Lesson One
ELAR Level Six, Unit 5: Type of Formal Writing
LESSON ONE
As you know, writing is a necessary part of life. Grade 6 Distinctive Parts and Formats of Formal Writing will teach you how to organize, format, and write various types of formal writing. Formal means “relating to or involving outward form or structure." In other words, formal writing is to be done in proper or regular form. The formal writings that will be covered in these lessons include business letters, envelopes, book reports, research reports, editorials, poems, plays, and summaries.
Lesson One will cover business letters and envelopes.
BUSINESS LETTERS
As stated in the introduction of this Lesson, formal writings follow a form or structure. Business letters, which are a type of formal writing, do follow a certain structure.
The parts of a business letter are:
PARTS OF A BUSINESS LETTER
Date
Inside Address
Salutation
Body
Closing
Signature
The Date usually contains the date on which the letter was written.
The Inside Address lists the name and address of the person to whom the letter is written. At times you may want to use a business title such as Vice President instead of a person’s name.
The Salutation is the greeting. The greeting ends with a colon such as Dear Dr. Rios: If you do not know the name of a specific person, write Dear Sir: or Dear Madam: or Dear Gentlemen: You could also specify a person's title such as Manager of Child Care Department:
The Body is the message within your letter.
The Closing ends the letter. You may use closings such as Sincerely. If you use two words in the Closing, be sure to capitalize the first and not the second word (e.g., Sincerely yours, Yours truly). You need to put a comma after the closing: Yours truly,
The Signature should be written manually directly below the closing. Your name should be printed or typed below the signature.
Business letters are usually written in two styles – block and modified block. In block form, everything starts at the left margin of the page. If you are writing the letter longhand, you will need to single-space the text and skip a line between each new paragraph. If you are typing the letter, you will need to single-space the letter but put two spaces between paragraphs, starting each new paragraph at the left margin.
With the modified block form, the heading, closing, and signature are aligned at the center of the page. The body of the letter starts at the left margin, and you will need to indent each new paragraph. If you write the letter longhand, single-space the text and indent each new paragraph.
Please review the block form and modified block form below. The various parts of the business letters are labeled to help you become familiar with them.
BUSINESS LETTER -- BLOCK FORM
Business letters have six distinctive parts. Be sure that you understand the structure of business letters.
PRACTICE
(Please review the business letter once again. Pay close attention to the labeled parts and then label them accordingly in Practice Quiz Two.)
PRACTICE
TIPS ON WRITING BUSINESS LETTERS
When writing a business letter, use white, unlined paper. The size of the paper should be similar to the size of a sheet of notebook paper, 8 ½x11. This is the standard size for a sheet of paper.
It is preferable to type rather than to write by hand a business letter because a typed letter looks more professional. Be sure to correct any errors and to keep your work clean and neat. There are many products on the market that can be purchased to correct typing mistakes. Most typewriters have a built-in error correction system.
If there is a reason that you cannot type your letter, then use black or blue ink when writing the letter by hand. Correct your errors neatly. Do not allow smudges and cross-outs to appear on your finished paper.
Use only the front of each sheet of paper and leave equal margins, or spaces, on the top, bottom, and sides of the paper. If your letter is more than one page long, be sure to leave a one-inch margin at the bottom of each page. If you have multiple pages, write the page number on all pages except for Page 1.
PRACTICE
(Business letters, like all formal writing, should be structured and have a professional, clean appearance. Review what you have missed to prepare for the upcoming quizzes.)
ENVELOPES
Whether you are preparing an envelope for formal or informal writing, the same form is followed. Place your return address at the top left-hand corner of the envelope. Write at the center of the envelope the name and the address of the person to whom you are writing.
PRACTICE