
c. PA Standards Aligned System - Standard - CC.1.4.1.O Include thoughts and
feelings to describe experiences and events
d. PA Standards Aligned System - Standard - CC.1.4.1.F Demonstrate a grade-
appropriate command of the conventions of standard English grammar, usage,
capitalization, punctuation, and spelling. • Capitalize dates and names of people.
• Use end punctuation; use commas in dates and words in series. • Spell words
drawing on common spelling patterns, phonemic awareness and spelling
conventions.
II. Prerequisites:
a. Students have an understanding of mentor texts and how to use them to emulate
an author’s style;
b. Students understand that a greeting card is an informal way of expressing a
sentiment.
c. Students have seen and read greeting cards for various occasions in their life.
III. Instructional Objective:
a. This will be an introductory lesson to the concept of how a greeting card is
designed, when it may be appropriate to give specific cards that portray different
sentiments and also how to structure the writing of a greeting card. At the end of
the lesson, students will be able to do the following and are presented with this
learning objective: I can create a greeting card to communicate feelings and
celebrate an occasion.
IV. Instructional Procedures:
a. Schedule:
i. Mini-lesson (10:15-10:30)
ii. Writing Workshop (10:30-10:55)
iii. Closing (10:55-11:00)

*This lesson plan will likely need to be finished up on a second day. It is expected that students
will get up to the 1st draft stage of the writing process for the initial day and can finish it up the
next day. I discussed this with my mentor teacher and we both agree that it’s better to take two
Writing Workshop classes to do this lesson well.

b. Before: I will read the book Happy Pig Day! by Mo Willems to the class. Prior to
reading I will tell the students that they should take note of the different feelings
that we see throughout the book.
c. During
i. First,I will show an anchor chart that has a model structure for a greeting
card. We will discuss how a greeting card is structured. I will show
various examples of greeting cards and point out the structure of how
they are written, as well as examples of sentences that we see in them
that are reminiscent of a card for this occasion.
ii. The objective of the day will be revisited - I can create a greeting card
to communicate feelings and celebrate an occasion. They may
choose two occasion options for their greeting card:
1. They can send a Happy Pig Day card to Piggie celebrating the
day.
2. They can send a Cheer Up/Feel better card to Gerald to cheer
him up and invite him to Pig Day.
iii. On an anchor chart, we will discuss two different occasions – a
celebration and a cheering up. We will brainstorm ideas for each one
with a partner via Turn and Talk. Then, I will pull sticks for ideas and
note some of these in bullet form. This will be done for each occasion.
iv. Students will be given the Gerald or Piggie prewriting organizer. They
can write their greeting, the occasion for which they are sending the
card, notes for 2 supporting ideas and a closing. This is where they can
use the anchor chart for idea guidance, if needed.
v. After a teacher sees their prewriting and hears their writing plan, they will
be given the first draft graphic organizer. Here they will begin their rough
draft of their cards. They will detail out the date, a salutation, a
sentiment statement (Cheer up! Happy Pig Day!), 2 full supporting
sentences and finally a closing. This should be in complete sentences
and is the same size as the inside of their final draft.
vi. When they finish their prewriting and drafting stages, one of the teachers
will need to read their work and assist in editing. Capitalization,
punctuation, and sight word spelling must be adhered to according to 1st
grade writing conventions.
 vii. Students are able to underline words they need help spelling and can
then add them to their Words I Write With book. Once editing is
complete, they can revise their drafts based on teacher and personal
feedback.
viii. When drafts are revised, students will conference with a teacher and
then are given the okay to write their final copy of the card in one of the
cardstock cards. When writing is complete, students can draw a picture
on the front cover of their card. As they finish, they can bring the card to
the bulletin board and have it stapled on by one of the teachers.
d. After: After the writing is completed, closure can be brought to the lesson by
surveying the students on why they thought they met the objective for today.
V. Materials and Equipment:
a. Book Happy Pig Day! by Mo Willems
b. Greeting cards anchor chart
c. Gerald/Piggie prewriting organizer (Appendix A)
d. First draft (Appendix B)
e. Cardstock, pre-folded and lined for final copy
f. Crayons
g. Assessment rubric (Appendix C)
h. Bulletin board display for greeting cards
VI. Assessment/Evaluation:
a. Formative assessment will be performed via checklist on the student class list to
gauge understanding throughout the 5 stages of the writing process.
b. Formative assessment will be performed at the end of the class by having
students self-evaluate whether they felt they met or did not meet the objective.
c. A rubric will be used for the assessment of the greeting card deliverable in order
to assess for concept, structure and overall design of the greeting card.
VII. Differentiation: Individualized Activities:
a. The lesson will be universally designed in order provide visual and auditory
components of the mini-lesson.
b. The child with Down’s syndrome will be with his paraprofessional in the Special
Education during Writing; this is one of the times when he is not inclusive in the
class since Writing is a difficult task for him and he requires additional support. I
will provide the Special Education teacher with the materials for the lesson so
that he can do this in the smaller setting.
VIII. Technology:
 a. There is no technology incorporated during this lesson; it is not needed to meet
the objective.
IX. Self-Assessment
a. I will collect self-assessment data to determine how successful my lesson was
by:
i. Formatively assessing understanding and whether or not students feel
they have met the learning objective, through informal questioning during
the closing.
ii. Checklist will provide a snapshot of who appeared to be understanding
and who did not during the whole-group lesson and the entire writing
process. This will show how successful my lesson was in teaching the
students.
iii. The instructional objective will be stated and revisited several times
throughout the lesson, whenever a new activity is introduced and at the
end of the lesson. This will ensure that the objective is the goal of the
lesson and allow me to self-evaluate if this was the case.
iv. I will self-assess classroom management during the lesson by having the
students mirror important directions back to me and by having them
repeat new transition tasks to me before transitioning.
v. I will be able to see how the 5 stage writing process came together in the
end when I assess each final greeting card with the writing rubric. This
will allow me to see in a measureable way, how many students did not
appear to be meeting standards for this lesson. This can help me to
readjust my teaching for future lessons and for the next time this is
taught, as needed.
Appendix A:

This organizer will be the first writing the students do during the Prewriting phase. They will write
down their salutation, note the occasion the card is being sent for, have 2 supporting ideas, and
include a closing. If they are writing a Cheer Up/Invitation to Gerald, they will get the Gerald side
of the paper. If they are writing a Happy Pig Day card to Piggie, they will get the Piggie side.
Appendix B:

This shows the draft version of the writing process, where students will write their 1st draft after
they have done prewriting. This will be where the editing and revision stages occur before the
final draft is made. This is a half sheet paper, which will be the size of their greeting
card.
 Appendix C:

Writing Rubric for greeting card-

Excellent Good Needs Improvement

Student included a 3 2 1
salutation and a
closing.
Student portrayed 3 2 1
proper sentiment
for the occasion
throughout his/her
writing.
Student developed 3 2 1
at least 2
supporting
sentences.
Student included a 3 2 1
front cover that was
relevant and
complemented the
overall sentiment of
the card.
Student followed 3 2 1
the conventions of
grammar, spelling,
and capitalization
st
for a 1 grade
student.