How to read a letter

Reading an Application Letter | Thoughtful Learning K-12

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Teacher Tips and Answers

Before writing your application letter, you should read an effective sample. In this lesson, you'll first read a sample announcement. Then you'll read one applicant's response. As you read the sample application letter, consider how the writer put ideas together and how you might use some of the strategies in your own writing.

Read a sample announcement.

Read the following announcement about a summer camp. The writer of the sample letter that follows it responds to the opportunity presented in the announcement.

Sample Announcement

An application letter follows the structure of a traditional business letter. It includes six main parts:

The heading: the writer's complete address, plus the date the letter was written">heading identifies the writer's return address and date of writing.
The inside address: the name, title, and address of the person or organization you are writing to">inside address gives the reader's name and mailing address.
The salutation: the greeting followed by a colon">salutation is the greeting given to the reader.
The body: the main part of the letter">body is the main part of the letter. It contains three parts: (1) the opening part states why you are writing, (2) the middle part gives readers the details they need, and (3) the closing part focuses on what should happen next.
The closing: a word or phrase that ends the letter politely">closing is a polite word or phrase to end the message.
The signature: the writer's handwritten and typed name; makes the letter official">signature includes a handwritten signature followed by the typed name.

In the sample letter that follows, the writer expresses his interest in a summer camp that is described in the announcement. Note the six parts.

Sample Application Letter

Heading

23100 Altoona Street
Apartment #415
Houston, TX 77001
March 14, 2017

Inside Address

Ms. Benita Mendez-Curry
New Adventures Wilderness Camp
1500 Highway 2900, Suite B
Austin, TX 78745

Salutation

Dear Ms. Mendez-Curry:

I would like to apply for a place at the New Adventures Wilderness Camp this summer. I read in your brochure that your camp is for city kids from Texas who would like to learn about nature.

Body

I meet the requirements for your camp. I am in the eighth grade at Memorial Middle School. I have lived in Houston all my life with my mother and three sisters. I love the city, but I have never spent time in the country. I also am doing well in school. My favorite subject is science. I won third place in the science fair at our school this winter.

I think that summer camp would really be a great experience for me. I think my interest in science would help me. I know that I would learn a lot and make new friends.

Please consider me for your camp. Thank you for reading this letter. I hope to hear from you soon.

Closing

Sincerely,

Micah Jones

Signature

Micah Jones

Respond to the application letter.

Answer these questions about the letter. Make a copy of this Google doc or download a Word template.

Who is the writer of the letter? Who is the receiver?
The writer is Micah Jones. The receiver is Ms. Benita Mendez-Curry.
What does the writer want to do?
The writer wants to go to summer camp to learn more about nature.
What does the writer tell you about himself?
He explains that he is a city kid who has never spent time in the country. He is interested in science. He won third place in a science fair and gets good grades.
If you received the letter, would you consider the writer for the camp? Why or why not?
(Answers will vary.) Yes, I would consider the writer for the camp. He meets the qualifications and sounds very interested.
What tone does the writer use in the letter? Choose one of these: (1) angry and impatient; (2) humorous and light; (3) polite and serious.
Polite and serious
Write one or two sentences from the letter that show this tone.
(Answers will vary.) I would like to apply for a place at the New Adventures Wilderness Camp this summer. Please consider me for your camp. Thank you for reading this letter.

k12.thoughtfullearning.com

The Alphabetic Principle | Reading Rockets

Not knowing letter names is related to children's difficulty in learning letter sounds and in recognizing words. Children cannot understand and apply the alphabetic principle (understanding that there are systematic and predictable relationships between written letters and spoken sounds) until they can recognize and name a number of letters.

Children whose alphabetic knowledge is not well developed when they start school need sensibly organized instruction that will help them identify, name, and write letters. Once children are able to identify and name letters with ease, they can begin to learn letter sounds and spellings.

Children appear to acquire alphabetic knowledge in a sequence that begins with letter names, then letter shapes, and finally letter sounds. Children learn letter names by singing songs such as the "Alphabet Song," and by reciting rhymes. They learn letter shapes as they play with blocks, plastic letters, and alphabetic books. Informal but planned instruction in which children have many opportunities to see, play with, and compare letters leads to efficient letter learning. This instruction should include activities in which children learn to identify, name, and write both upper case and lower case versions of each letter.

What is the "alphabetic principle"?

Children's reading development is dependent on their understanding of the alphabetic principle – the idea that letters and letter patterns represent the sounds of spoken language. Learning that there are predictable relationships between sounds and letters allows children to apply these relationships to both familiar and unfamiliar words, and to begin to read with fluency.

The goal of phonics instruction is to help children to learn and be able to use the Alphabetic Principle. The alphabetic principle is the understanding that there are systematic and predictable relationships between written letters and spoken sounds. Phonics instruction helps children learn the relationships between the letters of written language and the sounds of spoken language.

Two issues of importance in instruction in the alphabetic principle are the plan of instruction and the rate of instruction.

