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22 Writing Business Letters and Emails

Page
104
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Writing Business Letters and Emails

Start-Up Activity

Create a treasure map that leads to some part of your classroom. Have a treat hidden there, such as a bag of jelly beans.

Roll up your treasure map, put it into a bottle, and pass the a bottle around the classroom. Have students try to fish the map out of the bottle, using pencils, pens, paper clips, or whatever other means they can think of. The struggle to retrieve the message in the bottle will make it more exciting when finally a student succeeds in getting the map out. Have the student then lead the rest of the class in figuring out the clues and finding the snack.

While students enjoy their reward, point out how a letter in an envelope is just like a treasure map in a bottle. It gives the reader information that could lead to some sweet success. Let students know they will be creating their own letters and email messages in this chapter.

Think About It

“There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island.”

—Walt Disney

 

Page 105 from Write Away

Letter Writing Tips

Lead your students through these tips for writing letters. Emphasize that a letter needs to have a purpose. You are writing for a reason about a specific topic. A letter also has an audience. A specific person will receive and read the letter. Letters are forms of communication, from one person to another to accomplish something.

The form that a letter takes is important as well, but the whole point of formatting is to make sure the reader understands the topic and purpose of the letter.

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NE ELA Standard:

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Page 106 from Write Away

Six Parts of a Business Letter

Use this page to point out the key parts of a business letter. Define each part and explain how it helps the reader understand the message. Refer to the parts in the model on page 107.

 

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Page 107 from Write Away

SAMPLE Business Letter

Read aloud parts 1 and 2 of the sample business letter. Then have a volunteer read aloud the rest of the letter. Afterward, ask your students these questions about the letter.

  • Who is sending the letter? (Michael Shabani)
  • Who is receiving the letter? (Officer Friendly)
  • What is the topic of the letter? (Bike safety)
  • What is the purpose of the letter? (To ask Officer Friendly to send information)
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Page 108 from Write Away

Sending Your Letter

Talk about the way to address a letter, with the sender's information in the upper left corner, the receiver's information in the middle, and the stamp in the upper right. Also, help students understand the three-line structure of addresses:

PERSON'S NAME

STREET ADDRESS

CITY STATE ZIP

Note: Though the post office prefers all capital letters with no punctuation, addressing an envelope with upper and lowercase letters and standard punctuation is also acceptable.

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NE ELA Standard:

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Page 109 from Write Away

Folding Your Letter

Help students understand how to fold a page in thirds. They should fold a little more than three inches of the bottom part of the page, leaving a little more than three inches of the top part showing. Then they should fold down the top part. Have them double-check the address on their envelopes before sealing and sending their letters.

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Page 110 from Write Away

Using Email

Have a volunteer read the email. Then ask your students about it:

  • Who sent this message? (Mr. Daly's class)
  • Who received this message? (Officer Friendly)
  • What is the topic of this message? (Officer Friendly's class visit)
  • What is the purpose of this message? (To thank Officer Friendly for visiting)

Point out that this email must have followed the letter on page 107, which asked for information from the officer. Often, letters, emails, phone calls, and face-to-face talks work together in business.

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Page 111 from Write Away

Parts of an Email

Lead your students through the main parts of the email message. Point out how the send button is like the stamp and the email addresses are like the street addresses for regular mail. Also, show how the greeting, text, and closing work in a similar way. The main new feature is the subject line, which is important to get readers to open the email and take it seriously.

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