Nathan took a trip to Ottawa, Canada's capital city. He had always wanted to see the Parliament Buildings since he was little. On his first day, he visited the beautiful Parliament Buildings and saw an original library that was undamaged from a 1916 fire. He also went to the Rideau Canal, where people can ice skate in winter, and the Rideau Centre shopping mall. At the mall's food court, he enjoyed poutine, a traditional Canadian dish of fries, cheese curds and gravy. Nathan invited his cousin Jeremy to visit Calgary, saying he's had a great time and thinks Jeremy would too.

1. A. Email: An Alternative to Snail Mail
Electronic mail, most commonly known as email, has become increasingly popular since its
beginnings in 1993. Let’s think back to about 20 years ago. What forms of communication were people
using? A person could make a phone call, send a fax or write a letter by hand to communicate with
family or friends or get things done for work, for business or day-to-day needs. Think about the forms of
communication that you have used so far this year. Surely you have made phone calls, used VOIP
services such as Skype of Viber, but when was the last time you sent a letter though the mail? These
days, people use other forms of communication through the Internet such as messaging services like
WhatsApp or email.
Email is a fast, easy and economical communication tool that is used by over 90% of Canadians.
With email, a letter can be sent instantly to a neighbor, someone on the other side of Canada, or to a
friend or family member oceans away. Today, many of us have email addresses, making communication
more convenient than ever before. Some of the most popular email services used in Canada are Gmail,
Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, and Microsoft Outlook. Canadians use these email services to communicate at
work, with friends, teachers, classmates, or even to send money. Do you use email? If so, for what
purposes?
Comprehension Questions:
1) When did people start to use email as a way to communicate with others?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
2) Before the rise of email, what forms of communication were people using?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
3) When was the last time you sent a letter to a friend or family member through regular mail? How
about through email?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
4) Which of the following services have you used in the last two weeks to communicate with others?
(Check all that apply)
___ landline (home phone) ___ Viber ___ Facebook ___ fax
___ cell phone ___ Skype ___ email ___ telegraph
___ text message ___ WhatsApp ___ a hand-written letter ___ pager

2. 5) Presently, what is email commonly used for?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
6) Approximately what percentage of Canadians use email regularly? ____________________________
7) Would you rather receive an email or a handwritten letter? Write a few sentences to explain your
opinion.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
8) Knowing what you know now, do you think it is important to have email in Canada? Why or why not?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
B. Survey Your Classmates:
Directions: Use the chart below to survey your classmates about their email use. Place a check mark ()
for positive responses and an (X) for negative responses.
…has an email
address
…uses email to
communicate with
friends or family
…uses email to
communicate with
teachers or co-
workers
…uses email to
send money
Name:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

3. Now that you have collected responses from your classmates, use the bar graph below to plot your
results.
C. Email Structure
So...what exactly does an email look like? An email has a sender, a recipient, a subject, a
greeting, message content as well a closing. It is similar to a letter written by hand, but has a
slightly different structure. Let’s first have a look at the features of an average email.
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Has an email address Uses email to
communicate with friends
or family
Uses email to
communicate with
teachers or co-workers
Uses email to send money
Class Email Usage
Features of E-mail
Format:
 There should be a title in the Subject line
 It needs to begin with a greeting including the recipient’s name
 There must be a closing at the end including the sender’s name
 The “Cc” line can be used to send a copy of the email to another recipient
Content:
 The message shouldn’t be too long and must have a clear message
 E-mail is usually written in a conversational style
 Generally, messages should have complete sentences, good grammar, and correct spelling

