Introduction
What is a Memorandum?
A memorandum or memo for short is a short written message used to communicate information on different matters in an organization.
The main parts of a memo include the heading, body and closing.
The Heading specifies the sender, the addressee, the date and the subject.
The Body clearly outlines the purpose of the memo, background information and an action statement.
The Closing includes the senders name and job title.
Purpose of Memos
Memos can be used to quickly communicate with a wide audience something brief but important, such as procedural changes, price increases, policy additions, meeting schedules, reminders for teams, or summaries of agreement terms, for example.
þ send announcements
þ send instructions
þ send requests
þ document incidents in writing
Facts vs Opinion
THINGS THAT SHOULD BE IN YOUR MEMO:
The correct tense
Use of facts and opinions making use of an appropriate signal word where necessary.
Indentation
Capitalize and bold heading.
Can be blocked or semi-blocked style
Sample memo:
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mr S. Henry, Dean of Students
FROM: Mr R. Smith, Head of Biology Department
DATE: September 21, 2019
SUBJECT: Student Indiscipline in Canteen
On Wednesday, September 20, 2019, I received a report that Paul Harvey of 5B had taken two plates of food for lunch. I spoke to Paul and he denied the charge claiming that he had given the second plate of food to an unnamed student.
A few minutes later I made a surprise check at the table where he and his friends were eating. I discovered the extra plate of food which no one on the table claimed.
I am asking you to consider whether disciplinary action against Paul Harvey is appropriate.
_________________________
Randall Smith (Head of Biology Department)
What do you notice about the way in which the information appear on the screen?
Task
By the end of the lesson students will be able to:
1. Define the term memorandum
2. State the purposes of a memos
3. Identify parts of a memo
4. Create an eye-witness report using the memorandum format
Process
A. Students will watch a YouTube video on Report & Memo which will be stopped at 4 minutes and 45 seconds. Students will note the format of the eyewitness report using the memo format.
B. Observe the sample Memo below. Can you use the information gained from the video to make a connection?
|
MEMORANDUM TO: Fedel Castro (Super Intendent of Police) FROM: John Ferrari (witness) DATE: November 3, 2021 SUBJECT: Robbery at community Wholesale
On Tuesday, November 2, 2021, at approximately 10:30 p.m. a robbery took place at Miss Maggie's Wholesale I was coming from my friend's house. I stopped in the dark along the way to fix my shoelace as I almost tripped over them. When I heard an alarm that startled me. I then stood in the dark taking notice of what was happening. A man wearing a mask with a big bag possibly containing money exited the wholesale. I could tell because the street light was near the shop so I was able to see him. He looked hurriedly around to see if no one was around. Even though I was in the dark, I stooped slowly so that he did not see me or catch a glance at my movement. He then entered what seems to be a stolen vehicle. He hurriedly sped off. The license plate number which was visible under the street light was 4657 GY. The car was black.
_________________ John Ferrari (witness) |
C. Let's Write one together remember we can send announcements, send instructions, AND send requests in writing using memos. You are the C.E.O. of a company (insert company name) Let's make an announcement to the employers of a meeting to be held. What is the first thing we should write?
D. NOTICE: TO BE EMAILED TO YOUR TEACHER!
Your principal sent you a memo on an event to be held at the school called "Covid destress". What does this memo look like to you? Write a memorandum detailing the event. Ask yourself these questions: when what, and where? Write this memo in your emails and send it to your teacher.
Evaluation
The memo will be graded using the rubric below.
|
Score
|
Average | Satisfactory | Very good | excellent | |
|
Format 5 |
There were many errors in the format | there were a few errors in the format | there were little mistakes in the format | There were no errors in the format | |
|
The content, grammar, and spelling mistakes
5 |
The content was not provided and there were much information has been missed, also their many errors in grammar and spelling | The content if fair and there were fair enough information provided, also there were not many errors in grammar and spelling | The content is quite good and there were sufficient information has been provided, also there were very few errors of grammar and spelling | The content is completed and all the required information has been provided, also there were no errors in grammar and spelling |
|
|
Organization 5 |
The content has not been very well organized. | The content has been fairly organized. | The content has been well organized. | The content has been organized in the best way |
Conclusion
Memorandums are not limited to the eye witness report in fact the eye witness report is a new addition to the memorandum format. A memo is mostly used to announce something important to employers, to send out a request to them, and to give them instructions. Another example of a memo is the letter you are given to take home to your parents when there is a Parent-Teacher conference. Sometimes you are given a memo and mistake it for a letter because you do not know what it is. Now that you know the difference you should be able to spot a memo from a letter.
Did you notice how events have gone are written in past tense and events that are not yet held are written in the future tense?
Credits
Diggs-Brown, Barbara. The PR Styleguide. 3rd ed, Cengage Learning, 2012.
Teacher Page
In this WebQuest students will learn how to write a memo by recognizing different parts and purposes of a memo. students will also note the memos which are written in past tense and those which are written using the future tense.