How To Write A Letter To The Editor Template For Students

Lesson of the Solar day

Expressing Opinions With 'Letters to the Editor'

In this lesson, we invite students to write a letter of the alphabet responding to an commodity in The New York Times and submit it to an upcoming contest.

Credit... Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

Published April 23, 2021 Updated Sept. ii, 2021

Students in U.S. loftier schools tin get gratuitous digital access to The New York Times until Sept. i, 2021.

Lesson Overview

Featured Column: " Letters to the Editor "

Readers have been writing letters to The New York Times since the newspaper was founded in 1851. When Adolph S. Ochs purchased the paper in 1896, one of his aims, he wrote, was to "make the columns of The New York Times a forum for the consideration of all questions of public importance, and to that terminate to invite intelligent give-and-take from all shades of stance."

Today, The Times receives up to 1,000 letters a mean solar day from readers from all over the world, a handful of which are selected to be published in the Letters to the Editor column. These messages, written by ordinary people and experts akin, comment on a broad array of stories in The Times — from vaccines and gun violence to religion, social media, education and family.

What exercise you have to say about what's in the news? In this lesson, nosotros invite yous to respond to a Times commodity of your choice. You'll read previous messages to see how the writers expressed strong, clear opinions in just 150 to 200 words; and did so with a certain stylishness, wit and charm. And then, you'll write your own letter to the editor and submit it for publication.

Ideas for Teachers

Use this lesson to set your students to submit letters to The Times's loftier school Letters to the Editor contest . The deadline to enter is May 3.
Many local newspapers besides publish messages to the editor. Yous can use the activities in this lesson program with any publication of your choice.
This lesson tin likewise serve as an introduction to our almanac Summer Reading Competition , in which we invite students ages 11-19 to tell u.s. what they're reading in The Times and why. It begins June eleven. For more on how to write rich reader responses, see our related lesson plan and our unit plan on independent reading and writing .

Warm-Up

The Letters to the Editor column invites readers to respond to an article in The Times that has appeared within the final seven days.

What recent news stories have caught your middle? What have you read that has outraged you? Inspired you lot? Moved you? Delighted you? What articles have made you feel "seen" or brought up a memory from long ago?

Spend a few minutes scrolling through The New York Times to meet which headlines speak to you. If you tin can't notice anything that interests you at that place, choose a department (institute at the top of the dwelling folio), such equally Politics, Sports, Science, Way, Smarter Living, Earth or Opinion, and skim the contempo articles.

Cull at least three unlike articles almost which y'all think yous might have something to say, whether it'due south a critique, praise or a personal connection. Just make sure that whatever y'all choose was published within the past calendar week.

You'll return to these in the Going Further section.

Texts

Cull at least Iii of these messages to the editor written past teenagers that won the 2020 high school letter-writing contest.

If none of these inspire y'all, you can cull any three letters from the Letters to the Editor column.

Questions for Writing and Discussion

As you read your called letters, annotate and take notes about what you lot notice. Here are some questions to consider:

i. Place some basic parts of the structure of messages to the editor: How do they all begin? How practice they all end? Which article is each letter of the alphabet responding to? How do you know?

2. What is the letter writer'south opinion or point of view on the commodity they are responding to? Underline or highlight at least one sentence that captures the letter's main idea or argument.

three. The Messages editors encourage writers to brand their arguments "forcefully and conspicuously." Practise the messages you read practice that? What words, phrases or lines convey the writers' opinions or attitudes toward the subject area in a clear, concise and stiff way?

4. The Letters editors say that readers should exist able to guess the "credibility and motivation" of letter writers. What credibility, expertise or personal connections do the letter writers have to the subjects they are writing about? Tin can y'all tell what motivated them to write in?

5. Analyze the writers' utilize of linguistic communication and fashion. What makes this letter interesting to read? What words, phrases and grammatical structures do they employ that are particularly affecting? How do they utilise wit or humor, if at all? In what lines can you hear the writer's vocalism coming through the page?

half-dozen. Among the hundreds of letters that are sent to The Times, what do you think fabricated these letters stand out to the editors? What unique angle or perspective did the writers offer on the articles they commented on? What else did they practise well?

vii. Which "author's moves" from any of the letters yous read would you like to endeavour in your own letter to the editor?

Going Further

Now, it's your turn: Write a letter to the editor about any Times article of your choosing.

Step one: Read advice from the Letters editors and writers.

This step is optional, but before you cull your article and write your letter, y'all might want to find out what exactly the Letters editors are looking for.

In "To the Reader," Thomas Feyer, the Letters editor since 1999, explains what qualifies as a publishable letter of the alphabet to the editor. As yous read, highlight or underline Mr. Feyer's suggestions.

You can find fifty-fifty more advice in these articles:

"Editors' Note; The Letters Editor and the Reader: Our Compact, Updated"
"'To the Editor': What Happens When Readers Write Dorsum?"
"From the Letters Editor: See the Regulars"

Step ii: Choose an article to respond to.

Return to the articles yous chose in the warm-up activity. Read them thoroughly and then choose one that you want to respond to in your letter of the alphabet to the editor.

Yous tin can write nigh any issue, large or pocket-sized, simply continue in mind that timeliness is key, so make sure that whatever piece you cull was published no more than 7 days before you submit your letter. Mr. Feyer writes, "Nosotros're in an age of fast-moving news and virtually instant reaction; letters about an especially timely topic often appear within a day or 2 (and almost e'er inside a week)."

Step iii: Write your letter to the editor.

Hither are the requirements:

Letters should be nigh 150 to 200 words.
They should include the headline and a link to the Times article they are responding to.
They should refer to an article that has appeared inside the concluding seven days.

Beyond that, your alphabetic character can hold or disagree with the ideas expressed in the essay or article. And feel free to be creative with your language and writing fashion. Utilize the letters you read before as examples of what makes a smashing letter to the editor.

Step 4: Submit it for publication.

If you are in loftier school, you can submit your letter to The Times's annual student letter writing competition until May 3. Please be sure to read all the rules carefully earlier submitting.

Yous can also submit a letter of the alphabet to the editor any time past following the instructions here.

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