Everything below is an original fictional classroom text. Names, organisations and events are invented. For every card, keep your explanation tied to words, structure or design in the text. You may write, explain aloud with a note taken for you, or make a labelled layout. The thinking target stays the same.
Card A · The room-change notice (Day 1)
NORTH QUAY COMMUNITY STUDIO — TODAY'S PRINT SESSION
Tuesday, 4:00–5:30 pm. The session has moved from Room 2 to the ground-floor Workshop. Enter through the courtyard door. Bring the blank card issued at registration; the studio supplies ink and rollers. If the courtyard door is closed, ask at the front desk. Staff will not collect names at the Workshop door.
Task: Who needs this notice? State its main action. Point to two details that help someone act. Explain why the heading and fallback instruction matter. Then write a two-sentence message to a person arriving at Room 2.
Card B · A repair-bench procedure (Day 2)
BEFORE A DEMONSTRATION — Harbour Repair Bench
Set up: Put the model radio on the marked table. Leave tools in the closed case.
Welcome: Tell visitors the radio is a practice model, not a device brought by a visitor.
If the table is crowded: Pause the demonstration and ask the coordinator to make space.
Finish: Return the model and tell the next volunteer which step was reached.
Task: Trace the order from set-up to finish. Which heading helps during a crowded moment? Infer why the text says “practice model” and quote the detail that supports your answer. Write one clearer transition between any two steps.
Card C · A spoken handover (Day 3)
Transcript, fictional gallery team
Mara: “The paper-city display opens at five. The labels are in the blue folder, not beside the frames.”
Ivo: “I can place them. Which side of each frame?”
Mara: “Good question. The plan says lower right. Please check the plan once more before doors open.”
Ivo: “Lower right, then check the plan. I’ll tell you when the labels are in place.”
Task: Identify the task and the uncertainty. What does Ivo's question prevent? Explain how his final sentence confirms understanding. Recast the handover as a three-line written note without changing its meaning.
Card D · Two invitations, one job (Day 4)
Message 1, group chat: “Anyone free for the zine table? Come early and sort stuff. It’ll be fine.”
Message 2, volunteer email: “Hello volunteers. The zine table needs one person from 9:15 to 10:00 to arrange the sample booklets in title order. Meet Jo at the entrance desk. If you cannot attend, please reply by 6 pm Thursday so the team can adjust the roster.”
Task: Name the likely audience and purpose of each message. Find three details Message 2 makes usable. Explain one risk caused by Message 1's vague wording. Draft a short respectful reply asking for one missing detail without inventing facts.
Card E · A public-facing role description (Day 5 practice)
WINDOW GARDEN DEMO — fictional volunteer brief
“Guide visitors through the paper model of a window garden. Point to the numbered panels in order. Ask visitors which panel they would explain to someone else. You do not need to give horticultural advice. If a visitor asks about growing real plants, refer them to the printed community-garden guide at the welcome table.”
Task: What is the volunteer expected to do? What are they explicitly not expected to do? Explain how the last two sentences protect the accuracy of the demonstration. Write a one-sentence welcome that keeps the same boundary. The separate fresh check follows this practice; it has a new text.
Card F · The show trailer script (Day 6)
Fictional short-video trailer, “Behind the Booth”
[Fast cuts: a stage light comes on; a clock reads 4:59; one worker runs with a cable.]
Narrator: “Five minutes. One crew. No room for mistakes.”
[Cut to a calm technician pointing at a paper cue list while two people check it together.]
Narrator: “Every show has a moment nobody sees.”
Screen words: “Watch the people who make it happen.”
Task: Identify two ways the trailer represents backstage work. Which part suggests pressure? Which suggests teamwork? Explain how the fast cuts and clock invite a viewer to respond. Write a more balanced caption without claiming that a real crew works this way.
Card G · A complete short story: The label that waited (Day 7)
The workshop door opened twelve minutes before the exhibition. Nia had printed the captions the night before, but one card still sat on the desk. It named the person who had designed a movable lamp. The card's last line read, “Built by the team.”
“That is true,” said Cal, the display coordinator. “But it leaves out who tested the hinge.”
Nia checked the project notes. Three people had made the first model. Arun had tested the hinge after it failed; Mel had redrawn the support; Nia had rewritten the instructions so visitors could try the model without guessing. The short card could not hold every step.
Cal pointed to the blank space under the title. “We can still say something useful.”
Nia changed the line: “First model by Arun, Mel and Nia. Hinge test by Arun; support redraw by Mel; visitor instructions by Nia.” She read it aloud. The list was longer, but each contribution now had a name. She placed it beside the lamp.
When the first visitor asked how the lamp moved, Nia used the new card to answer. Cal did not call the fix perfect. Tomorrow, they would ask the team whether the account missed anything else.
Task: This is the whole fictional story, not an extract. Identify the problem, action and unresolved question. Compare what “Built by the team” represents with the revised card. Which detail makes the ending careful rather than triumphant? Explain how the story invites readers to value credit and checking.
Card H · A public post and an internal note (Day 8)
Public post, fictional community cinema: “Our new audio description headsets are ready. Ask at the ticket desk before your screening.”
Internal note to ushers: “We have four demo headsets for the trial screening on Friday. Check that a headset is working before offering it. If all four are in use, tell the visitor and ask the duty manager about options. Do not promise availability at another screening; the trial has not been extended.”
Task: Compare the audiences and information in the two texts. Which public-post wording risks creating a false expectation? Revise it for Friday's trial without losing a welcoming tone. Explain why you changed it using evidence from the internal note.
Card I · A handover that needs a source (Day 9)
Message on an invented event board: “Apparently the maker fair opens an hour early. Put that on the poster.”
Schedule extract signed by organiser, dated Wednesday: “Doors for visitors: 10:00 am. Volunteer set-up: 9:00 am.”
Task: Decide what the public poster can safely say. Name the source for your decision. Explain the difference between set-up and visitor entry. Draft a two-line public notice and a one-line internal volunteer reminder. Do not turn “apparently” into a confirmed fact.
Card J · Revising a crew note (Day 10 practice)
Draft: “We moved things around. Check the list if you want. People should know what to do.”
Confirmed plan for a fictional pop-up recording booth: “The cue list is now on the blue clipboard at the sign-in desk. Before recording begins, each crew member reads the list and initials the final line. Anyone unsure of a cue asks the coordinator before the room opens.”
Task: Rewrite the draft for the crew using only confirmed details. Then annotate one structural and one language choice that make your version usable. The separate fresh check has a different workplace and new text.