Writing and Urban Assembly’s 8th Graders
The Urban Assembly School for the Urban Environment (UE) eighth graders interact with their mentors on a weekly basis through writing emails. The students have to respond to a “prompt” or question about their family, friends, school, future goals, or career goals. Through emailing, they are learning spelling and grammar, typing skills, and proper writing skills.
Writing and Cornell’s Mentorship Class
The Cornell students respond back to their mentees by writing emails. The emails are written with the intent of both connecting on a personal level to their mentee and serving as model for college writing. These emails act as great exercises for the CU students and help them develop their own writing abilities.
The Cornell students are also required to write reflection papers in the CUMI class. The class is based on a progressive education model and their reflection papers act as one of their main tools or instruments for learning from their experiences. The reflection papers also help to facilitate communication between the students and the instructor.
The Knight Institute for Writing in the Disciplines
On October 11-12, 2008 the Knight Institute for Writing in the Disciplines conducted a Teacher Training Workshop for seven UE teachers. The workshop was intended to help teachers develop their students’ writing abilities and prepare them for writing at the college level.
