Formal letters Monday 11 May Friday 15 May · 2020-05-10 · Most formal letters will start with ‘Dear’ before the name of the person that you are writing to: ‘Dear Mrs Brown,’

Formal lettersMonday 11th May –

Friday 15th May

MONDAY2

Learning Step and Steps to Success

STS:

I am learning the features of a formal letter.

I am learning what formal letters are and their audience.

I am learning to write in the formal and informal tone

LS: I am learning to write a formal letter.

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What types of letter can you send?

How many can you think of?

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•Letters of congratulation•Exchanging news•Writing to friends•Letters to say sorry•Asking for information•Invitations•Thank you letters•Letters to show how much you appreciate something•Making a complaint•Letters in response to newspapers or magazines•Applying for jobs•Letters to Father Christmas

How many did you come up with?

What is a formal letter?Most of our written communication today is by email, text message or through social media, however, there are still all sorts of reasons why you might need to write a formal letter.

These could include making a complaint, writing to your MP, writing to a colleague at work or an employer to apply for a job.

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Formal = done in keeping with tradition or good manners; suitable for an official or important occasion.

Whatever the reason for writing a letter, you need to create the right impression. A polite and professional impression.

So, just like dressing-up formally for a special occasion, it is a good idea to ‘dress-up’ the words in a formal letter, too. This involves following a number of different rules. Let’s look at them now.

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A formal letter has 3 main rules to think about:•Layout – where you put your words•Language – the words you use•Tone – this is the voice of the letter

FORMAL LETTER

There are also set places to put addresses and the date.

How you begin and end the letter is also very important.

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1. Begin with your address in the top-right corner of the page.

2. Immediately below this include the date.

3. Below this, on the left hand side of the page, comes the name and address of the person that you are writing to - the recipient of the letter.

Layout - Addresses and date

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Most formal letters will start with ‘Dear’ before the name of the person that you are writing to: ‘Dear Mrs Brown,’ or ‘Dear Brian Smith,’ You can choose to use first name and surname, or title and surname.

If you don't know the name of the person you are writing to, use: ‘Dear Sir/Madam,’

Remember to add the comma.Then miss a line before starting.

Your opening sentence should clearly state why you are writing the letter -get to the point straight away: •I would like to apply for the role of... •I am writing to let you know that...

Beginning the letter

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The way your letter sounds, is very important and finding the right tone can sometimes be difficult. You may need to be firm, but polite. In a formal letter, the aim is to sound ‘business-like’. Avoid any language that seems casual or chatty. Think about the purpose of your letter and include all the relevant details to help the reader to respond. For example: •In a job application, include some specific details about why you are an ideal candidate for the role.

Make sure that each point you make is given a separate paragraph.

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The end of a letter is as important as the beginning. Before you end your letter, make sure that you provide a clear course of action for the reader. •Making a complaint? Make it clear that you need a reply. •Applying for a job? End on a positive note and say that you are looking forward to hearing from them. •Telling them something? Do they need to respond to what you’ve said?

Signing off will depend on how you started your letter. •If you used someone’s name, end with Yours sincerely.•If you didn't use their name, you used ‘Sir/Madam’ instead, so end with Yours faithfully,

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Features of a formal letter

If you need any extra clarification find this clip on BBC Bitesize that goes through all the things a formal letter needs again.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zv7fqp3/articles/zkq8hbk

Feature finding!

With a parent, choose an example of a formal letter at home and see if you can spot the features we have just discussed.

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TUESDAY17


STS:





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Formal and informal writing

Writing is informal when it has features

similar to a conversation with a friend.

Used in an appropriate context, an

informal tone can help make your writing seem more friendly and natural.

Which of the following would you NOT

write using informal language?

a) A letter to a friend.

b) An essay about a Shakespeare play.

c) A talk aimed at students your own age and younger.d) A diary entry.

e) A story written from the point of view

of a character (in the first person).

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Look at the examples below.

Where would you place the

following audiences on the

Stylometer? Reorder them from

most formal to least formal.

a) Give us your pen, Smithy.

b) I ain't got no pen mate.

c) Excuse me, but do you have

a pen I could possibly borrow,

please?

d) Can I have a pen please Sir?

e) Have you got a pencil Sean?

Formal or informal?

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Think about your audience and the level

of formality that the setting demands.

Look at the examples below. Where

would you place the following

audiences on the Stylometer? Reorder

them from most formal to least formal (5-

1).

a) A friend you walk to school with.

b) Your sister's friend, who's in year 12.

c) An aunt you see every week.

d) Your doctor.

e) The head teacher at your school

Formal or informal?

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TASKWhich is the most formal option? Choose the more formal option and rewrite the letter.

