Unit 4: Writing: The Informal Email : cours 1 Bac SM

1Course Objectives

This section outlines what students are expected to know, do, and develop in attitude by the end of this lesson on informal email writing, in line with the Moroccan Ministry of National Education guidelines for 1ère Année Baccalauréat.

Knowledge Objectives (What You Will Know)

Purpose & Audience

Identify the specific purpose of an informal email — to communicate personally with friends, family members, or close contacts — and understand how the target audience shapes every word choice and structural decision.

Five-Part Structure

Name and recognise the five essential components of an informal email: greeting, opening line, body, closing line, and sign-off .

Register

Understand the concept of register (the level of formality in language) and clearly distinguish informal register from formal register with concrete examples.

Linguistic Features

Recognise the key linguistic features of informal English: contractions (e.g. I'm, don't, it's), phrasal verbs (e.g. hang out, look forward to), and everyday vocabulary rather than complex or technical terms.

Skills Objectives (What You Will Do)

Structure & Format

Correctly structure and format a complete informal email, placing each of the five components in the right position on the page.

Produce a Full Email

Write a complete informal email of 80-120 words in direct and accurate response to an exam prompt, respecting the word-count range required at this level.

Tone Consistency

Maintain a consistently friendly, warm, and sincere tone from the greeting to the sign-off, with no sudden shifts into formal or cold language.

Attitude Objectives (What You Will Develop)

Confidence

Build confidence in using written English for real-life personal communication, seeing the email as a practical tool rather than just an exam task.

Audience Awareness

Develop a strong sense of audience and purpose : always asking "Who am I writing to?" and "Why am I writing?" before putting pen to paper.

$Objective Type$	$Core Competency$	$Assessed Through$
$Knowledge$	$Know the purpose, audience, structure, and features of an informal email$	$Identification exercises & quizzes$
$Skill$	$Plan, draft, and produce a well-structured informal email of 80-120 words$	$Written exam tasks & in-class writing$
$Attitude$	$Develop confidence, audience awareness, and a sense of personal voice$	$Peer feedback & self-assessment$

Summary of the three objective types for this writing lesson.

Objective

A clear, measurable learning goal that describes what a student should know, be able to do, or value by the end of a lesson.

Informal Email

A written electronic message sent to someone the writer knows personally (friend, family member, close contact), using relaxed, friendly, and conversational language.

Register

The level of formality in language. An informal register uses contractions, everyday words, and a warm tone; a formal register uses full forms, technical vocabulary, and a neutral or professional tone.

Audience

The person or group for whom a text is written. Knowing your audience determines your word choice, tone, and structure.

Word Count (80-120 words)

The required length of an informal email in the 1ère Année Baccalauréat exam. Staying within this range shows control of content and conciseness.

Why These Objectives Matter for the Exam

The writing task in the Moroccan Baccalauréat English exam tests all three objective types simultaneously: markers check structure (knowledge), word count and accuracy (skill), and tone consistency (attitude).

A student who masters these objectives can score full marks on the writing component by producing an email that is correctly structured, appropriately informal, and communicatively effective .

2Essential Prerequisites

Before studying informal email writing, students should already be comfortable with a number of foundational English skills. This brief section checks those building blocks so that no student is left behind during the lesson.

The table below gives a quick self-check overview of every prerequisite skill covered in this section. Use it to identify any gap you need to review before moving on.

$Skill Area$	$What You Need to Know$	$Why It Matters in an Informal Email$
$Basic Verb Tenses$	$Simple Present, Present Continuous, Simple Past$	$Used to share news, describe habits, and report past events$
$Sentence Structure$	$Subject-Verb-Object order; simple & compound sentences$	$Produces clear, readable sentences$
$Coordinating Conjunctions$	$and, but, so, because$	$Links ideas smoothly and avoids choppy writing$
$Basic Punctuation$	$Capital letters, commas, full stops, question marks$	$Ensures the email is correctly formatted and easy to read$
$Core Everyday Vocabulary$	$Family, school, hobbies, routines, feelings$	$Provides the content words needed to write about real life$
$Personal Pronouns$	$Subject: I, you, he, she, it, we, they / Object: me, you, him, her, it, us, them$	$Maintains correct grammatical reference throughout the email$

Prerequisite skills checklist for Unit 4 — Writing: The Informal Email.

Each skill area is explained in detail below, with short examples drawn from everyday informal email contexts.

Simple Present

Used to talk about habits, routines, and general facts. Example in an email: "I usually wake up at 7 o'clock." / "My school starts at 8 a.m."

Present Continuous

Used to describe actions happening right now or around the time of writing. Example: "I am studying for my exams this week." / "We are planning a trip."

Simple Past

Used to report completed events, especially when sharing news. Example: "I visited my grandparents last weekend." / "We had a great time at the school party."

