Writing letters to Santa is a magical time in the classroom! With my bilingual first grade students, my main goal was always to get them to write more but that could be challenging the last couple of weeks before winter break. Santa letters have always given them the motivation they need as the first semester starts to wind down.
Each year, it is important to know the students in your classroom and be aware of different traditions they may practice. We have only written Santa letters when I know all families celebrate Christmas and I know they celebrate it with Santa.
Characteristics of Persuasive Texts
Right along the December mark, our curriculum usually had us introduce Persuasive Texts. In order to present this difficult genre to my first graders, I always relied on a good anchor chart and made sure to have a good mentor text lined up. On the first day, we created our Characteristics of Persuasive Texts anchor chart TOGETHER (meaning I had prepped an outline the day before but everything I wanted them to remember was not filled in until we discussed it as a class). We discussed that authors of persuasive texts have a specific purpose. They usually present the reader with an opinion and support that opinion with reasons and examples in order to persuade or convince the reader to do or think something.
Most of the anchor charts I made for my classroom are in Spanish but I have provided a translated version too.
We talked about the three appeals ethos, pathos, and logos (but with first grade friendly vocabulary). Our anchor chart provided examples for each appeal. Following the anchor chart, I emphasized that we would be looking at fiction books where the main character wanted to persuade someone to think or do something and that we would be looking for examples of their opinions and reasons.
Books to Introduce the Concept
We used fictional character's examples to lead up to Santa Letters. We would eventually see non-fiction texts too.
Read-alouds in my classroom for LAR were in Spanish but if I could not find the Spanish version of a book like Can I be your Dog, I would translate on sticky notes the day before and have it ready for my read-aloud. Some books are worth the trouble.
I always liked starting with a simpler book like ¡No dejes que la Paloma conduzca el autobús! by Mo Willems so that finding examples would be easier. We worked on identifying the Pigeon's opinion and the reasons he used to try to persuade the reader to let him drive the bus. If time allowed, the next day I would continue with El día que los crayones renunciaron by Drew Daywalt but I would always make sure I had time to use Can I be your Dog by Troy Cummings. Both books provide great examples of persuasive letters but I found the latter to be a bit more entertaining for my first graders.
We would devour this book and identify Dog's opinion and reasons he would use to try to persuade each character he encountered to let him be their dog (again, this book is incredibly cute).
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On to Writing!
After we had looked at various examples, it was time to share that is was their turn to be the authors. I shared with them we would be working on their Santa letters the next couple of days. I made sure to bring attention to the fact that they are "big kids" now and that a simple list of toys would not suffice anymore. Santa is expecting a little more writing from them. Like Dog ( from Can I be your Dog), they would have to convince and PERSUADE Santa using reasons to support their opinions. We worked on a Parts of a Letter anchor chart and then a Cut&Paste activity to understand that letters have specific parts. We brainstormed and talked about all the things we wanted Santa to bring and then I would make a simpler anchor chart to focus on what would be the body of their letter. Graphic organizers specific for the structure of a persuasive text are a must. In a persuasive text, every opinion needs a reason or example. Over the years, I have compiled the resources I used to take on the challenging endeavor of having students write persuasive texts. Some items have been revamped but they have all been useful to me in my bilingual classroom for the specific purpose of Persuasive Santa Letter Writing. Anchor Charts, graphic organizers, and letter writing templates are all grouped together in the following TPT resources. Click on each image below to check them out.
We would eventually edit and revise drafts and finally make the last copy of our letters on Santa Letter writing templates. Sometimes, the school organized for a Santa to visit each classroom and we would give him our letters. I always made sure to take a picture of each and send them to their parents. They were always surprised to see how much their child was able to write!
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