A Letter of Complaint

Learning goal Writing non-fiction textsPrior knowledge/skills Understanding what non-fiction and fiction texts are; experience of

non-fiction texts in everyday life.

Application Demonstrate knowledge of formal letter conventions by writing a letter of complaint

PROUD Open-minded to others’ views.

DateC/W ARTICLE 13: the right to express ourselves freely

Starter: Think of an example of something you might need to complain about (e.g. customer service). Explain who you might need to complain to, and how you would do it.

Have you ever made a complaint? What did you complain about?

In your pairs label yourselves A and B

B: you are a manger of a restaurant and have been called to a table because a customer is unhappy with their food.

A: you are a customer in the restaurant who have had to wait over 45minutes for your food and believe the waitress has been extremely rude.

Role play your discussion.

Let’s hear some!

As you listen, think about:• What is each complainer trying to achieve?• Do they achieve their goal?! • Who is the most effective at achieving what

they want, and why?• What kind of language are they using?

A Letter Of Complaint

TASK:

Write a letter to the Prime Minister complaining about the amount of support and treatment you are getting during quarantine.

Firstly: Do we need to write a formal or informalletter?

Writing a formal letter

What is the same as a personal letter?

What is different?

Dear theresa may,

I am SO SO SO angry at the way you have ditched us and left us in chestnut grove without any medication or help. You HAVE to do something about it NOW. Otherwise there will be trouble...Laters, EB

Chestnut Grove Academy45 Chestnut Grove

BalhamLondon

SW12 8JZ22nd March 2019

10 Downing StreetLondon W1

Dear Theresa May,I am writing to inform you of the terrible problems we are

having in Quarantine at the moment. The conditions we are living in are horrifying and we are struggling to find the medication to survive.

We need the support of your government to pay for the medication which will save our lives.

Yours sincerely,

Ms E Bracken

Success Criteria for a letter of complaint

•

Your addressdate

Name & address of addressee

Dear Mr/Ms...

Topic sentence (what the letter is about)

Further logically organised paragraphs.

How should a FORMAL letter start?

Concluding paragraph, briefly summing up what you would like to happen.

Sign off

Signature

This is perhaps where you state that you want!

‘Yours sincerely’ if you are writing to a named person,

‘Yours faithfully’ if you do not know the name of the addressee.

How should a FORMAL letter finish?

SPAG focus: using colons and semi-colons.

Let’s revise what these are and how to use them:

https://www.bbc.com/teach/class-clips-video/english-language-ks3-colons-and-semi-colons/zfmj6v4

Using semicolons and colons will help you to make your sentences more varied and more interesting. Complete the worksheet to practice your understanding of them.

TASK: Write a letter to the Prime Minister complaining about the amount of support and treatment you are getting during quarantine.

Starting: write two paragraphs: one which explains what the problems are, the second which sets out what you want the Prime Minister to do. Use full stops accurately, and include some multi-clause sentences, using conjunctions and commas accurately.

Practising: write three paragraphs, explaining what the problems are, why they are occurring, the effect they are having on students’ rights, and what you want the Prime Minister to do. Include at least one sentence with a semi-colon and one with a colon.

Confident: write four paragraphs, explaining in detail what the problems are, why they are occurring, the effect they are having on students’ rights, and what you want the Prime Minister to do. Use a wide range of sentence structures, including colons and semi-colons.

My AddressDate

Name & address of addressee

Dear Mrs May,

I am writing to inform you that ___________________ and ask that you _____________________

Firstly, the conditions we are living in are____________________________

Secondly, the disease is_________________________________________

However, the problem could be solved if____________________________

We need you to ____________________________________

Yours sincerely,

_________________________

Peer assessment – quick SPAG check

Swap your work with a partner.

Focus on punctuation – have they used the following accurately:• Full stops?• Commas?• Semicolons?• Colons?Have they included:• Address of sender?• Address of recipient?• Date?• Formal address?• ‘Yours faithfully’?

Correct their work with a red pen – write ‘what went well’ and one target (‘even better if’).