4. D. Sample Writing:
Directions: Below is a sample email written by Nathan Collins to his friend Jeremy. Nathan is writing
to tell Jeremy about a trip that he has just taken to Canada’s capital city, Ottawa. Pay
close attention to what Nathan has written. Note the tone of language, spacing and verb
tenses used. When you have finished reading the sample, answer the questions that
follow.
Outlook Mail – Compose a message
To: Jeremy_hynes@yahoo.ca
Cc:
Subject: My Trip to Ottawa!
From: nathan_collins@outlook.com
Dear Jeremy,
How’s everything in England? I finished my final exams at the University of Calgary two
weeks ago, so I decided to take a trip to Ottawa, Canada’s capital city. I chose Ottawa
because since I was a little boy, I have always wanted to see the Parliament Buildings.
Traveling around Ottawa was such an amazing experience. It is spring in Canada so the
weather has been getting warmer and warmer as the days go by. On the first day of my
trip, it was quite warm so I decided to spend most of the day outside. I went to the
Parliament Buildings and saw a beautiful library. Did you know that the Parliament
Buildings caught fire in 1916? The library was the only building that was not damaged,
so it is still in its original form. I cannot fully explain how beautiful that library is. I was
hoping to see the Prime Minister there, but unfortunately he was not around.
After that, I went to the Rideau Canal. In the winter, people can skate down the canal
and enjoy the fresh, winter air. I am really happy that the weather was so nice, but I
wish that I could have gone skating. Next to the canal, there is a shopping mall called
The Rideau Centre. There are so many interesting stores to shop in, but I was more
interested in the food. I ate poutine in the food court. Have you ever had poutine? It is a
traditional Canadian food made from potatoes, cheese curds and gravy. You cannot
even imagine how delicious it was.
Are you planning to come to Calgary to visit me this year? You really should. I have had
such a great time here and I know that you will too. Write back soon!
Your buddy,
Nathan Collins
237kb

5. Comprehension Questions:
Directions: Read the questions and choose the correct answer.
1) Where is Nathan’s cousin living? (1 Point)
a) Canada
b) The United States of America
c) England
2) What has Nathan wanted to see since he was a little boy? (1 Point)
a) The Parliament Buildings
b) The Rideau Centre
c) The Rideau Canal
3) Where did Nathan go for a trip? (1 Point)
a) Toronto
b) Montreal
c) Ottawa
4) How is the weather during spring in Canada? (1 Point)
a) cold
b) warm
c) hot
5) Did Nathan go to the Parliament Buildings before or after the Rideau Centre? __________ (1 Point)
6) What damaged the parliament buildings and when did it happen? (2 Points)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
7) Where can you skate in Ottawa? Why didn’t Nathan go skating when he was in Ottawa? (1 Point)
a) the Rideau Centre/it was summer
b) the Rideau Centre/it was spring
c) the Rideau Canal/it was spring
8) What specialty food did Nathan eat? Did he enjoy it? (2 Points)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

6. 9) Describe the food that Nathan ate? (2 Points)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
10) What is one question that Nathan asked Jeremy? (2 Points)
____________________________________________________________________________________?
11) So far, has Nathan enjoyed his time in Canada? (2 Points)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
12) TRUE or FALSE: Nathan is Canadian. (1 Points)
13) TRUE or FALSE: Nathan has not studied in Canada. (1 Points)
14) Does Nathan like shopping? How do you know? (2 Points)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Criteria for Success
Total Score: /30
Beginning Developing Completing
1-9 10-14 15-20

7. WRITING SKILL BUILDING & SELF-ASSESSMENT
Module: Planning a Trip to Banff
Competencies: I. Interacting with Others
Task: Write an Email to a Friend or Family Member about a Travel Experience
Directions: Use the information below to write an email to two friends about a recent trip you
have had to Calgary.
 You have been to the following places. You may choose three to write about.
o The Calgary
Tower
o Stephen
Avenue
o Bowness
Park
o The Calgary
Zoo
o Heritage
Park
o The Calgary
Stampede
Outlook Mail – Compose a message
To:
Cc:
Subject:
From:

8. 237kb
Criteria for Success
Holistic:
Does my message convey the intended meaning? YES NOT SURE NO
Did I use language and content related to the task? YES NOT SURE NO
Analytic:
Does my email have subject, a greeting and a
closing?
YES NOT SURE NO
Have the email addresses been written correctly? YES NOT SURE NO
Did I support my main points with details? YES NOT SURE NO
Did I provide accurate descriptions or accounts of
events?
YES NOT SURE NO
Did I separate my paragraphs correctly? YES NOT SURE NO
Did I use a mixture of verb tenses effectively? YES NOT SURE NO
Did I use appropriate transitions when needed? YES NOT SURE NO
Was I careful about spelling, format spelling YES NOT SURE NO
Prepared by Kerry Howard and Jana Ciobanu for the TESL Canada-2015
Comments:
Prepared by Kerry Howard and Jana Ciobanu for the TESL Canada-2015