Anti-Smoking Letter Writing Campaign

Grade Levels: 3 - 5

INTRODUCTION
Students will explore arguments against smoking and write letters encouraging a friend not to smoke.

SUGGESTED TIME ALLOWANCE
50 minutes

OBJECTIVES
Students will:

learn a series of facts about smoking and its impact on human health – specifically kids.

write a friendly letter encouraging someone not to smoke.

MATERIALS

White or blackboard

Handout: Parts of a Friendly Letter

Website: http://tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets/pdf/0002.pdf

PROCEDURES

Review the following vocabulary words before beginning the lesson: statistic, nicotine, tobacco.
Ask students to name some reasons why people shouldn’t smoke cigarettes. List their ideas on the board.
On a blank piece of paper, ask students to record one or two of the best reasons why someone should not smoke.
As a class, read aloud the statistics about Tobacco and Youth provided by Tobacco Free Kids (http://tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets/pdf/0002.pdf). Tell students to write down the statistic they find most interesting and alarming on their sheet.
Review the parts of a friendly letter by giving each student a copy of the Parts of a Friendly Letter handout.
Ask students to write a letter to a friend encouraging them not to smoke. The letter should explain why smoking is bad for a person and should use at least two of the facts the student wrote down.

ASSESSMENT

Assessment Rubric: Don’t Smoke!

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES

Research the voting record of your state representatives regarding smoking issues. Write them letters either applauding their votes, or encouraging them to change their stance.

Review some of the tobacco ads on the Tobacco Free Kids site. Discuss what methods the advertisers are using to sell their product.

STANDARDS CORRELATION

Knows how personal health can be influenced by society (e.g., culture) and science (e.g., technology)

Uses conventions of capitalization in written compositions (e.g., titles of people; proper nouns [names of towns, cities, counties, and states; days of the week; months of the year; names of streets; names of countries; holidays]; first word of direct quotations; heading, salutation, and closing of a letter)

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