Email Vocabulary Handout: Letter Writing and Life Skills

This product contains a useful one-page handout with all the necessary vocabulary to get started with emails (including the dreaded "reply all" button).

We spend so much time in the classroom teaching our students creative writing and essay writing, but when they have careers in the future, what kind of writing will occupy most of their day? Emails of course! In this handout, all of the basic vocabulary needed to understand writing emails is explained in simple language. The handout is even set-up like an email so students can see where each part of the message goes.

Grades to Use With: This assignment could work well for students in grades 5-12. It could be a useful addition to an expository writing unit in the middle grades, or it could be an excellent resource for a life skills or career education class in high school.

How to Use:

Project this handout on the board, and explicitly teach your students the key vocabulary components of every email: to, carbon copy, blind carbon copy, subject, salutation, body, signature, attachments, compose, forward, reply, and reply all. Students need to know the function of each of these parts of the email (especially to avoid the dreaded "Reply All" mistake that we have all made once or twice).

Then, use one or more of my email scenario activities to have your students practice writing emails that they will encounter as they move through high school and early adulthood. Each activity includes tips and reminders for the specific scenario and then a sample task that students need to write an email for. Check them out in my store:

Emailing a Job Application

Emailing an Apartment Listing

Emailing a Potential Reference

Emailing a Post Secondary Institution

Emailing a Teacher or Coach

A one-page handout in PDF format