We are about to enter the most magical time of the year – Christmas! This season offers immense potential for countless themed lesson plans. For this reason, I would like to propose a Christmas email writing lesson that cleverly encourages students to write emails inviting their friends and coworkers to an office Christmas party.
I consider myself a skilled lesson planner, particularly when it comes to themed classes, especially those related to Christmas. Most of my students are at the B1 level and higher, so I haven’t had to create many A2 lesson plans. However, I decided to take on the challenge this year. I believe that everyone, especially adults in corporate jobs, should know how to write formal emails and invitations for their coworkers and superiors. In this lesson, I use the structure from the Cambridge exam, specifically the reading and writing part 6. This approach helps students analyse the task and write two short emails: one informal email to a close coworker and a formal one to their boss.
Encourage your students to practise writing useful email phrases with this Christmas email writing lesson. Download the presentation, worksheet, and teacher’s notes at the end of the blog post.
Warmer: Picture Comparison
Introduce the topic of formal and informal Christmas parties by showing two pictures. In the first picture, students can see a family enjoying a Christmas dinner at the table. In the second picture, there is a Christmas office party where coworkers are celebrating and mingling around the office. Ask the students to identify some similarities and differences between the two pictures. For example, In the first picture, the family is seated at the table, while in the second picture, the people are standing around the office.
Discussion: Invinting People to Events
At this point, students should be able to predict that the class focuses on Christmas parties. To narrow down the topic, engage in a discussion about how students invite their friends, coworkers, and even bosses to parties or other events. Explore how the wording of the invitation changes depending on the person being invited and the reasons behind these changes in behavior.
Writing Focus: Comparing Email Structure
Typically, when teaching writing, students are first presented with the exam task. This time, however, I wanted to focus on the differences between informal and formal emails, particularly the phrases used in each type. Before exploring the differences in wording between the two emails, let’s consider some similarities. The most apparent similarity is the structure. Both messages follow the same pattern: a greeting – an opening line – an invitation to a party – details about the party – a closing line – sign-off.
Analysis: Identifying Differences in Style
Identify the differences between the emails by asking targeted questions. For example, ask which email is formal and which is informal, which one has a friendly tone versus a respectful tone, and which email is more detailed or concise.
Language Focus: Matching Phrases
To conclude, direct the students’ attention to the phrases used in both emails. Explain that while the two messages convey the same type of information, they do so in different styles. Ask the students to match the phrases that have the same meaning in both email. For example, Hi Sara! corresponds to Dear Mr. Smith, and so on.
Language Expansion: Exploring Structure and Style
Show students a basic structure of an invitation and point out the sentences used in previous messages that correspond to different parts of the email. Expand students’ knowledge of useful phrases by asking them to match these phrases to their corresponding parts of the email and determine whether each phrase is formal or informal. This will prepare students for the next part of the lesson and encourage them to create their own responses, slightly different from the examples provided.
Writing Practice: Composing Invitations
Ask the students to write two short invitations for an office Christmas party: one addressed to a close coworker and the other to their boss. This task mirrors a similar exercise they will encounter in the Cambridge KEY exam, making it excellent practice. Remind them to keep each invitation around 25 words long. Give the students about 10 minutes to complete the tasks. Once they finish, review their answers together and provide feedback.
Optional Homework: Email Responses
I usually don’t prepare any homework, but this time I couldn’t resist thinking of one! However, I believe it could be a fun task to have students exchange emails and respond to each other, either accepting or declining an invitation in both informal and formal styles.
I believe everyone should know how to write a good email. You can download the Christmas email writing lesson presentation and worksheet by clicking the links below.
How are you going to celebrate Christmas in your classroom? Are you thinking of incorporating some festive writing tasks this holiday season?
