A2 – Christmas Email

Description

An A2-level ESL lesson on Writing Christmas Invitations

This 45-minute A2 lesson helps students write formal and informal Christmas party invitations—ideal for Cambridge A2 Key exam practice. Through picture comparisons, email analysis, and targeted phrase matching, learners explore tone, structure, and useful expressions. The lesson ends with a writing task to create two invitations. Includes a ready-to-use worksheet and teacher’s notes for easy delivery.

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

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

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.

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

Have students exchange emails and respond to each other, either accepting or declining an invitation in both informal and formal styles.