Email Ping-Pong – Students work in pairs. Student A writes a very short email (3–4 sentences) asking 2–3 questions. Student B replies and asks two new questions. Then A replies again. Topics can be weekend plans, hobbies, family, school, bedroom, favourite things, etc.
Find Someone Who… by Email – Give them a mission such as: Find someone who has got a pet / shares a bedroom / plays a sport / likes the same singer as you. But instead of asking orally, they write short messages: Hi Marta! Have you got a pet? What is its name? Their partner must answer in email style.
Email Information Gap – A and B have different information. For example, both are planning a birthday party, but A knows the place and food, while B knows the time and activities. They must email each other asking for the missing information: What time is the party? What food have we got?
Bad Email Doctor – Project a deliberately terrible email:
hey teacher
i cant come tomorrow
send homework
bye
In pairs, students identify what is wrong and improve it: greeting, capital letters, polite language, closing, etc. You can make this competitive: one point for every problem they spot.
Put the Email in Order – Project or write scrambled parts of an email on the board. Students discuss the correct order: greeting → opening → information → questions → closing → name. After reconstructing it, they use the same structure to write their own.
Mystery Classmate Email – Each student writes an anonymous email describing themselves without giving their name: I’m 12. I’ve got one brother. I love basketball. My favourite subject is PE… You read or display some emails and the class guesses: Is it Marc?
Choose Your Reply – Show an email on the board:
Hi! I’m having a birthday party on Saturday. Would you like to come? It starts at 5. We’re going to have pizza and watch a film. What films do you like?
Give students three possible replies. They decide which is best and explain why. Then they write their own reply.
Email Role Cards — without cards – Simply assign roles orally or put them on the board: Student A: You are inviting a friend to spend Saturday with you. Student B: You want to go, but you need to know the time, place and what to bring. They exchange emails containing genuine questions and answers.
Email Chain – Groups of four. Student 1 writes the beginning of an email and passes it on. Student 2 adds information, Student 3 adds questions, and Student 4 writes the ending. Then the group reads the finished email and corrects it together. This can become quite funny.
Real-life Email Challenge – Give them a realistic situation rather than “Write an email about your hobbies”: Your English-speaking cousin is coming to Barcelona for the weekend. Write an email suggesting what you can do together. Or: A new exchange student is joining your class. Email them and tell them about your school.
