Overview
Students participate in an e-mail project. They write and
respond to e-mails based on a series of problems. The project
can be done in two ways:
• the students write the e-mails by hand on the photocopiable
template on page 184. The messages are then ‘delivered’ by
the teacher or by the students themselves.
• students with access to a computer network with internal
e-mail can type their messages and send them across the
network. The teacher can also ask learners to print out the
e-mails in order to correct them later.
Preparation
• One copy of the worksheet for each pair/small group of
students. Cut the worksheet into two.
• For students doing the e-mails by hand, three copies of the
e-mail template on page 184 for each student; for students
working on computers, check you know the e-mail address
of the computers they are sending the messages to/from.
Procedure
1 Ask students if they can pick up e-mail remotely and if
they find this convenient or if it just creates more work.
2 Students should ideally draft the e-mails in pairs/small
groups but, in smaller classes, they can work
individually. Divide the class into AB pairs/small groups.
Hand out the correct half of the worksheet to each
student/group. Give students time to read the role card
and the problem cards. Check vocabulary as necessary
and that each student/group knows the name of the
person they will be e-mailing.
3 Give students time to compose and send their e-mails.
Tell them to keep the e-mails short and to focus on the
main information in the problem cards. (You could set a
time limit of five minutes per e-mail to keep the e-mail
exchange moving.) Remind students that they may need
to write more than three messages if they need to clarify
something or to ask for additional information. Monitor
the activity and be prepared to ‘deliver’ the messages
across the classroom.
4
Take the e-mails in for marking if appropriate. Students
working on a network can print off the e-mails.