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Writing Emails and Blogs
Email carries the most important messages from your teacher to your home, from your family to their friends, and from one business to another. Learning to write email opens the world to you.
Blogs let you express yourself to others online. You might have your own blog, where you write reflections on your life. Or you might participate in a classroom blog, where you have online conversations with your classmates and teacher.
This chapter teaches emails and blogs.
What’s Ahead
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Using Email
Whether you are writing to a friend or sending a message to a teacher, follow these steps to write and send an email.
1. Choose a topic.
- Think about your reader and what you want to say.
- Make a list of the details you will include.
2. Fill in the email heading.
- Type in the email address of the person you are writing to. (You can do this last to avoid accidentally sending a message that isn’t ready.)
- In the subject line, include the topic of your message.
3. Write the message.
- In the beginning, greet the reader and say why you’re writing.
- In the middle, give all the details you want to share. If you need answers or want the person to write back, say so.
- In the ending, close with some polite words and your name.
4. Check your writing.
_____ Is the reader’s email address correct?
_____ Is the subject line clear and specific?
_____ Does the beginning state the main point of the message?
_____ Does the middle include all the details in the message?
_____ Is the message easy to read, with short paragraphs?
_____ Are the spelling and punctuation correct?
4. Hit “send.”
- With a little luck, you’ll get a reply.
- If you get no reply, try writing again.
- Think about your reader and what you want to say.
- Make a list of the details you will include.
2. Fill in the email heading.
- Type in the email address of the person you are writing to. (You can do this last to avoid accidentally sending a message that isn’t ready.)
- In the subject line, include the topic of your message.
3. Write the message.
- In the beginning, greet the reader and say why you’re writing.
- In the middle, give all the details you want to share. If you need answers or want the person to write back, say so.
- In the ending, close with some polite words and your name.
4. Check your writing.
_____ Is the reader’s email address correct?
_____ Is the subject line clear and specific?
_____ Does the beginning state the main point of the message?
_____ Does the middle include all the details in the message?
_____ Is the message easy to read, with short paragraphs?
_____ Are the spelling and punctuation correct?
4. Hit “send.”
- With a little luck, you’ll get a reply.
- If you get no reply, try writing again.
- Type in the email address of the person you are writing to. (You can do this last to avoid accidentally sending a message that isn’t ready.)
- In the subject line, include the topic of your message.
3. Write the message.
- In the beginning, greet the reader and say why you’re writing.
- In the middle, give all the details you want to share. If you need answers or want the person to write back, say so.
- In the ending, close with some polite words and your name.
4. Check your writing.
_____ Is the reader’s email address correct?
_____ Is the subject line clear and specific?
_____ Does the beginning state the main point of the message?
_____ Does the middle include all the details in the message?
_____ Is the message easy to read, with short paragraphs?
_____ Are the spelling and punctuation correct?
4. Hit “send.”
- With a little luck, you’ll get a reply.
- If you get no reply, try writing again.
- In the beginning, greet the reader and say why you’re writing.
- In the middle, give all the details you want to share. If you need answers or want the person to write back, say so.
- In the ending, close with some polite words and your name.
4. Check your writing.
_____ Is the reader’s email address correct?
_____ Is the subject line clear and specific?
_____ Does the beginning state the main point of the message?
_____ Does the middle include all the details in the message?
_____ Is the message easy to read, with short paragraphs?
_____ Are the spelling and punctuation correct?
4. Hit “send.”
- With a little luck, you’ll get a reply.
- If you get no reply, try writing again.
_____ Is the reader’s email address correct?
_____ Is the subject line clear and specific?
_____ Does the beginning state the main point of the message?
_____ Does the middle include all the details in the message?
_____ Is the message easy to read, with short paragraphs?
_____ Are the spelling and punctuation correct?
4. Hit “send.”
- With a little luck, you’ll get a reply.
- If you get no reply, try writing again.
- With a little luck, you’ll get a reply.
- If you get no reply, try writing again.
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Sample Email
This email was written by a student to his teacher. The message is easy to read, and the student checked it for errors before sending it. You can use this email as a model when you write your own.
To: ewilson@bayviewelementary.edu
Subject: Personal Narrative on Life Event
Dear Mrs. Wilson,
I have attached the personal narrative that I wrote about my grandpa’s funeral. It talks about a hard time in my life, and writing it really helped me understand what had happened.
We didn’t even know Grandpa was sick, just a little wobbly on his legs. His knees were bad. But then he was suddenly in the hospital, and they did a CT scan and found cancer on his liver and spine and pancreas. Two weeks later, he was gone.
That was hard enough, but it was even worse to watch my dad go through it. In the narrative, I talk about comforting him, which seemed weird at the time but now seems right.
My dad said giving the eulogy helped him work through his feelings, and I can say that writing this essay has helped me, too.
Thanks,
Theo Ray
Attachment: Grandpa’s Funeral
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Using Blogs
A group blog is like a never-ending conversation. Someone posts a comment, someone else responds, and on and on it goes.
Think, Then Write
Here are some tips for blogging:
- Think about what you just read in a blog post.
- Do you have something to say about it? If you do, then write a response.
- Answer a question, share an opinion, or tell something you know. Use clear, polite words.
- Post your comment.
- Read what other people are saying.
- Write another comment if you have something else to say. Remember to be polite if you are commenting on what a classmate or a teacher said.
Use a Checklist
Review your comment before you post it to the blog. Ask yourself the questions on this checklist to help decide whether your comment is ready to post. (You can also use the “Editing and Proofreading Checklist” on page 66.)
_____ Does my comment answer a question, share my opinion, or tell about something I know?
_____ Is my comment friendly, informative, and polite?
_____ Do I say everything I need to say?
_____ Do I follow the rules for spelling, punctuation, and capitalization?
_____ Do I have permission from my parent or teacher to share my blog post?
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Sample Classroom Blog
The following classroom blog was set up by a teacher. It’s a place for students to discuss the books they are reading.
