The Building Blocks of Technical Writing

Legos have long been an educational tool for many STEM classrooms. They aid in teaching everything from developing technical acumen to audience analysis to critical thinking at all age levels. However, their presence in the writing classroom has been less obvious, even though they teach all the same things there (with a few added bonuses)! This Instructable will walk educators through how I used Legos in my High Point University Technical Writing class and how they might adapt it to their own needs, classrooms, and students at any level.

Teacher Tips

Each year, this unit is the one that students are the most surprised by. It often shocks them how intensely technical building Legos and writing instructions for them can be. I layer in conversation about jargon, technical documentation, and clarity/precision in writing

I typically give this project 3 class periods of 1 hour and 30 minutes each, but it can easily be broken down into more. I also provide ideas for extending this project in the final step.

• Legos
• I used approximately 1,000 legos between 16 students.
• I suggest the Lots of Bricks set, but any set will do so long as each student has about 2 cups of legos to work with.
• Measuring cup
• I used the purple cup in the photo above, but you could also measure out 2 cups in any way you like.
• Paper plates (optional)
• I used these to contain the legos on small desks.
• Sealable Plastic Bags (optional)
• I use these so that students can keep their project in one place between the class periods.
• Access to either Bricklink's Lego Catalog or Rebrickable's Lego Part List
• There are many other resources for lego catalogs and parts lists. Feel free to use whichever is most comprehensive and accessible to you. Another I enjoy is the printable contact sheet on the Brick Architect website which also has a most common Lego parts section.
• Access to Bricklink's Color Guide

• Once students have paper plates with the allotted amount of Legos, ask students to look through them and take a few minutes to brainstorm freely what they could possibly build.
• Then, set the "rules"
• Students may not use more Legos than they are given. They may trade amongst themselves, but it must be a true swap.
• Students must create something that resembles something in the real world. (There will be a competition after we create so see which is most recognizable.)
• Students may not share their creations with each other. They, of course, can see what each other are building, but they should not tell each other what they are making.
• You can skip these last two rules if you skip Step 3.
• Once they are done, ask students to take pictures of their projects from all angles. More on this later.

Teacher Tips:

I usually pull up some example images of simple ideas to build, but I do not let them search for their own designs. I want them to think creatively about what they can do with what they are given. I also want them to take a break from their technology for a while.

While they are building, I like to play some nostalgic music for them. This semester, I chose Schoolhouse Rock songs.

• While they are working (or before you get to class) create a Google Form with simply a single number as each question and a written entry box for the answer.
• You could also use your learning management system and/or some other technology that allows students to input answers according to specific questions.
• Once they have created their projects, ask them to line them up along the whiteboard's ledge or wherever makes sense in your space.
• Then, number each entry and ask students to pull up the Google Form.
• Those numbers for the questions correspond to the numbers on the board and students input their guesses for each one.
• When they reach their own entry, I ask them to include an asterisk next to their guess so we all know which is the correct answer.
• The entry with the most correct answers wins and is considered the "most recognizable build."

Teacher Tips:

I pull up the Google Form and go through the guesses for each question while counting them because it can be fun to see how people guess and how close others came to winning.

I give the winner the opportunity to take home their project or to skip one homework lesson in the coming days for full credit.

Steps 1 & 2 typically takes up an entire class period. I hand out ziplock bags for them to store their projects in for the next day.

• Ask students to deconstruct their builds.
• Then, set the "rules." Here are mine:
• Each piece must be referred to by its official name and color.
• Each action should include be written as follows:
• Action size, color, type, orientation. See below for examples.
• Walk students through how to use whichever catalog/ parts list and color list you decided on.
• Ask students to rebuild their projects according to the images they took and document each step.
• Steps should include: action size, color, type, and orientation. See below for examples.
• Students should be reminded that their audience is their classmates, but that these steps should be written as directly, clearly, and concisely as possible to avoid confusion.
• While students are working, write the directional language on the board or display it for all to see.
• You might also consider including the verbs below or coming up with your own list so that the steps aren't so repetitive in their actions.

Example Step Language:

• "Place a dark green 2x4 brick on top of the 1x2 tower perpendicularly"
• "Place one 2x2 yellow brick end to end and with one 2x2 green brick and secure with a 2x4 black plate across the top, connecting to both bricks."

Directional Language Reminders:

• Perpendicular - intersection at a right angle
• Parallel - being placed at equal distance apart at all points
• Horizontal - flat in relation to the bottom of the build OR a "side to side" orientation
• Vertical - upward in relation to the bottom of the build OR a "top to bottom" orientation

Action Verbs to Vary up Step Instructions:

• Place
• Put
• Add
• Connect
• Lay
• Cross
• Link
• Join
• Position

Teacher Tips:

I like to also have some print copies of the most common Lego parts just in case they would rather look it up on paper. I carry a booklet around for spot references. See the contact sheet on the Brick Architect website.

I have found that students generally enjoy this assignment especially when they can see tangible connections to ideas of conciseness, jargon, and technical acumen. I like to have conversations with them as they build.

It is important that students see where their instructions are successful and not-so-successful.

• Ask students to deconstruct their sets one final time.
• Then, ask them to trade with a partner.
• Next, each student will follow their partner's instructions and rebuild the project.
• While one student is building, the other should be watching and taking notes on where the builder is confused or struggles to understand.

Teacher Tips:

You will want to keep a close eye on the time here so that both students get a chance to watch the other build their project. This may mean stopping before one is finished.

You could also restrict the ability to ask and answer questions so they can see how those clarity issues impact the overall design.

Minifigs & Visual Rhetoric

• Asking students to make visual avatars of themselves before they begin (or after they finish) is a fun way to get them thinking about visual rhetorics.
• Here are 2 tools for making personalized minifigs Lego's Build a Minifig or Minifig.me's Builder.
• This could lead into another project where students design an actual Lego manual with images but no words.
• Here is a bank of examples from the Lego website: Building Instructions

Reflection:

• This project lends itself to reflection because students are often shocked by how difficult it is to find the official names for their Lego pieces as well as use them in sentences without sounding clunky or unclear.
• This is also a productive time to reflect on concepts taught in the course thus far or perhaps a reading about important concepts in the specific field of writing.
• I personally like to focus on user experience and audience expectations.