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Reviewed essay for history. Introduced the student to color-coding technique to move from "what"-focused paragraphs to ones that compared and contrasted examples based on themes. Discussed what to include in thesis, topic, and concluding sentences. Emphasized how introductory paragraphs should introduce the reader to the concepts of the paper rather than going into specific details.

During this session the student and I worked on writing descriptively. I gave him a prompt which asked him to describe his favorite place and discuss why it was his favorite. I told him I wanted a minimum of six sentences. He wrote about New York city and did a good job of describing it. He is getting better at collecting his thoughts and putting them into words. We then read two more chapters in the chapter book. At the end I quizzed him on some spelling words. I ended the session with the homework assignment of writing an essay about his favorite video game and why it was his favorite. I am trying to pick topics that interest him in order to get him excited about writing. Overall, the session went well.

The student and I worked on his homework for the following day and began to prepare for the following week. We were able to get through his Math and Language Arts homework.

I reviewed the topics for this weeks units in psychology and art history. This included concepts relating to intelligence measurement, the history of intelligence testing, and theories of knowledge representation in psychology and conceptual art, performance art, and the artistic expression 1960s political movements in art history. The student and I then answered discussion questions on this material. We also drafted a longer essay explaining the history and uses of intelligence testing for her psychology course.

The student and I continued the brainstorming process for his analytical paper on THE LAST UNICORN. I coached the student as he created a list of thematic ideas, and from the list, we discussed the central ideas which address the professor's writing prompt. I sketched out the format for university level academic writing, and we had a discussion about his purpose as a writer, which is to state a thesis and to support it by building an argument based on details from the reading.

This was our first session. I think the student and I worked very well together. She was very communicative about the areas she needed help with and extremely engaged during the session. We started the session with her telling me a little about herself and the essays she will be completing for her entrance exams. We discussed her strengths and weaknesses in writing. We then focused on the planning aspect of writing and worked through brainstorming how to construct essays. We reviewed constructing an essay, with a focus on using the body paragraphs and supporting examples to develop a thesis statement. We also worked on transition sentences to connect body paragraphs and relate how each body paragraph supports the thesis. Once she had an understanding of this concept, we evaluated a previous persuasive writing assignment she had completed and worked on how to structure the essay to support her thesis. We also worked on brainstorming topics for her history essay she will have to complete using the example of Rosa Parks. I think this session was very beneficial for her, as it provided her with new ways to think about her writing. By working on various topic examples, she was able to effectively plan how she would compose essays on the topics by identifying introduction, body, and conclusion paragraphs as well as developing a strong thesis statement. We also reviewed strategies to use to make sure she provides details effectively to make sure her main points are addressed.