Students examine the importance of the Letters to the Editor section of the newspaper, write their own Letter to the Editor, and submit it for possible publication on The New York Times Learning Network. Review the Academic Content Standards related to this lesson. Discuss the role of journals in chronicling a person's life. Write a persuasive Letter to the Editor responding to the Anne Frank article or to another article.
Students then share their responses.
Depending on the length of the class and the age of the students, students may read the entire article or just excerpts. Discuss why a person would write a Letter to the Editor. Students write a Letter to the Editor in response to the article or to another New York Times article. Students can peer edit other students' letters to make sure that they are well-written, thoughtful, and cohesive. The letters can then be submitted to The New York Times Learning Network Letters to the Editor section for possible publication on the Web site.