Teaching Wri,ng for the

Real World
COMMUNITY AND WORKPLACE WRITING

Importance of Teaching Real World Wri,ng

We live in a highly textual world.
Interpersonal communica;on today
What students think wri;ng equals
o

Not relevant in the real world

Applying for jobs and paperwork

Whats Not Typically Taught

Wri;ng

collabora;vely
for mul;ple audiences
for mul;ple purposes
for audiences that know less about the topic than
does the writer
That is meant to be not only read, but to be used
to accomplish a task

How to be rhetorically savvy

The Case Study

Hands-on approach to teach workplace and
community wri;ng
Teaches

the importance of genre, audience, and purpose

the dierence between workplace and academic wri;ng
the elements of visual design

Three main objec;ves:

1.
2.
3.

Experience wri;ng collabora;vely

Opportunity to work with an actual client
Chance to apply knowledge gained from discussions

Phase 1: Teacher Prepara,on

Search for a nonprot or student organiza;on
Decide on what document students must
create
Something not too dicult

Ask if a representa;ve from the organiza;on

can come at the beginning and end of the
project
Talk about the organiza;ons mission, the
purpose and audience
Give feedback

Phase 2: Teaching the Importance of

Visual Design
Visual elements based on the

genre
writers goals
readers expecta;ons
subject being communicated

Have them examine visual aspects as part of a

texts rhetorical construc;on
Some visual design terms:
readability, page layout, font choice, use of white
space, color, images, presenta;on, textual
emphasis, charts, etc.

Phase 3: Organizing Students into Wri,ng Teams

Teams of 4 to 5
Create group iden;ty
Name
Logo

Phase 4: Mee,ng the Client

Students interview and/or talk with client
Learn about organiza;ons mission and
document to be revised

View and discuss previous materials

Sample prompt

Sample Prompt: Evaluate These Websites

Phase 5: Wri,ng Teams on a Mission

Begin to build a plan for their document
Two ques;ons to consider
1.
2.

What visual elements from these documents

should you include and why?
What language should be included and why?

Develop a collabora;vely wri_en business le_er

concerning their strategy

Phase 6: DraVing and Revising

Conversa,ons in the Classroom
Discuss how visuals and words work together
Feedback from a whole-class workshop seang
Presen;ng what they have so far

Students learn to write minutes

Phase 7: Final Presenta,ons

They present documents to the class and,
ideally, to the client as well
Feedback is provided

Troubleshoo,ng
Real-world hurdles:

Finding a client and keeping them involved

Time constraints
Nega;ve responses from the client
Collabora;ve wri;ng dicul;es
Students who dont carry their weight or carry too
much weight

Assign roles and responsibili;es