Primary English: Writing a Letter or Email

Primary English: Writing a Letter or Email — Tutor Lesson Plan

2026-10-27

Tutor lesson-prep guides · Primary English

Letters are easy marks and easy losses: format right and you are safe, tone wrong and you lose. Four parts plus two set lines fix both.

Objectives — the student can produce greeting, opening, body and closing, choose suitable opening and closing lines, and keep the tone consistent.

01 Prerequisites (3-minute check)

If any of these fails, fix it before the lesson starts.

Skill	Quick check	Pass mark
Sentences	Write three complete sentences	Correct
Greetings	Give two English greetings	Hi, Dear
Paragraphs	Write two paragraphs	One point each

02 Lesson flow (40 minutes)

Time	Stage	Tutor does	Student does
0-6 min	Four parts	Greeting, opening, body, closing	Label a model letter
6-16 min	Opening and closing	How are you? / Hope to hear from you soon.	Two of each
16-26 min	Tone	Hi Tom against Dear Mr Chan	Rewrite two lines
26-34 min	Body	One point per paragraph	Write two paragraphs
34-37 min	Fix errors	Board a letter with no closing	Add one
37-40 min	Exit check	Three questions marked at once	Finish alone

03 Teaching script (read it out)

Scene 1: Four parts every time

Dear Tom, then How are you? I am writing to tell you about…, then the body, then Best wishes and your name.
All four parts and the format marks are safe.

Student labels the four parts of a model.

Scene 2: One opening line, one closing line

Openings: How are you? Thank you for your letter.
Closings: Hope to hear from you soon. See you next week.

Student writes two pairs.

Scene 3: Keep the tone consistent

To a friend: Hi Tom, See you soon. To a teacher: Dear Mr Chan, Yours sincerely.
Never mix the two within one letter.

Note: decide the reader before writing.

04 Question types and worked steps

Type	Example	Steps	Answer
Format	Add the missing part	Four parts	By task
Opening	Write a suitable opening	Match the reader	By task
Tone	Rewrite formally	Dear Mr… / Yours sincerely	By sentence
Body	Write two paragraphs	One point each	By task

Sanity check (teach this): Format and tone must agree: a formal greeting needs a formal closing.

05 Independent practice (3 questions)

Question	Answer	What to watch
Opening line to a friend	Hi Tom, How are you?	Tone matches
Closing line to a teacher	Yours sincerely,	Formal
Add the missing greeting	Dear Mr Chan,	Format complete

06 Common mistakes and what to say

Mistake	Student writes	Say this
No closing	stops after the body	Add Best wishes and your name.
Mixed tone	Dear Mr Chan … See ya!	Keep one register.
One long paragraph	everything in one block	One point per paragraph.
Punctuation in the greeting	Dear Tom;	Use a comma.

07 Homework (paper, section and question numbers)

English chapter index — Use the three questions on this page

08 Exit check (last 5 minutes)

Question	Answer	Decision
The four parts	Greeting, opening, body, closing	All right: English module complete
Closing to a teacher	Yours sincerely	One wrong: re-teach tone
What goes in each body paragraph	One point	Two wrong: repeat scene 1

09 Tutor FAQ

Teach the address layout?

Not at primary level; the four parts and tone matter.

Email against letter?

Similar format; an email may add a subject line.

Not enough words?

Add one concrete detail per paragraph.

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A TutorZone lesson-prep guide. Written by the TutorZone team; questions and lesson flow are original and are not taken from any school or publisher material.