✏️ WritingGrade 3Lesson 25
← Back🔒 PDF with full access

Write Letters and Friendly Emails

Lesson preview: the Mini Lesson and Vocabulary are open to everyone. Guided practice, exercises, the parent checklist and the printable PDF worksheet come with full access (free 7-day trial or membership).

Learning Objectives

  • 1Use the three-part structure — greeting, main message, and closing — for letters and emails
  • 2Punctuate a salutation with a comma and sign off with a comma plus the writer name on the next line
  • 3Open the main message with a connection and close it with a question that invites a reply
  • 4Match tone and sign-off to the audience — casual for peers, respectful for teachers or adults
  • 5Identify what sets a friendly email apart from a letter, including the subject line
📘

Mini Lesson

A letter or email is one of the most useful things you will ever write — because it is writing with a real audience and a real purpose. You are not writing for a grade or an exercise; you are writing to another human being who will read your words, feel something, and respond. That changes everything.

Friendly Letter vs. Friendly Email

  • A friendly letter is written on paper, sent by mail, and includes a date, a mailing address, and a handwritten signature.
  • A friendly email is sent electronically, includes a subject line, and uses "From / To" fields instead of a mailing address. The tone can be slightly less formal, but the three-part structure is the same.
  • Both share the same core format: greeting, main message, and closing.

Part 1 — Greeting

  • In a letter: write the date in the top right corner, skip a line, then write "Dear [Name]," — always with a comma after the name, not an exclamation mark.
  • In an email: the subject line is your greeting to the world — make it clear and specific: "Thank you for visiting!" not "Hi". The salutation inside still begins with "Dear [Name]," or "Hi [Name]," for informal messages.
  • Match the greeting to your audience: "Dear Grandma," for a relative; "Dear Mr. Collins," for a coach.

Part 2 — Main Message

  • Open with a connection: ask how the reader is doing, or refer to the last time you communicated. "I hope you are well." or "It was so good to see you last weekend."
  • State your purpose clearly in the first paragraph: why are you writing this letter right now?
  • Develop your message over one or two short paragraphs: share news, ask a question, make a request, or describe an experience.
  • Ask a question at or near the end — it invites the reader to reply: "How is your garden coming along?"

Part 3 — Closing

  • End with a warm sign-off followed by a comma, then your name on the next line.
  • Sign-offs to know: "Your friend," / "With love," / "Warm regards," / "Take care," / "Yours truly,"
  • Match the sign-off to the relationship: "With love," for family; "Your friend," for a peer; "Warm regards," for a coach or other adult.

Audience and Tone

  • Tone is the feeling your words carry — how they sound to the reader.
  • Friendly letters to peers can be casual: contractions, first names, informal language.
  • Letters to coaches or other adults should be warmer and slightly more careful: no slang, full sentences, respectful vocabulary.
Friendly letter format anatomy diagramA labeled layout of a friendly letter: date top right, salutation with a comma, two body paragraphs in the middle, a sign-off with comma, and the signature.Friendly Letter FormatApril 9, 20261. DATEDear Grandma,2. GREETINGPurpose + news. Ask how reader is doing.Share your main message here. Be specific.3. MAINAdd more detail or a second topic.End with a question to invite a reply.MSGWith love,4. SIGN-OFFYour name5. SIGNATUREComma after greeting: "Dear Grandma," not "Dear Grandma!"
Five labeled parts of a friendly letter: date, greeting, main message, sign-off, signature.
Tone comparison for letters to a peer versus a coachTwo columns comparing informal friendly language for a peer on the left with respectful language for a coach on the right, with rows for greeting, message opening, main message, and sign-off.To a FriendTo a CoachHi Maya,Dear Mr. Collins,How is it going?I have been so busy!I hope you are well.I am writing to...You will not believe whathappened last weekend!I would like to ask aboutthe practice for Friday.Your friend, LilyWarm regards, LilyTone shifts in greeting, message, and sign-off.
Friend (left) vs. coach (right) — tone shifts across the three parts.
💡

Ask yourself: Who am I writing to? What is my purpose? Have I greeted them, shared my message, asked a question, and closed warmly?

Vocabulary
Salutation
The greeting line at the top of a letter or email, followed by a commae.g. Dear Grandma, / Hi Maya,
Sign-off
The closing phrase at the end of a letter or email, followed by a comma and your namee.g. With love, / Warm regards, / Your friend,
Subject line
A short, clear summary at the top of an email that tells the reader what it is aboute.g. Thank you for visiting! / Question about Friday practice
Tone
The feeling words carry — from casual to respectful — shaped by word choice and punctuatione.g. Casual tone: "How's it going?" Respectful tone: "I hope you are well."
Audience
The specific person or group who will read what you writee.g. A letter to Grandma and a letter to your coach have different audiences.
Free · 7 days · No credit card

Unlock the full HSEA system for 7 days.

Add your first kid profile and your 7 days start: every lesson in every grade, saved progress for each child. Nothing to set up, no card required, nothing to cancel.

  • ✓ All 1,680 lessons, Grades 1–6, every subject
  • ✓ Profiles + saved progress for every kid
  • ✓ Printable lessons with answer key
Start your 7-day free trial →
Already convinced? See full membership plans →
← Lesson 24: Share Stories Through Family PerformancesLesson 26: Write Instructions or How-To Steps →