The "Dear Reader" Letter-- Revisited

Although this is meant to be a post to Mrs. Lockwood's students, all of you who are YET to embark on the journey of writing your "Dear Reader" letter may benefit from this posting, so I am including it in the blog.  

I posted this on Edmodo--

I am almost done annotating the "Dear Reader" letters that have been shared with me on Google Docs. If you have not shared yet, I cannot annotate for you. You will get credit but not the benefit of my feedback. Here are some general findings.

#1-- MANY of you forgot to include the date. You can do a traditional friendly letter or a block style letter-- either is fine, but you must follow a consistent format for either. See links below for both styles-- be consistent. I don't care if your return address is present, but I DO want a proper salutation, closing, signature, etc... 

business style letter (block format)
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FoJeA_tBz4M/ULqNNt2...

friendly letter (with closing right aligned, address right aligned, etc)
http://www.teachersclubhouse.com/images/sampl...

2--Several of you forgot to "thank your audience for reading" in an appropriate manner. Not only is the required for MY expectations, but this is an essential and authentic part of business writing. If I am "formally" communicating with a superior or colleague of mine, I always thank them in advance for taking the time to read what I am writing. It is considered to be in "good form" and is JUST WHAT YOU DO! This is an exercise in common business etiquette and should NOT be ignored.  

speaking presentations -- dos and don'ts

Proper format for written communications-- tips and pointers


3-- TOO many of you are using vague words like "a lot", interesting, fun, lots, etc when you are discussing the types of information you are sharing and you found in your research. Remember-- your dear reader letter is an introduction to your project and should draw your audience in. You can allude to your assertion & your findings here. It should be written in past tense since your research will be DONE by the time you do your final draft--- (I had hoped to find.... I had set out to learn.... My goal was to learn even more about how..... ).

interesting adjectives to replace DULL, BORING ones... 

shake it up a bit-- step out and use spice, engaging, varied, CREATIVE words and phrases! 

4-- You MUST mention the artifacts and how your research proved (or didn't prove) the assertion you made. What can your reader expect to read/learn? How did this project impact you as a researcher/learner? What did you find to be fascinating? 

5-- There are WAY too many spelling/grammar errors. You need to READ your writing aloud to see if it is sensible. Also, by now, you SHOULD NOT be having run-on and fragment errors. You need to remember where to put a comma and where to use a semi-colon. Vary sentence structure to include simple, complex and compound sentences. 

punctuation tips from THE OWL

I have addressed several of these issues in my annotations. Please revise and re-share... : )

In closing, remember-- your "Dear Reader" letter should reflect not only your findings, your artifacts and your assertion, but it should reflect YOU.  Feel free to "be yourself"... to be witty, silly, eccentric, etc... but DO include all of the important (and required) elements.  If you are having a hard time, look at the samples and ask for help!  Additionally, remember past lessons on audience, tone, diction, inflection, etc...