Using Email
Written by Leslie
Adams
Level: Secondary or Adult Intermediate ESL E-Mail Project
Before you begin:
Register with St. Olaf College - Intercultural E-Mail Classroom Connections or http://www.iecc.org, you can sign up for secondary or Higher Ed partners.
You will receive the names and addresses of other teachers who want to set up exchanges with their classes. Respond until you find a match for your class. Once you have found a match for your class, coordinate with the partner teacher to decide what kind and how many exchanges you will have.
Requirements:
You need several Internet accessible computers. I have used four computers with a class of 25.
Level: Low Intermediate to Advanced
Students need to get personal e-mail addresses from a free email service. There are many free email services. Some of the most common are
There is also http://www.gaggle.net which is teacher monitored service allowing the teacher to monitor students’ e-mail.
Introduction:
Prepare students for their e-mail exchanges by planning writing assignments that give them an opportunity to rehearse the type of exchanges they will have with their e-mail partners.
Suggested topics for assignments:
Presentation:
Most free email services have a form for students to fill out. The teacher should make a transparency of the form the students will fill out to get their e-mail address. This can be reviewed with the whole class. Give students a paper copy of the form and have them fill in the spaces. Later the students can obtain e-mail.
The process of getting an email account, is one-on-one, but as students learn how to do it they can help each other get their e-mail addresses. The teacher should be students' first e-mail partner. Several exchanges with the teacher get students ready for keypal partners from another class. The teacher can model what the exchanges should be. The teacher also supplies a good writing model for the students.
Practice:
Set up a daily routine in which students access their e-mail and print it. Students return to their seats where they write a response to their e-mail letter. Later they return to the computer to input their response. This routine makes it possible for 25 students to use as few as four computers and still participate in an e-mail project.
Evaluation:
Have students send you a CC so you can monitor how the exchanges are progressing. Keep in contact with the other teacher so you can get feedback from that end.
Application:
Have students continue to use e-mail to communicate with you. The teacher can also send electronic greeting cards to students’ e-mail addresses. The students then can learn how to create these cards in response to the teacher’s cards. This can be connected to holiday cultural lessons that include reading and writing activities.