School Emails and Messages

A2 · Elementary54 minFamily & Everyday LifeLesson 1 of 5 · Free

Aims

Understand the school newsletter and the class group: trips, permission slips, non-uniform day, and how to send a short, polite reply

The lesson, stage by stage

  1. Warm up5 min

    Warm-up: Read It Once, Reply in One Line

    3 warm-up questions

    • How does your child's school send you messages?
    • Tell me about the last message you got from the school.
    • Do you answer school messages quickly or later?
  2. Reading10 min

    Reading: Friday's Newsletter

    Read a 154-word text about Friday's Newsletter

    Friday's Newsletter Every Friday, Oakfield Primary sends a newsletter to all parents by email. It is always short, and it always ends with the same three lines. This week Dear parents, Year 3 are going to the Sea Life Centre on Thursday 14 May. The coach leaves at nine o'clock, so please arrive by 8.45. Children need a packed lunch and a warm coat. The trip costs eight pounds per child. Please pay online and sign the permission slip by Tuesday. Friday is a non-uniform day. Children can wear their own clothes and bring one pound for the school garden. Kind regards, Mrs Patel, Headteacher What parents actually do Ana read the newsletter on the bus. She paid the eight pounds on her phone, signed the slip on Monday morning, and wrote four words in the class group: "Slip signed, thank you!" It took her two minutes. Short is polite, and short is enough.

  3. Vocabulary8 min

    Vocabulary: Words the School Uses

    7 items

  4. Practice7 min

    Practice: What Does the School Mean?

    Matching exercise, 6 items

    • Non-uniform day
    • Permission slip
    • Packed lunch
    • Newsletter
    • Parents' evening
    • Class rep
  5. Practice7 min

    Practice: Finish the Reply

    Gap-fill exercise, 6 items

    • I am writing ____ ask about the school trip.
    • Mia ____ going to bring her PE kit on Thursday.
    • Could you ____ me the time of the coach, please?
    • Sorry, I ____ read your email until this morning.
    • We ____ going to collect Sam at three o'clock.
    • Thank you ____ the newsletter about non-uniform day.
  6. Practice7 min

    Practice: Build a Short Reply

    Word-ordering exercise, 6 items

    • for · information · Thank · the · you
    • a · bring · lunch · Mia · packed · will
    • have · I · permission · signed · slip · the
    • Can · I · instead · online · pay
    • for · late · reply · Sorry · the
    • coach · does · leave · the · time · What
  7. Discussion10 min

    Discussion: Let's Talk

    4 discussion questions

    • How many messages does your child's school send in a week? Is that too many?
    • Tell me about a school message you did not understand. What did you do?
    • Do you write in the class group, or do you only read it? Why?
    • In your country, do parents talk to the school by email, by phone, or face to face?

Target vocabulary

In a Tuton account these words become your student's vocabulary deck, so they come back in practice between lessons.

newsletter
The school's regular email with all the news
permission slip
A paper you sign to say yes to a trip
non-uniform day
A day when children wear their own clothes
trip
A short journey with the class to another place
sign
To write your name on a paper or a form
reply
To answer a message or an email
class group
The parents' message group for one class

This plan comes from the English for Parents course in the Tuton library. Browse all free lesson plans.