Grade 2 • Lesson 77: Letter Writing — The Five Parts of a Letter

Pedagogical Overview • The Architecture of the Friendly Letter

Lesson 77 introduces the foundational format of epistolary composition. Children transition from isolated sentences to an interconnected social document. Mastery requires learning the five structural coordinates: (1) Heading, (2) Salutation, (3) Body, (4) Complimentary Close, and (5) Signature. Pay special attention to the comma separating city and state, the comma separating calendar day and year, and the comma closing the greeting and complimentary close.

Section 1 Model Answers • Five Letter Parts

1. Heading Place: “Cleveland, Ohio,” (Town/City followed by comma, then State followed by comma).

2. Heading Date: “October 14, 1889.” (Month capitalized, day followed by comma, year followed by period).

3. Greeting Mark: “Followed by a comma (or colon in formal letters).”

4. Close Capital: “Only capitalize the first word (e.g., Your in Your true friend,).”

Section 2 Model Answers • Exact Transcription Benchmark

Target Placement & Punctuation:
[Right-aligned:] Cleveland, Ohio, October 14, 1889.
[Left margin:] Dear Charlie,
[Indented 0.5 in:] We are having lovely autumn weather here. The leaves are turning red and gold, and yesterday father gave me a new sled. I hope you can come to visit me next Saturday, and we will play in the meadow.
[Right-aligned:] Your true friend,
[Right-aligned:] Ralph Jones.

Section 3 Model Answers • Original Friendly Letter

Exemplar Student Letter:
Dear Arthur,
Will you please come over to my house after school today? My mother baked sweet apple tarts, and we can read our new storybooks together by the fire.
Your friend, Harold.

Checklist: (1) Capital ‘D’ and proper noun capitalized; (2) Comma after salutation; (3) Indented body message; (4) Complimentary close with comma; (5) Pupil's own legible signature.

R Four-Domain Evaluation Rubric (Total: 100 Points)

Domain	Exemplary (25)	Proficient (20)	Developing (15)	Beginning (10)
1. Structural Format	Flawlessly positions all 5 parts with proper margins and indentations.	Includes all 5 parts with minor spatial irregularity.	Missing 1 part (e.g. heading or close) or improper alignment.	Lacks basic letter structure; written as unbroken text block.
2. Punctuation Mechanics	Commas placed correctly after city, date, greeting, and close.	1 comma omitted in heading or salutation.	Multiple missing commas in heading or close.	Pervasive omission of letter punctuation marks.
3. Capitalization Rules	Perfect capitalization of cities, months, names, and first word of close.	1 capitalization slip (e.g. capitalized second word of close).	Fails to capitalize friend's name or month.	Lowercase starters throughout letter.
4. Penmanship & Neatness	Beautiful script/print, uniform letter sizing, spotless presentation.	Neat, readable handwriting with few erasures.	Uneven spacing or drifting baselines.	Illegible writing or messy presentation.

TEACHER GUIDE & ANSWER KEY — LESSON 77