Quick Tense Guide for Emails

Simple Present

Habits & facts \to "She lives in Casablanca." / "I love football."

Present Continuous

Ongoing actions \to "He is preparing for his exams."

Simple Past

Completed events \to "We finished the project yesterday."

Sentence structure is the backbone of any written message. At this level, you should be able to write two types of sentences:

Simple sentence : one subject + one verb + (object/complement). Example: "I passed my test." Compound sentence : two simple sentences joined by a coordinating conjunction. Example: "I passed my test, and I was very happy."

The standard word order in English is Subject \to Verb \to Object (SVO) . Never invert this order without a grammatical reason (e.g., questions). Correct: "My friend sent me a message." Incorrect: "Sent me a message my friend."

and

Adds one idea to another. "I like swimming and I enjoy reading."

but

Introduces a contrast or unexpected idea. "I wanted to call you, but I lost my phone."

so

Shows a result or consequence. "It was raining, so we stayed inside."

because

Gives a reason or explanation. "I am writing because I have great news!"

Punctuation Rules to Remember

Capital letters

Always start sentences, names, and the pronoun "I" with a capital letter.

Comma after greeting

Always place a comma after the opening greeting: "Dear Sara,"

Comma in lists

Separate items in a list: "I bought books, pens, and a notebook."

Full stop

End every statement with a full stop (period).

Question mark

End every direct question with a question mark: "How are you?"

Core everyday vocabulary forms the raw material of any informal email. The five topic areas you must be comfortable with are:

Family : mother, father, sister, brother, grandmother, uncle, cousin\dots School life : exam, teacher, subject, homework, classroom, grade, holiday\dots Hobbies : reading, playing football, cooking, drawing, listening to music\dots Daily routines : wake up, have breakfast, go to school, come back home, do homework\dots Feelings : happy, sad, excited, nervous, tired, surprised, proud, worried\dots

Personal pronouns must be used correctly to maintain grammatical accuracy throughout the email. Mixing up subject and object pronouns is one of the most frequent errors at this level.

$Person$	$Subject Pronoun$	$Object Pronoun$	$Example Sentence$
$1st singular$	$I$	$me$	$I called him. He called me.$
$2nd singular/plural$	$you$	$you$	$You helped me. I helped you.$
$3rd singular (m)$	$he$	$him$	$He wrote it. I wrote to him.$
$3rd singular (f)$	$she$	$her$	$She told us. We told her.$
$3rd singular (thing)$	$it$	$it$	$It is great. I love it.$
$1st plural$	$we$	$us$	$We enjoyed it. They invited us.$
$3rd plural$	$they$	$them$	$They arrived. We met them.$

Subject vs. Object pronouns — essential for writing grammatically correct emails.

Prerequisite Skills in Context

Statement

Read the following short email extract. Identify: (a) the tense used in each underlined sentence, (b) the coordinating conjunction, and (c) the object pronoun.

Data

"Hi Sara! I hope you are doing well. [1] I passed my English exam last Friday. [2] My teacher gave me a big smile, and I was so proud. [3] I am studying harder this term because I want to improve my grades. Write back soon!"

Method

Locate each underlined element, name the grammatical feature, and justify your answer.

Solution

Sentence [1]: 'I passed my English exam last Friday.' \to Simple Past (completed event: last Friday). Sentence [2]: 'My teacher gave me a big smile, and I was so proud.' \to Simple Past in both clauses; coordinating conjunction = 'and' (addition); object pronoun = 'me'. Sentence [3]: 'I am studying harder this term because I want to improve my grades.' \to Present Continuous ('am studying' — ongoing action); conjunction = 'because' (reason).

Interpretation

This short extract alone uses three different tenses, two conjunctions, and one object pronoun — all drawn from the prerequisite skills list. Mastering these basics directly improves the quality and accuracy of your informal email.

Self Check Before You Continue

Can you write one sentence in each of the three core tenses (Simple Present, Present Continuous, Simple Past) about your own life?

Can you join two ideas using 'and', 'but', 'so', and 'because'?

Can you correctly use subject and object pronouns in the same sentence (e.g., 'She called me' not 'Her called I')?

Can you write five words in each vocabulary category: family, school, hobbies, routines, feelings?

If you answered YES to all four questions, you are fully ready to begin the lesson on informal email writing.

Plan du chapitre

Sur cette page

1Course Objectives
2Essential Prerequisites

Dans la classe

3Key Definitions: Register, Tone, and Contractions
4The Five-Part Structure of an Informal Email
5Register and Tone: Keeping It Informal and Consistent
6Language Tools: Contractions, Cohesion Devices, and Useful Expressions
7The Writing Process: From Prompt to Finished Email
8Solved Examples: Four Model Emails
9Common Errors and How to Avoid Them
10Exam Preparation and Final Checklist