The alphabetic principle plan of instruction

Teach letter-sound relationships explicitly and in isolation.
Provide opportunities for children to practice letter-sound relationships in daily lessons.
Provide practice opportunities that include new sound-letter relationships, as well as cumulatively reviewing previously taught relationships.
Give children opportunities early and often to apply their expanding knowledge of sound-letter relationships to the reading of phonetically spelled words that are familiar in meaning.

Rate and sequence of instruction

No set rule governs how fast or how slow to introduce letter-sound relationships. One obvious and important factor to consider in determining the rate of introduction is the performance of the group of students with whom the instruction is to be used. Furthermore, there is no agreed upon order in which to introduce the letter-sound relationships. It is generally agreed, however, that the earliest relationships introduced should be those that enable children to begin reading words as soon as possible. That is, the relationships chosen should have high utility. For example, the spellings m, a, t, s, p, and h are high utility, but the spellings x as in box, gh, as in through, ey as in they, and a as in want are of lower utility.

It is also a good idea to begin instruction in sound-letter relationships by choosing consonants such as f, m, n, r, and s, whose sounds can be pronounced in isolation with the least distortion. Stop sounds at the beginning or middle of words are harder for children to blend than are continuous sounds.

Instruction should also separate the introduction of sounds for letters that are auditorily confusing, such as /b/ and /v/ or /i/ and /e/, or visually confusing, such as b and d or p and g.

Instruction might start by introducing two or more single consonants and one or two short vowel sounds. It can then add more single consonants and more short vowel sounds, with perhaps one long vowel sound. It might next add consonant blends, followed by digraphs (for example, th, sh, ch), which permits children to read common words such as this, she, and chair. Introducing single consonants and consonant blends or clusters should be introduced in separate lessons to avoid confusion.

The point is that the order of introduction should be logical and consistent with the rate at which children can learn. Furthermore, the sound-letter relationships chosen for early introduction should permit children to work with words as soon as possible.

Many teachers use a combination of instructional methods rather than just one. Research suggests that explicit, teacher-directed instruction is more effective in teaching the alphabetic principle than is less-explicit and less-direct instruction.

Guidelines for rate and sequence of instruction

Recognize that children learn sound-letter relationships at different rates.
Introduce sound-letter relationships at a reasonable pace, in a range from two to four letter-sound relationships a week.
Teach high-utility letter-sound relationships early.
Introduce consonants and vowels in a sequence that permits the children to read words quickly.
Avoid the simultaneous introduction of auditorily or visually similar sounds and letters.
Introduce single consonant sounds and consonant blends/clusters in separate lessons.
Provide blending instruction with words that contain the letter-sound relationships that children have learned.

How to Read Email: 23 Tips

Inbox Zero, or Inbox Zero, is a community of people united by the idea of keeping their inbox empty (well, almost empty). This helps you not to miss important messages and spend less time looking through your mail. Read below to learn how it works and what to do.

Start by removing what you don't need

Delete what is no longer relevant - of course, if you are sure that you will no longer need it. And click the "report spam" button on all questionable emails. Just two steps - and you are already on the way to a "clean" box. nine0003

Archive messages not yet ready to be deleted

If you have already read the message, but are not sure that you no longer need it, click "archive". Chances are good that you won't need it anymore, but otherwise you'll be glad you took care of it.

Delete messages from your news and entertainment subscriptions if they are more than a week old

Sometimes there is not enough time for messages from mailing lists that we subscribe to “for fun” (blogs, news feeds, website updates). Many keep them in the hope of reading later. But most likely, if you have not returned to them in a week, you will never return to them. nine0003

Unsubscribe from promotions you no longer need

Only agree to receive emails if you are ready to receive them every day. However, if you've been deleting or archiving emails from the same company over and over again, it might be time to hit unsubscribe.

Use the service for mass unsubscribing from mailing lists

Some services, such as Unroll.me, allow you to immediately cancel all advertising subscriptions. If you are interested in a particular online store, it is better to bookmark its site and visit it when the need arises. In addition, ask to be removed from group conversations in which you are no longer needed. nine0003

If you need to forward a message to someone, do so immediately and then delete it

You do not need to store in the inbox what is not included in your area of responsibility.

Create as many folders as needed

Personalize your folder system. For example, for those who travel twice a year, one "travel" folder for storing vouchers, airline tickets and the like will be enough. And if you fly on business trips several times a month, separate folders for each trip will come in handy. nine0003

Create filters (rules) by which letters will be automatically sent to the correct folder

This way they won't clog your inbox and distract you. In the settings, you can specify which messages from which senders, with which words in the subject, with which set of recipients will be sent to the appropriate folder.

Create some folders called inbox

This feature is available to those who use GMail. In Settings, select the "Multiple Inboxes" tab. With this feature, you can, for example, rank messages by priority, dividing them into “need a response”, “awaiting someone else's response”, “forward” and “company news”. This way you will see which emails you should respond to first. nine0003

Use an application that will help you view all folders in lists

A free app that works with Google mail: Sortd. It allows you to sort emails into different lists - "to do", "in progress" and "done". You can create any category with any name.

