Meet Your Partner & Introduce Yourself

Grades 8–12

7 Sessions: 1 Hour Each

Narrative

Projects

PS You Sound like Someone I Can Trust

by Maria Villareal, 826CHI

1. Introduction to the Project

2. Meet Your Partner & Introduce Yourself

3. Finish Your Introduction Letters

4. Why We Write

5. A Time for Reflection

6. Big Changes

7. A Time for Celebration

Students will exchange letters with students from different classes or schools. By listening to others’ stories and sharing stories of their own, students will practice to read and write with empathy.

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SESSION 2 OF 7

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Meet Your Partner & Introduce Yourself

In this session, students will read their partner’s survey answers and begin to write an introductory letter.

What Your Students Will Learn

Students learn about the person they’ll be writing to, as well as what elements make up a good letter.

Common core standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.2.B

Develop the topic with relevant, well-chosen facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.2

Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.2.A

Introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and information into broader categories; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.4

Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.2

Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.2.A

Introduce a topic; organize complex ideas, concepts, and information to make important connections and distinctions; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.2.B

Develop the topic with well-chosen, relevant, and sufficient facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.4

Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2

Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2.A

Introduce a topic; organize complex ideas, concepts, and information so that each new element builds on that which precedes it to create a unified whole; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2.B

Develop the topic thoroughly by selecting the most significant and relevant facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.4

What Your Students Will Produce

Students write the first draft of their first letter.

What You Will Need

Notebooks, blank paper/construction paper, writing utensils
“Reuben & Giselle” — Mentor Text

Before You Start

Before you start this session, it’s incredibly important to exchange copies of the initial “Match-Up Survey” with your partner organization and work with your partner educator to match up your students. There are countless ways to do this: you can match students with similar interests or values, match students from different backgrounds, or even pair them at random. However you decide to match students, it’s always a good idea to share your methods with your students ahead of time.

You will also need to make sure copies of the mentor text are available for each student—that could look like making copies, sharing the link with students, or ensuring that you have the means to project it.