Developing an orthography guide is recommended for teaching the new orthography to the wider community. The guide should give an overview of all relevant topics, including vowels, consonants, tone melodies, verb conjugations and word boundaries, along with examples. It is often helpful to also include a section that highlights differences between the local language and the official language.

A workshop team researching Maꞌdi Urule was able to complete a simple orthography guide within a day and a half based on the following outline:

• Introduction 

• Background on the people, language and orthography 

• Tone 

• Vowels 

• Consonants 

• Word Boundaries (for compounds, reduplication, numerals, locatives, etc.) 

• Loanwords 

• Proper names

• Punctuation 

• Sample text in new orthography

There may be certain stakeholders to whom the guide should be presented for approval, such as community leaders or a language development committee. After key community influencers have approved of the finalized guide, copies can be printed for distribution. 

As a group, check any alphabet books, vowel booklets, body part charts, and other similar materials that were drafted in Units 1-3. Make corrections based on the finalized orthography, being sure to proof example sentences and illustrations as a part of the final check. Discuss whether the group would like to print any or all of these to distribute at the closing ceremony. 

Workshop facilitators have found that participants often very much enjoy writing and correcting stories. For example, during a workshop on Mengisa-njɔ́wi, the team wrote and corrected over 30 stories of 1-3 pages in length. If workshop participants desire to create a story booklet, jointly select a number of stories to be included in the booklet.* Correct the orthography of each story as a group, using an overhead projector. It is best to begin with shorter stories and gradually move on to longer ones. If time allows, participants may want to use session time to write and correct additional stories for the booklet. 

During the correction process, the team may discover verb forms or grammatical words that need to be discussed at length in order to determine the best way to write them. Take time to discuss and resolve any orthography questions that arise during checking sessions. Note that correcting can be tiring and may not be sustainable for a whole day.  

Once the selected stories have been corrected, assign a participant(s) to translate them into the official language. Finally, enter the stories into a software program such as Publisher or Bloom in preparation for printing. 

If the story booklet is not able to be completed by the end of Unit 4, the team can still consider printing a demonstration copy for the closing ceremony. A finalized version can then be printed later. 

*The same could be done with proverbs, songs, and poems.

As a group, proof all entries in the lexicon, double-checking the spelling, lexical tone markings (if applicable) and glosses. Consider printing a copy of the finalized lexicon to sell or distribute at the closing ceremony. If a small lexicon is not able to be finished by the end of Unit 4, assign a team to complete the lexicon after the workshop. Even if the lexicon is not finalized by the closing ceremony, the workshop team may want to still print a demonstration copy to show the community.