writing

Teach 6 skills for writing effective emails

Students need to understand the differences between letter writing, texting, and emailing. Email has a unique purpose, content, and structure, and the specifics of this genre need to be taught explicitly. Teaching students how to create new emails empowers them to learn a lifelong skill.

The following six steps provide a scaffold of lesson ideas for rolling out this genre.

Step 1: Use the subject line wisely.

There is so much value to a well-written subject line—a unique component to emails that most other letter-writing genres do not utilize. Emails arrive instantly, but with so many flooding inboxes, people don’t have time to sort through vague subject lines. A clear, specific subject helps them quickly decide if it’s relevant or just more spam.

Teach students that subject lines should clearly state the reason for the email. In two or three words, this text should clearly articulate the topic and purpose of the email. At a glance, it should be clear what the email is about.

• Following up on…
  
• Question about …
  
• Tech issue with…

When it comes to writing the subject line, don’t be clever or vague; just get to the point!

Step 2. Start with a proper email greeting.

Step two is the opening. Even though an email is not necessarily a friendly letter, we can still set the expectation that students begin each email with an appropriate greeting.

Teach students that the greeting should be tailored to the audience. If the email is for an adult or authority figure, appropriate greetings include Hello Mr. So-and-So or Good evening, Mrs. Such-and-Such. Hope you’re having a great day, Miss So-and-So. If it’s less formal, then the email greeting could be more casual with just the person’s first name.

• Good morning, Mrs. Jackson.
• Dear Mr. Jones,
• Hello [Name],
• Hi [Name],

Addressing the criteria for a respectful greeting will set the tone for a positive two-way conversation.

Step 3: Get to the point.

Emails should be brief. Unlike a friendly letter, emails are business-oriented and meant for quick communication, so leave out small talk and get to the main point. The first sentence should include the reason for the email.

Identify your question. Describe your confusion. Reveal your problem. Email recipients expect electronic communication to be focused and short.

Step 4: Be specific.

Emails usually communicate a request or message that is timely. Teach students to compose the email in a way that the recipient understands exactly what is being asked or shared.

While we want students to use words sparingly when they write emails, we also want them to provide very specific details about the subject. Emphasize to students the importance of including clear and specific information in their emails.

• DON’T WRITE: I need help with this.
• DO WRITE: I have a question about the deadline for the report due next week.
• DON’T WRITE: I don’t get it.
• DO WRITE: I need clarification on the instructions for the project.

In order to help students understand what is meant by specific details, consider using questions like these to illustrate the point.

• What project or topic are you referring to?
  What specific task or issue are you referring to?
  What part of the document, report, or request needs clarification?
  Is there a particular deadline, file, or reference number involved?
  What specific information or support do you need in order to move forward?

Another way to ensure clarity is by highlighting, bolding, or coloring the font for key details, making it easier for the reader to quickly identify and efficiently respond.

• This is just FYI…
  
• I need your answer to…
  
• The deadline has been moved up…
  
• There has been a change…

The goal is for students to write short, concise emails that contain clear detailed information with a specific call to action.

Step 5: Close an email with a proper sign-off.

Just as the beginning of the email should have a proper and respectful greeting, we want students to end every email with a similar approach.

An email includes a closing line before the signature.

• Thanks for your help.
  
• Have a great day.
  
• I appreciate your support.
  
• See you tomorrow.

These simple lines followed by the student’s name/email signature provide the closure that every email needs.

Step 6: Review and edit before hitting send.

Finally, before students hit the “send” button, it’s important to have them review what they have written. Remind students when they send an email, it’s the same as publishing their work. Just as they wouldn’t want to publish their work for the general public without reviewing and editing it first, the same is true with an email.

• Does it make sense?
• Did you spell all the words correctly?
• Did you leave out any words?
• Are proper nouns capitalized?
• Are there words we can remove to make it more concise?
• Does it convey its intended message?

Addressing these types of questions is important in all types of writing—including email writing—and especially with how to write emails to teachers.

Once the skills have all been presented in mini-lesson instruction, download these resources to share with your students as a helpful reference for the six steps.

Take student emails even further

After mastering the six steps, here are a few follow-up tips and tricks to share with students on how to create a new email.

Tips & Tricks

• Use proper formatting. Break the text into paragraphs so it is not one long stream of consciousness. A well-structured email helps the recipient quickly understand and respond efficiently.
• Create bulleted lists. If an email includes multiple points or items— teach students how to make a bulleted list. Bullets make an email easier to read and are part of technical writing and the purposeful nature of this kind of writing.
• Use standard grammar. Make sure students are using standard grammar and spelling and punctuation and not “text talk.”
• Expect a reply. Emails usually result in a reply. Teach students not to expect instant results like they would when sending a text. Depending on the nature of the email or the recipient, the wait might include multiple business days. Help them understand to check for replies several hours (or days) later, possibly during office hours if the email was sent to a business.
• Reply to the response. Finally, make sure students know to send a reply that acknowledges that they received the response. Depending on the response, send a simple thank-you to let the other party know that the reply made it through cyberspace and the message is understood.

These strategies for how to create new emails will help students develop strong email-writing habits that reflect real-world communication. When planning letter-writing units, target the email genre as this is a lifelong technical-writing skill.

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