When we think about teaching writing styles in English Language Arts, our minds often jump to creative writing, poetry, or analyzing literary devices. But what about the type of writing your students will actually use day after day—beyond middle school, high school, or even higher education? That’s where functional writing comes in.

Let’s be honest. We don’t know if our students will ever write another essay after they leave high school. But we do know they’ll write emails. 

So why are we skipping functional, real-world writing in our curricula?

In this post, I want to share three functional writing lessons you should consider teaching in your classroom. These tasks are not only skills your students will need, but they’re a sneaky way to get in more academic lessons, too!

If you want to skip the prep, you can grab all of these lessons done for you right here!

What Is Functional Writing?

Functional writing is all about effective communication for a variety of purposes—from jotting down shopping lists to sending an important email.

It’s the kind of life skill that sticks with students long after the school year ends. Whether they’re writing a phone message, crafting technical reports, or leaving notes on to-do lists, functional writing ensures they can share important information clearly and confidently.

Functional writing is real-world writing. It’s everyday writing.

While we absolutely want our English classes to prepare students for learning beyond high school, there’s more to writing than academia.

We also need to prepare our students for work, communicating in relationships, writing for themselves, and more!

Functional Writing Lesson #1: How to Write a Letter

I know, I know. Letter writing seems dead. But it’s not quite!

Letters are a classic type of functional writing. There are still plenty of reasons students may need to write letters in their adult lives. 

Letters are still a great way to connect with loved ones (especially older ones). They’re also a way to communicate more formally than email. Letters are still the standard for post-wedding thank-you notes.

Sometimes students may have to send letters to businesses for a formal request.

Or students may choose to write a letter, such as a letter to a representative expressing opinions on big ideas.

Teaching students to write letters is a great way to develop sentence structure, tone, and audience awareness. I like showing students examples of both formal and informal letters to discuss tone and word choice.

My How to Write a Letter lesson guides students through the parts of a letter and models examples, so they can practice writing for real-world situations. This lesson is adaptable for most grade levels, making it useful for pretty much any secondary ELA class. 

There are plenty of natural ways to squeeze letter writing into your curriculum. Having students write you a letter is a great way to get a writing sample at the beginning of the year.

You could also have students write a gratitude letter around Thanksgiving or a thank-you letter for Teacher Appreciation Week. At the end of the year, you could have students write letters to next year’s students with tips and advice!

Functional Writing Lesson #2: How to Write an Email

Emails may be the most obvious real-world writing for students. You might even need them to write you an email during the school year.

We all know students need to learn how to write a professional email. Whether they’re sending a question to a teacher, requesting a recommendation letter for higher education, or following up on a job application, email skills are non-negotiable.

My How to Write an Email Lesson breaks down tone, structure, and etiquette, so students don’t send a text-style message when they should write more formally. 

This is one of those life skills that will help them beyond the classroom—from the next lesson to the workplace.

Working an email into your classroom is easy! Having students write an email during the first week of school can be a double whammy: you know they can successfully login to their school accounts, and you get a writing sample.

You could also have students practice their email writing by sending you formal requests for deadline extensions or redos.

Functional Writing Lesson #3: How to Write a Review

Here’s a fun real-world writing task that I think you and your students will love: review writing!

Reviews are another functional form students see daily—whether they’re researching the best peanut butter, a new movie, or a local restaurant. Learning how to write a thoughtful review helps students share their opinions and support them with evidence, just like they’ll need to do in essays and technical reports later on.

My How to Write a Review Lesson covers the parts of a review and includes several examples. It also offers tips for students on writing balanced negative reviews–something that can be quite challenging for students.

It’s a great way to bridge creative writing and functional writing while still hitting key English Language Arts standards.

Writing reviews can be a fun enrichment activity at any point during the year.

It’s the perfect lesson for filling up short weeks around holiday breaks. You could also have students write reviews at the end of the year for the best (or worst!) books they read during the school year. 

Build Strong Writers for Real Life

If you want your students to practice functional writing for a variety of purposes, these lessons are short, simple, and teach lifelong skills. They’ll build confidence in real-world writing tasks—beyond creative writing and essays—and set them up for clear, effective communication.

So next time you’re planning your school year and looking for engaging lessons that teach important information, add functional writing to your curriculum. From to-do lists and shopping lists to phone messages and scientific reports, your students will be prepared to write well in every part of life.

Want to see these lessons in action? Check out my How to Write a Letter, How to Write a Review, and How to Write an Email resources in my TPT store—and make functional writing a staple in your classroom!