Lesson Plans: Emailing

Choosing how to make English-style emails, then remembering useful language with which to do so, including tips on starting emails, the body of emails, and ending emails

Emailing phrases which are usually too informal or too formal/ old-fashioned for work emails to make into more common business emailing phrases, including generalising about what makes emails formal/ polite or informal/ friendly.

Students work together to correct typical mistakes in emailing openings, closings and body paragraphs, including phrases for common emails like requests, enquiries and making arrangements.

More and more polite emailing phrases game, with an optional brainstorming stage and key words for making emails more formal.

A fun matching starting and finishing emails phrases by meaning/ use and formality jigsaw activity, followed by students trying to remember key phrases.

Common problems with splitting emails into paragraphs reviews, including making rules of good email paragraphing and covering email openings, closings and body paragraphs.

Stimulating work on avoiding typical confusions in emails by classifying common emailing phrases by shared meaning and different formality or different meaning, then trying to remember the similarities and differences.

Past, present and future forms of verbs in typical emailing phrases review, including useful language for starting emails, the body of emails, and ending emails.

A fun way of reviewing typical emails and the most useful emailing language, moving around the board by how much useful language they can remember.

How to end different kinds of emails review, including typical closing lines for the most common kinds of emails and levels of formality.

Comparing the most useful emailing language with correct but rarer forms to help students write typical emails, starting with a fun quick reactions game.

Students make casual or rude emailing phrases more and more polite in a speaking game, then rank suitable phrases for the start, body and ending of emails dealing with difficult situations such as unhappy customers.

Grammar words in typical emailing phrases guessing game, with articles and particles grammar presentation, and trying to remember the most useful emailing language.

Typical email sentence starters and the most common ways of ending them review, including the most important phrases for starting, ending and the body of emails.

Planning emails review covering how to split common email types into paragraphs, including email enquiries, applications, requests, fixing arrangements and self-introductions.

Students fill gaps in a typical model pen friend email as part of a guessing game, also good for countries and nationalities vocabulary practice, and describing cultural differences.

Imperative in emails review, including the typical mistake of using please + verb when requests language like "Could...?" would be more suitable.

How to use and how not to use the imperative for requests, orders/ commands/ instructions and (especially) offers in business and personal emails.