Writing Effective Emails

Overview

Lesson 7 of 20 in the unit “Literacy Skills for CAAs”. Students examine how email structure, audience and tone change between formal and informal situations, then draft and improve an email for a realistic purpose.

Learning intentions

• WALT identify the main parts of a formal and informal email.
• WALT choose language and tone appropriate to audience and purpose.
• WALT organise ideas clearly and use accurate conventions.
• WALT edit an email to make it more effective and appropriate.

Success criteria

• I can include a clear subject line, greeting, purpose, details and sign-off.
• I can explain how an email’s tone suits its audience.
• I can use polite, precise and appropriately formal language.
• I can proofread my email for spelling, punctuation and clarity.

Curriculum links

• Creating and crafting texts for a specific purpose and audience.
• Selecting language features and text structures to communicate effectively.
• Understanding how audience, purpose and context influence meaning.
• Key competencies: managing self, thinking, and participating and contributing.

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–5 minutes – Hook: Which email works? Open with the email comparison hook. Display two short emails requesting help: one to a friend and one to a school office. Students vote silently on which is more suitable for each recipient, then briefly justify their choice to a partner.

2. 5–15 minutes – Notice the structure Use the email structure teaching slides to introduce the subject line, greeting, opening purpose, supporting details, closing request or action, sign-off and name. Students annotate the structure on the email structure and tone worksheet as the teacher models a sample email.

3. 15–25 minutes – Compare tone and register Show the formal and informal language comparison. In pairs, students identify differences such as contractions, greetings, sentence length, politeness, vocabulary and emojis. Discuss why “Hey, send me the notes” may suit a friend but not a principal or community organisation. Students complete the tone comparison section of the email structure and tone worksheet.

4. 25–35 minutes – Guided improvement task Display the editing challenge with an overly casual email to a school librarian requesting an extension. Pairs rewrite selected sentences, improving politeness, clarity and precision while keeping the original purpose. Invite several pairs to share alternatives and explain their language choices.

5. 35–50 minutes – Independent email writing Use the writing task instructions to present the task: write a formal email to a suitable school or community recipient about a realistic Year 9–10 issue, such as requesting information, asking for assistance, making a suggestion or explaining a problem. Students draft on the email structure and tone worksheet, using the checklist and aiming for 150–200 words. Circulate, conference briefly and prompt students to consider audience, purpose and tone.

6. 50–57 minutes – Peer review and editing Display the peer-review prompts. Students exchange drafts with a partner and give feedback using three questions: Is the purpose clear? Is the tone suitable? Is the structure complete and easy to follow? Writers make at least two improvements, checking spelling, punctuation, paragraphing and names.

7. 57–60 minutes – Plenary and exit response Return to the plenary slide. Students complete the final reflection on the email structure and tone worksheet: “One feature of an effective formal email is…” and “One change I made to improve my tone was…”. Collect worksheets or have students submit their final email digitally.

Resources

• the email comparison and teaching deck
• the email structure and tone worksheet
• Projector or interactive display
• Pens or pencils
• Board and markers
• Optional school email or word-processing platform
• Timer

Assessment

• During pair discussion and the guided task, listen for students’ understanding of audience, purpose, register and email conventions.
• Use the completed draft and peer-review notes to assess structure, appropriate tone, clarity, language choices and editing.
• Collect the final email or worksheet to identify students needing further practice with organisation, sentence control or proofreading.

Differentiation

• Provide a word bank and sentence starters, such as “I am writing to…”, “I would appreciate…”, and “Could you please…”. Offer a labelled model email for students who need structural support.
• Allow students with literacy or processing needs to plan ideas orally, use speech-to-text, or complete the task in a quiet setting with additional time.
• Support EAL learners by explicitly teaching greetings, polite request forms and common email vocabulary; allow rehearsal with a partner before writing.
• Extend confident writers by asking them to adjust the same message for two different audiences and explain how their vocabulary, sentence structures and level of formality change.