SUBJECT: English
GRADE: High School
TECHNOLOGY: Internet, Word Processor

Students in 11th grade Average English, who are expected to graduate in 1999, will complete a letter writing unit that requires them to consider their future. They will learn how to conduct research on the World Wide Web related to employment and/or higher education and learn how to write formal letters to prospective employers and/or college administrators.

Objectives:

• Students will be able to search the World Wide Web and discover the options for employment and/or education beyond high school and the address of at least one company or institute from which they will request an application.
• Students will be able to write a formal letter to a company or institute of higher learning requesting an application for employment or admission.

Materials:

• Each student will have access to a computer, both in and out of class, from which they can search the World Wide Web.
• Students will each have their own copy of the text, School to Work.

Lesson Description:

• Monday, March 9th: Class will be held in the computer lab, which should be reserved at least one week in advance. Students will meet in Room 207 and proceed to the lab as a group. Each student will receive a copy of the Objectives and Enabling Objectives prior to the lesson. Each student will work alone on their own computer. The teacher will walk around and observe and assist the students during their search. At the end of the period each student must submit, on a piece of paper, the company or school address where they will write to,the Web address where they found it, and a statement of explanation.
• Wednesday, March 11th: Students may submit a rough draft of their letter that will be returned to them on Thursday. This is optional. This draft need not be typed.
• Friday, March 13th: Students must turn in the final draft of their letter, which must be typed. Students wishing to actually send their letters may opt to create a typed envelope also.

Evaluation:

• Students must submit, by the end of class on Monday, March 9th, the address to which they will write their letter and the Web address where they found it. They must also include a statement as to why they chose this company or school. Completion of this assignment will be graded on a pass/fail basis.
• Students must submit their letters at the beginning of class on Friday, March 13th. Their letters must be 75% grammatically correct to pass this assignment (spelling, punctuation, and sentence structure). Their letters must be 75% correct in the way of format (see School to Work text, Sections 186-192) to pass this assignment.