Katie Roskovensky

SLM 521

Email (Elective 13)

Email Tips for Third Graders

Sending a letter or sending an email are two great ways to communicate. But, they are quite different. Here are some tips to follow when sending emails.

1. Avoid making sarcastic comments. Remember that you cannot change the tone of your voice when you are emailing and the person reading your email may take your comment in a way that you didn’t mean for it to be taken.

2. In the subject bar make sure that you briefly write what your email is about. Remember that people get all kinds of emails everyday and some emails are what we call “junk mail.” If you don’t want your mail to be thrown away with the junk mail, the subject line must be specific enough so that the reader knows it’s important.

3. Use the spell check option before sending an important email. We don’t want people thinking your third grade teacher doesn’t teach you spelling!

4. Keep your emails short. The nice thing about email is that if a person has questions he or she can email you back and then you can respond to any questions quickly. You don’t need to go over everything in one email.

5. If you are sending an attachment or have included a link for someone to see, make sure in the message section, you tell the person what the attachment or link is.

6. When you are sending an email to someone for the first time, make sure you introduce yourself in the first line or two. Remember, there is a lot of “junk mail” being sent. Tell them who you are and how you got their email address, then go into your main message. For example, your first line could be… Hi, my name is Mrs. Roskovensky and I am writing to you because I am doing an assignment on animals and I know you work in a zoo. My teacher recommended that I write to you to gain some information.

7. Use a simple font. Not all computers have the same font choices and if you choose one that is different from the options on the receiver’s computer, it could change the way the font looks.

8. Don’t change fonts throughout your email. Again, keep it simple.

9. If you are responding to a question someone sent to you, make sure you restate the question before answering. If you don’t, the original sender could forget what his question was and think you are responding to something else.

10. Avoid using all caps. Some people think this means you are yelling, and you wouldn’t want to upset any of your friends!