3.1 Cover Letter Creation
This is an FFA lesson plan (“Lesson 1: Creating a Cover Letter”) that teaches students how to write an effective cover letter to help secure a job interview. Through online resources, a “change blindness” bell ringer activity, and guided worksheets, students learn the components and format of cover letters, evaluate good and bad examples, and compose their own individualized cover letter. The resource includes student worksheets and an answer key.
At a glance
- Learning objectives
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- Identify the components and format of cover letters.
- Discover favorable and less favorable examples of cover letters.
- Compose an individualized cover letter.
- Time required
- 50 minutes
- Materials
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- A copy of the “The Good and the Bad” worksheet for each student
- A copy of the “Cover Letter Activity” worksheet for each student
- Internet access to play the video in real time or embed it in a PowerPoint ahead of time
- Internet access to open the “Princess Card Trick,” https://www.magicmgmt.com/gary/welcome2/index.html
- Resources
- FFA.org; The Writer’s Handbook: Writing Cover Letters, https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/CoverLetters.html; Cover letters — The good and the bad, https://www.seek.com.au/career-advice/article/cover-letters-the-good-and-the-bad
- Created
- 05/2018 by the National FFA Organization
Downloads & Links
Aligned Standards
AFNR Career Ready Practices
- CRP.04Communicate clearly, effectively, and with reason. Career-ready individuals communicate thoughts, ideas and action plans with clarity, whether using written, verbal and/or visual methods.
- CRP.10Plan education and career path aligned to personal goals. Career-ready individuals take personal ownership of their own educational and career goals, and they regularly act on a plan to attain these goals.
AFNR Cluster Skills
- CS.05Describe career opportunities and means to achieve those opportunities in each of the Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources career pathways.
Common Career Technical Core
- AG5Describe career opportunities and means to achieve those opportunities in each of the Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources Career Pathways.
Common Core – Literacy in Science & Technical Subjects: Writing
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.6Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology's capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9.10.4Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Common Core – Speaking and Listening
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.1Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9-10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.2Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source.
Common Core – Writing
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.2Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
FFA Precept
- FFA-CS-M.CommunicationEffectively interact with others in personal and professional settings.
- FFA.PG-I.Professional GrowthAssume responsibility for attaining and improving upon the skills needed for career success.
- FFA.PL-A.ActionAssume responsibility and take the necessary steps to achieve the desired results, no matter what the goal or task at hand.
- FFA.PL-C.VisionVisualize the future and how to get there.
- FFA.PL-E.AwarenessUnderstand personal vision, mission and goals.
- FFA.PL-F.Continuous ImprovementAccept responsibility for learning and personal growth.