Students will launch the Belonging project by connecting a short story scene to lived experience, gathering first evidence about inclusion and exclusion, and beginning empathy-based inquiry through discussion and a real writer connection.

Students will sort evidence from short stories and real user input, identify patterns about inclusion and exclusion, and turn those patterns into a focused How Might We problem statement they can carry into idea generation.

Students will generate multiple evidence-based ideas for their Belonging zine and booklet work, use short story analysis and user insights to shape possible directions, and choose one promising concept to carry into drafting.

Students will turn their earlier analysis, inquiry notes, and How Might We thinking into first-draft anthology pieces and a low-fidelity zine prototype. They will study just-in-time craft moves for narrative structure, evidence inserts, and author’s purpose statements, then build draft pages, exchange feedback with peers, and revise before moving into user testing.

Students will test their Belonging zine drafts and narrative-analysis pages with peers and a local writer, collect evidence-based feedback on clarity, craft, and user impact, and record revision moves that prepare them for the next critique phase.

Students will use structured critique to strengthen their Belonging anthology pieces, compare peer and local-writer craft moves, and make evidence-based revisions to their personal narrative, short story analysis, and author’s purpose statement before the final reflection phase.

Students will present their finished Belonging zines to an authentic audience, name how feedback changed their writing and design choices, and document evidence of growth in text analysis, author’s purpose, inquiry, and personal narrative craft.