Teaching idea for age 12+, pre-intermediate and up.

A QUICK NOTE - Read Ellen's note to Philip:

Honey,
Will be home late. Sandwiches in the fridge, cookies on the table. See you later. Love, Ellen

When you leave a quick note for someone, you sometimes do not write complete sentences. You also use shorter forms of some words. For example, in Ellen's note, several words are missing. Also, she used the word fridge, an informal way to say refrigerator. With complete sentences, Ellen might have written this:

Dear Philip,
I will be home late. There are sandwiches in the refrigerator and cookies on the table. I'll see you later. Love, Ellen or
Dear Philip,
I will be home late. I left some sandwiches in the refrigerator and some cookies on the table. i'll see you later. Love, Ellen

2; Here is a note that you might leave for your boss.
 

John,
had to leave early. Needed to catch train. Letters on desk. Need immediate attention. Will not be in office tomorrow. But will call in a.m.
Jim
 

Possible classroom tasks: rewrite the note in complete sentences. Be sure that each sentence has a subject, and add all necessary articles (a, an, or the). Add possessive pronouns (for example, my, your) before nouns, if needed. Create notes that can still be simplified without losing sense, and work on them in groups. Works all the way round.