Project: 2015 Spring - Writing with Impact

Step Description Expected Student Results
1 Letter of Introduction

Student Role:

First Message: Students share their interest in the project and why they've chosen to participate.

Second Message: Student shares a commitment to meet the minimum requirements of the program. These include: communication with mentor at least two times a week, using the project tracker, notifying teacher proactively when communication two times a week isn't possible, sharing writing assignments, and submitting a final survey.

Mentor Role:

Mentor acts a working editor, helping students identify areas of strength and pointing out ways to improve and correct their writing. Mentors help with correcting spelling, punctuation, agreement, and grammar.

Mentor shares an eagerness to meet the minimum requirements as well as the best days for posting and reading messages.
1. The student will write a letter of introduction to the mentor explaining his/her interests and activities in and out of school.

2. Student will collaborate with their mentor about their upcoming social studies assignment. He/She will share their introduction and elicit feedback from their mentor.

3. Upon receiving feedback, the student will respond to the mentor's feedback and make changes that reflect an understanding of the mentor's suggestions.

4. Students will ask question of the teacher when he/she is confused by the mentor's feedback and receive clarification.
2 Feedback on Social Studies Essay

Student Role:
The student will complete his/her rough draft of their social studies essay and share it though a google doc link to his/her mentor.

Student and Mentor Task: Student and Mentor exchange emails giving and receiving feedback on what improvements can be made to improve organization, spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Mentor Role:

Mentor acts a working editor, helping students identify areas of strength and pointing out ways to improve and correct their writing. Mentors help with correcting spelling, punctuation, agreement, and grammar.

Mentor shares an eagerness to meet the minimum requirements as well as the best days for posting and reading messages.
1. Student will respond to mentor message and make changes accordingly. Student will ask mentor for clarification as needed.

2. At the end of this week, the student should have received two mentor messages and revised his/her essay twice.


3 Conversation about Writing

Student Role: Students will ask and answer questions about writing, whether they think they are a good writer or not, why writing matters, and what they think they can do to improve their writing. They will elicit responses from their mentors on these topics.

Mentor Role: Mentors will answer these questions honestly and in a conversational tone. It is helpful to have another adult share his/her experience with writing and give real-life examples of how writing is used after high school and college. 		1. Student will ask and answer the questions of their mentors and elicit feedback.
4 Share Rough Draft of "Thank You, M'am" Essay

Student Role:
The student will read and respond to his/her mentor's answers for the real-life questions on writing.

The student will complete his/her rough draft of their "Thank You, M'am" essay and share it with his/her mentor.

Student and Mentor Task: Student and Mentor exchange emails giving and receiving feedback on what improvements can be made to improve organization, spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Mentor Role:

Mentor acts a working editor, helping students identify areas of strength and pointing out ways to improve and correct their writing. Mentors help with correcting spelling, punctuation, agreement, and grammar.

Mentor shares an eagerness to meet the minimum requirements as well as the best days for posting and reading messages.		 1. Respond to mentor message regarding questions about writing.
2. Write rough draft of "Thank You, M'am" essay.
3. Share rough draft with mentor and elicit feedback.
5 Revise and Edit "Thank You, M'am" Essay

Student Role:
The student will carefully read through the mentor's message about their writing, and make any changes that are suggested to improve the essay.

Student and Mentor Task: Student and Mentor exchange emails giving and receiving feedback on what improvements can be made to improve organization, spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Mentor Role:

Mentor acts a working editor, helping students identify areas of strength and pointing out ways to improve and correct their writing. Mentors help with correcting spelling, punctuation, agreement, and grammar.

Mentor shares an eagerness to meet the minimum requirements as well as the best days for posting and reading messages.		 1. Submit a revised draft to mentor for feedback.
2. Check for any final comments on the draft.
3. Submit the final copy to language arts teacher.
6 "An American Childhood" Rewrite

Student Role:
After reading the story "An American Childhood", students will write a story from the man who chases the kids' perspective. They may take creative liberty and invent whatever character they want as long as it still follows the same story line as the original.

Student and Mentor Task: Student and Mentor exchange emails giving and receiving feedback on what improvements can be made to improve organization, spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Mentor Role:

Mentor acts a working editor, helping students identify areas of strength and pointing out ways to improve and correct their writing. Mentors help with correcting spelling, punctuation, agreement, and grammar.

Mentor shares an eagerness to meet the minimum requirements as well as the best days for posting and reading messages. 		1. Students will complete a rough draft of their rewrite.
2. Students will message their mentor and share their draft.
7 Final Corrections to "An American Childhood" rewrite

Student Role:
The student will correspond with his/her mentor and address any areas of weakness to improve the story.

Student and Mentor Task: Student and Mentor exchange emails giving and receiving feedback on what improvements can be made to improve organization, spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Mentor Role:

Mentor acts a working editor, helping students identify areas of strength and pointing out ways to improve and correct their writing. Mentors help with correcting spelling, punctuation, agreement, and grammar.

Mentor shares an eagerness to meet the minimum requirements as well as the best days for posting and reading messages. 		1. Students will read and respond to their mentor's feedback and make any suggested changes.
2. Students will submit a final copy of their narrative rewrite both to their language arts teacher and to their mentor.
8 Final Reflections and survey

Student Role:
The student will reflect on this project through some short answer questions and share some of their thoughts with both their teacher and their mentor. Students will also complete the telementor project survey.

Mentor Role:

Mentor will also complete the telementor project survey and share his/her thoughts on the project with their student. 		1. Complete final reflection and share.
2. Complete project survey.