Shay Koenig Shay Koenig

Functional lesson: Writing an informal email
Intermediate B1-B2 level

Materials

Main Aims

  • To provide product writing practice of an informal email to an old friend

Subsidiary Aims

  • To provide clarification of fixed and semi-fixed expressions used in informal emails.
  • To provide process writing practice of a informal email structure.

Procedure

Warmer/Lead-in (2-2 minutes) • To set lesson context and engage students

1. Display the Jamboard and the theme for the day 2. Go to the next slide. Elicit from students: what makes an email well-written? What makes an email poorly-written? Put their ideas on sticky notes and organize them.

Exposure (5-5 minutes) • To provide a model of production expected in coming tasks through reading/listening

1. Next Jamboard slide. Elicit: What are the important parts of an email? What comes first? What goes in the middle? What comes last? Put sticky notes on the diagram. (30 seconds) 2. Next slide. This is the basic structure of an email with the parts labeled. Ask if there are questions. (<30 seconds) 3. Next slide. Elicit: where should the sticky notes go in the email structure? (1-2 min) 4. Next slide. Break students into small groups (if time permits) or do open class feedback to organize the letter. 5. Next slide. Show the organized letter. Ask if there are any questions.

Useful Language (7-8 minutes) • To highlight and clarify useful language for coming productive tasks

1. Switch to the Padlet and explain the task. In 2-3 groups, students will be organizing common email phrases into different categories based on their purpose. Ask if there are any questions. (1 min) 2. Break students into groups to organize. (5-6 min) 3. OCFB: Return to the class, show the answer on the board. Elicit questions and ask whether anything was confusing. (1-2 min)

Productive Task(s) (20-22 minutes) • To provide an opportunity to practice target productive skills

1. Switch to the Jamboard and advance the slide. Overview the writing task and timeframes. 2. Switch to the Google Document and explain the writing task and peer feedback. 3. Students get 15 minutes to write, 5 minutes to review their classmate's work, and 5-6 minutes to share feedback with their classmate. 3. Send the Google Document links via the chat. 4. After 12 minutes, tell students they have 3 more minutes to wrap up writing. 5. After 15 minutes, send students the email they need to review. 6. After 20 minutes, move students into feedback pairs/groups.

Feedback and Error Correction (8-10 minutes) • To provide feedback on students' production and use of language

1. Divide students into pairs/groups with the classmates whose work they're reviewing. 2. Give them 5-6 minutes to discuss their feedback. 3. Return to the group for OCFB and DEC.

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