Howe Center for Writing Excellence Hosts October Workshops on Teaching Multimodal Writing and Grantwriting
In October, the Howe Center for Writing Excellence hosted workshops on multimodal writing and grantwriting, equipping educators with strategies to enhance student engagement and pursue funding. Rena Perez’s session on multimodal writing explored ways to incorporate visual, digital, and linguistic elements to support creativity and accessibility in classrooms. Elizabeth Wardle’s grantwriting workshops provided guidance on navigating funding sources and crafting persuasive proposals, emphasizing the importance of project alignment with funders and building credible, well-structured submissions.
Howe Center for Writing Excellence Hosts October Workshops on Teaching Multimodal Writing and Grantwriting
In October, the Howe Center for Writing Excellence (HCWE) hosted a series of workshops aimed at enhancing educators’ skills in multimodal writing instruction and grantwriting. The Teaching Multimodal Writing Genres workshop, led by Rena Perez, provided an in-depth exploration of how multimodal texts—those that blend visual, aural, digital, and verbal components—can enrich student engagement and foster creativity by tapping into multiple literacies. Perez highlighted the ways multimodal approaches help students better understand and navigate various media and how they promote accessibility by accommodating diverse learning styles. Participants were encouraged to guide students as both creators and critics of multimodal content, fostering a well-rounded understanding of communication.
The workshop offered practical strategies for educators, including genre analysis, which encourages students to explore and draw inspiration from diverse forms, and modeling the process of creating multimodal projects. Educators were also introduced to accessible tools available at the University to make it easier to incorporate multimodal learning in their teaching.
The HCWE also hosted two Grantwriting Workshops, led by Elizabeth Wardle, focusing on the grant funding landscape and proposal writing techniques. The first session introduced the “grant funding ecology,” emphasizing that projects should be fully conceptualized before seeking potential funders. Wardle reviewed various funding sources, from government grants, which offer significant funding but require extensive preparation, to foundation funding, where relationship-building is key. She recommended tools like the Foundation Directory, available at major public libraries, to help participants locate private foundations that align with their project goals.
In the second session, Wardle guided participants through the structure of a successful grant proposal, urging them to consider rhetorical “moves” rather than traditional sections. Key elements, such as establishing credibility, articulating a problem, setting objectives, and budgeting, were discussed as critical components of an effective proposal. Wardle also recommended resources like The Only Grantwriting Book You’ll Ever Need to help attendees build compelling, sustainable proposals. For information on future workshops and events, visit the HWAC website.