EXTRATASK

Have a look at the letter that Dumbledore plans to send to Harry.

It is not very formal. Can you fix all the informalities so it can be sent?

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Use the next two pages if you need inspiration for formal vocabulary.

Formal letter writing phrases

• Dear Sir or Madam,

• I am writing to inform you that

• I am writing to tell you about

• You will be interested to know that

• In addition,

• I should also like to point out,

• This was brought about because

• I suggest/I propose

• Having discussed this with … we came to the conclusion that…

• It is my opinion that

• Furthermore,

• There are a number of problems

• In conclusion,

• I would like to confirm

• Yours sincerely,

• Yours Faithfully,

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WEDNESDAY

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STS:





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This is an extract from the book Boy which explains how Roald Dahl was able to write an autobiography about his childhood in such great detail when he was an adult.

What was it that Roald Dahl was lucky to have to help him write his book?

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Roald Dahl wrote formal letters home including lots of detail, his mum kept them all and he was able to read back through them to help him remember all the things he had done.

What kind of details do you think he might have included in his letters home?

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You are going to be writing a letter home, a bit like Roald Dahl’s letters recounting details of your daily life as a Scientist. You need to pretend to be a Scientist!

You are going to be pretending you are a scientist exploring the jungle, looking for rare vertebrates and invertebrates. You will be writing home to a colleague called Dr John Baker to tell him what you have seen. You don’t need to start writing your letter today. Just use the next few slides to think about what you will write about and to practise, write a paragraph to describe the jungle.

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Let’s think about some of the things you might have seen in the jungle. Can you come up with a 2A description for each animal.

How did you feel when you saw these animals?

Challenge yourself with interesting vocabulary.

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Let’s think about some of the things you might see in the jungle. Can you come up with a 2A description for each animal.

What is interesting about these animals that you have seen?

You will be using the sentences you come up with in your letter.

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Now let’s think about how you might have felt when you were out in the jungle. Time to use your senses. Look at these pictures of the jungle and imagine you spent a day exploring. Write a paragraph describing the jungle you have been exploring, use your senses and the word mats.

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Listen to the jungle sounds clip on YouTube with an adult and see what you can hear.https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=9&v=MCuFfW3X324&feature=emb_title

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THURSDAY

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Planning our letter

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Let’s think about why you are writing to your colleague Dr John Baker. Write an answer for each question. The more detail you can add the easier you will find writing your letter. Remember to pretend that you are a Scientist!

Where have you been exploring?

What are you researching?

What have you seen?

Why are you writing about it?

What do you want your colleague to do once they have read the letter?

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Where have you been exploring? What are you researching?

Do you recognise this country? Do you know what continent this is?

What are the types of animal you are looking at?

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What have you seen? What is special about these particular animals. Use the links to find out more facts about them

Why are you writing a letter about what you have seen?

Jaguar

https://www.natgeokids.

com/uk/discover/animal

s/general-

animals/jaguar-facts/

Howler monkey

https://www.monkeyw

orlds.com/howler-

monkey/

How might you feel about seeing these animals in their habitat?

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What do you want your colleague to do once they have read the letter?

What do you think your colleague would want to know about what you have seen? What might they do with the information?

Look at the pictures, can you work out what you might want your colleague to do from them?

FRIDAY46


STS:





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Writing our letter

Let’s recap everything we have looked at this week and put all our knowledge together to write a formal letter to Dr John Baker.

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A formal letter is a polite, professional

letter written in keeping with good

manners.

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A formal letter has 3 main rules to think about:•Layout – where you put your words•Language – the words you use•Tone – this is the voice of the letter

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Have a look through each feature carefully and use the information to help you write your letter.

Natural History Museum,142 Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD

14 Avenue Parana, Apui, Amazonas, Brazil. 69265-000

Do you know the person you are sending a letter to? Yes you do! You are writing to someone you work with called Dr John Baker. What greeting will you use? Dear Dr Baker,

Think back to yesterday's questions. What are you writing to inform Dr Baker about?

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How can you split up what you are writing about into paragraphs. Paragraph one – where are you? What are you exploring? What is it like? What have you been doing. Describe the setting you are in.Paragraph two - write about the animals you have seen and what they are like. Describe what you have seen.

What are you wanting Dr Baker to do next?

You do know who you are writing to so you will end your letter with Yours sincerely,

You can come up with your own scientist name Dr __________________

Think about the formal vocabulary you could use to introduce each paragraph.

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Documents

Formal letters Monday 11 May Friday 15 May · 2020-05-10 · Most formal letters will start with ‘Dear’ before the name of the person that you are writing to: ‘Dear Mrs Brown,’