Professional Development ~ Writing
Unit Title: Professional Development ~ Writing
Session Title: Technical Writing: Real World Writing in the 21st Century (Slide 1)
Essential Questions: (Slide 2)
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How does technical writing in school prepare students for adult living, learning,
and work settings?
How does technical writing compare to academic writing?
How does technical writing reflect 21st century learning and engage 21st century
learners?
Know and Do: (Slides 3 & 4)
Sponge Activity: (5 minutes)
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Distribute the “How Do You Use Writing” handout and have teachers fill in the
first 3 columns (Slide 5). This will have them reflecting on how they use writing
daily in their personal and work lives.
Next (Slide 6) participants will record in the 4th column how they have their
students use writing in the classroom. They will share their responses with a
partner.
Activating Prior Knowledge: (5 minutes) (Slide 7)
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Have participants discuss their interpretation of technical writing in small groups
of 3 or 4 people.
Ask for volunteers to share their thoughts and record them on chart paper.
Vocabulary Development: (5 minutes)
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Point out the aliases of Technical Writing – Business, Workplace, Professional,
and Informational Writing. (Slide 8)
Go over what Technical Writing is (Slide 9).
Go over how Technical Writing is different from other types of writing. (Slide 10)
Skill Lesson through Direct Instruction and modeling: (30 minutes)
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Discuss what business and industry expect from their workers and what
workplace skills are needed in the area of writing. (Slides 11-19) Notes for the
presenter are included on the slide page.
Conduct the activity (Slide 20) where participants examine the CSOs from their
grade and content to see what kind of writing is mentioned. Be sure they look at
the Performance Descriptors also.
Talk about how technical writing is more rigorous than academic writing (Slide
21). This will lead into the differences between academic and technical writing
(Slide 22).
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The next two slides are just a list of types of technical writing (Slides 23 & 24).
Give them the handout called Examples of Technical Writing and have them read
over it. Allow for questions about any of the specific types of technical writing.
Active Literacy: (90 minutes)
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Have participants return to their CSOs and identify types of technical writing that
would fit at their grade level (Slide 25).
Have participants identify at least one type of writing they would use and briefly
explain how they would use it in a lesson (Slide 26). They will jot this on a post-it
note.
Conduct the Inside-Outside Circle activity (explained in the notes on Slide 27).
Discuss the results of the activity by having participants share interesting ideas
they heard. Record these on chart paper by grade level or content area (Slide
28).
Go through the content examples (Slides 29-36) and have participants jot down
any that apply to their content.
Discuss what examples go well at specific grade levels (Slides 37-45).
Go over what a technical writing assignment looks like by explaining the prompts
(Slides 46-49) and be sure participants understand FAT-P.
Participants will design a technical writing prompt using the FAT-P format (Slide
50). Participants will write their ideas on chart paper and post them on the walls
by grade level or by content area. They will take a Gallery Walk to look at the
ideas everyone has posted (Slide 51).
Post Literacy: (20 minutes)
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Discuss grading of Technical Writing and explain from notes on the slide (Slides
52-53).
Discuss how even disengaged learners become involved with technical writing
(Slide 54).
Display the business quote (Slide 55).
Reflection: (10 minutes)
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Ask participants for any questions or comments (Slide 56).
Have participants fill out the 3-2-1 Exit Slip (Slide 57).
Materials:
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How Do You Use Writing handout (1 per participant)
Chart paper and markers
Access to grade and content CSOs (preferably online)
Examples of Technical Writing handout (1 per participant)
Post-it notes