Avoid text messaging by checking email throughout the day

Every time you see new email notifications on your phone, delete them immediately, archive them, star them to come back later, or reply right away. And yes, the queue, the subway, the traffic jam is the perfect opportunity to check your inbox. nine0003

Set a time to check your mail

For example, each day, spend no more than 30 minutes tidying up your drawer. Or define multiple time slots: 15 minutes in the morning, 15 minutes before lunch, and 15 minutes after dinner. This way, you won't be distracted by notifications endlessly and can focus on other tasks.

Set aside time for weekly mail cleaning

For example, on a Friday night, sit down and finish everything you've been putting off and archiving all week. This will save you from Monday anxiety - the anxiety caused by a "filled to the top" box. nine0003

Respond immediately to emails that take less than one minute to answer

Just do it and forget it, and don't put it off indefinitely - otherwise you may never return to them.

Mark emails you can't reply to right away and work out how to deal with them

Different mail services make it possible to mark important messages in different ways. If you're in a hurry and can't reply to an email, or if you need more information to get a response, just mark it. Return to starred posts when you have more time. nine0003

Try to answer work emails within 24 hours and personal emails within 72 hours

Even if you don't have time at all, take ten seconds to type something like "now, unfortunately, there is no time, but I will return to this question in a day, next week, on the weekend." And don't forget to tag this email.

Turn off notifications and use auto-replies when busy with an important project

When you have no time to be distracted, pause your mail by turning off pop-up notifications. You can use email plugins like Boomerang for Google. It suspends the mailbox for a while and allows you to set up an auto-reply. You can also add "exclusion addresses" from which you still want to receive emails. nine0003

Use apps to temporarily hide emails that aren't up to date

Let's say you plan to go to a festival in a month. But you don't need to keep the invitation letter in the mailbox for the whole month. Using Boomerang, Superhuman, MixMax or Streak, you can hide messages until the date you need it again - two days before the festival for example.

Use the same apps to create snooze emails

If you can reply to an email now but expect a response in a week, you can create a reply and schedule a time to send it. That way you don't have to keep a message in your inbox for a whole week. Also, set reminders so you don't forget about pending messages.

Use link storage services

You can save interesting articles for reading in special programs, and not in your mailbox. Evernote or Pocket will do. nine0003

Do not use mailbox as To-do list

Instead of leaving emails as reminders of things to do, save tasks to your calendar or to-do apps.

Don't obsess over zero, let yourself save a few letters

Set a limit for yourself, let's say 30 emails, and if by the end of the day their number is significantly higher, take 15 minutes to deal with them. If there are less, just relax. nine0003

Don't waste time you could save maintaining Inbox Zero

Do not go to extremes and do not go in cycles. The Inbox Zero system is designed to make your life easier, not to make you a maniacal hostage of your own mail. Use the techniques that suit you and don't be afraid to implement your own rules and hacks.

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Read and reply to emails in Windows 10 with Narrator

Let's take a look at how to use the Windows 10 Mail app with Narrator. I will do one action at a time and often pause to explain what is happening.

Remember that Narrator can be paused at any time by pressing the 9 key0165 CTRL .

Let's start Narrator first. To do this, press the key Windows and, while holding it, press the key ENTER .

Next, launch the Mail application. It's built into Windows 10, so you don't need to install anything.

Press the Windows key to open the search box.

Enter the word "mail"... And press the key Enter .

When we launch the Mail app, Narrator announces:

This means we are in the inbox,

our mail account is called Contoso93 ,

and the app is called Mail .

Narrator will then immediately begin reading the preliminary information for the first message in the mailbox. This includes the sender's name, subject, and a preview of the message.

It sounds like this:

If the message is tagged important or is an invitation, Narrator will also announce it. nine0003

If I want to go to the next message in my inbox, I can press the down arrow key .

Each time I press the down arrow key, I will jump to the next message in my inbox.

To delete a message, I simply press the DELETE key when the focus is on the message.

Narrator does not currently announce that a message has been deleted. When I delete a message, Narrator immediately starts reading the next message in my inbox. nine0003

If I want to read the entire message, I set focus to it and press ENTER .

The message opens in the Reading Pane and the focus is set to its text.

As you can hear, Narrator announces that the focus has moved.

Screen readers do not automatically start reading the message. When you're ready to read the text of the message, use Narrator's reading commands to do so. nine0003

Press the CAPS LOCK and M keys to read the entire message,

CAPS LOCK and I to read the next paragraph,

CAPS LOCK and O to read the next line,

or CAPS LOCK and P to read one character.

Press the keys CAPS LOCK and M .

ALT : Use screen reader commands to read mail. With Narrator, I use Caps Lock and M.

ALT : Use screen reader keyboard shortcuts to read mail. With Narrator, I use Caps Lock and M.

When we're done reading a message, press the ESCAPE key to return to the message list. Narrator will read the summary again.

Now let's learn how to reply to an email using Narrator.

Move to the next message in the list and press the 9 key0165 ENTER to open it.

In the Mail app, the Reply , Reply All and Forward buttons are on the toolbar above the Reading Pane.

Press the ALT key to move the focus to the toolbar, and then press the TAB key to move between the buttons.

Narrator will name the buttons as you select them.

If the window is large enough, additional commands can be seen in the toolbar, as well as in the Actions menu on the right.