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The Engaging Station

Blog & Resources by Staci Lamb

Teaching Students How to Write an Email

I was never taught how to write an email. I just knew that I should include a subject, address the recipient, format it like a mini-letter, and close it. One might think that our current students, having grown up in a digital world, would have adapted accordingly and write something resembling a normal email. I don’t want to speak on behalf of all of us, but this is certainly not the case from what I have experienced over the last few years. From what I recall, I have never received a properly structured email until after I explicitly taught my students the structure.

I have received emails with missing subjects, names, greetings, and closings. I have even received emails with angry emojis after I posted grades. Emojis. I have noticed the “Sent from my iPhone” default message at the bottom of their email which may attribute to their texting language, but at least in my opinion, it’s not okay. They need to learn how to write emails and at least learn some email etiquette.

Think about how many times you have opened your email to find something that resembles the emails below:


All of this becomes even more frustrating when it’s prettygirl348@yahoo.com or mrniceguy987@aol.com. I’ll be the first to admit that back in my AOL days, I had some interesting usernames and email addresses, but by high school, I had a more professional one with my first and last name.
The good news is that it doesn’t take long to address and fix their errors. Maybe it’s not our job to help them or it doesn’t fit in with our curriculum/plans, but it’s a great skill to address especially as many schools are shifting towards a 1:1 digitally blended classroom.
How do you weigh in on this topic? What do you do in your classroom to address this? Comment below or let me know on Instagram!
If you want an easy way to approach this in your classroom, check out my two Emailing Activities products by clicking the pictures below! 🙂

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