How to Teach Preschool Children about Email
Lesson Objectives
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
1. Define email in their own words
2. Explain how to create and respond to an email
3. Write an email to someone
Lesson Hook
Gather students in a meeting area where they can see the computer. Show them the inbox to your email account. Ask them what they see:
1. Ask students to explain what they already know about email (mommy and daddy use it at work; it can be used on a smartphone; it sends a message).
2. Point out different aspects of the email inbox (addresses; message subjects; dates etc).
3. Take questions and/or comments as they arise
Lesson Procedure (NOTE: Please refer to the PowerPoint at this point. You will still need this lesson plan. The PowerPoint and lesson plan should be used together).
Say: Today you will learn about email. Who can tell me what they know about email? Has anyone ever written an email? Who uses email in your home? Why do people use email?
Acknowledge and praise answers. Let this begin your teaching point (objective 1).
Say: Before we learn how to write and respond to an email, we need to be to say what email is. Email is a letter or note that you write on the computer, smartphone, or iPad and send electronically. Do you use a stamp to send an email? Does an email go through the mail? Do you write an email with a pencil or pen? No, no, and no. Emails are sent from one person to another using the internet.
Say: Who thinks they can explain what email is using their own words? Call on volunteers to paraphrase your definition. Since most can read the words of the definition, use pictures to explain your words. For example, show a picture of a letter, a computer, a computer screen and arrows like this:
Say: Now I am going to give you time to turn and talk to your partner about email. I want you to explain to your partner what email is. Then draw a picture to explain what you talked about.
Give the kids time to discuss and draw their pictures. Call on volunteers to share their explanations and pictures with the class.
Say: Now we are going to learn how to write and respond to an email (objective 2).
Say: This is my email account. My email address is (). This is like my home address. It tells the computer where to send my email. An email address starts with a name followed by the at symbol (@) and ends with .com. When I write an email, I send it to someone else’s email address. I am going to write a new email. Now follow these steps:
- Click the “compose” button.
- Type the email address
- Write a subject
- Write a short note
- Click send
Let me show you how to write an email. I am going to send an email to my friend. Show kids where to type the email address.
Now I am going to write my email letter. That message goes in the large box below the email address. In this part (the subject bar), I can tell the person what this email is going to be about. Just like a letter, I can write Dear friend, and then write the letter. Will you help me write an email?
Ask students to help you write the email but be sure to explicitly write the email address () and the subject (my first email). Below is a sample:
email address:
subject: this is my first email
Dear friend,
I am writing you an email. It is my first time sending an email. I hope you like it.
Your friend,
Sam
Say: Now that we know how to write an email, I am going to show you how to respond to an email. When you respond to an email, you write back to a person. How many of you have written a card or letter back to someone who wrote you a letter?
Make sure you have an email in your inbox that you can respond to. This email should have questions that you can respond to.
Say: When you respond to an email, you click the “reply” button. What do you see? Kids should say a blank email-it should look familiar to them from when you showed how to write an email. Now that I have place to write back, I am going to respond to the email and answer this person’s questions. I am also going to ask Sam a question so he has something to say when he responds to me.
Dear Sam,
I am good, thanks for asking. I like to play baseball too but my favorite game is hockey. Have you ever played hockey?
From,
Jackson
Then I click send and my email goes through the internet to Sam’s computer. He will receive this email in his inbox.
If the kids have access to computers, they can practice sending and responding to an email. In order to do this:
1. Set up email accounts for the class (ask for parents’ permission first).
2. Send each student an email with questions to answer BEFORE this lesson.
3. Ask students to write an email to someone and respond to your email.
If you do not have computers, use just the activity sheet below. There are 2 email templates. The second template can be used to write a response to someone’s email.
Email Activity Sheet