All you need to do is just print the extract out and read it to your class. See if they can work out what genre it is. This is a useful way to start or end your lesson.
Why not come back regularly and collect the extracts?
 

This extract was taken from Longman Homework Files: English 1 by Jennifer Dunn, Michael Tonge and Louise Alleyne.

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Letter to a Friend

 

32 Dog Street
Ealing,
UB7 6RH

30th May

Dear Sam,

Thank you for your letter last week. I am glad that you liked the present. Did you have a party or did your mum take you out somewhere?

My dad said that he is going to take me out next week. We are going to Spain on an aeroplane ...

... I have to stop writing now. My mum is calling me for dinner. It's fish and chips, my favourite. Do you like fish and chips?

From,
Jo

Who is this letter for? Are Sam and Jo friends? Why do your class think they are friends? Ask your class how they would reply to this letter. How would they answer Jo's questions (e.g. Whether they had a party or if they went out somewhere). Perhaps you could make this into a class writing activity? What are the important features of an informal letter, such as a letter to a friend? (Address, Date, Dear, From etc.)