Examines collaborative writing and the importance of children's talk as they write. Provides several examples of children's dialogues during collaborative writing and role-playing sessions. (MM)

Analyzed the verbal interactions during and the narratives produced from third and fourth graders' collaborative writing projects with a teacher or peer. Found that, although the teacher focused instruction on the structural features of the narratives, the students tended to use the narratives to interpret the task and experiment with new academic…

Presents a rationale for studying collaborative writing and evidence that coauthors can learn about the writing process from each other. Explores collaborative writing as an activity that can help students expand their repertoire of writing strategies and their mastery of written communication skills. Describes a case study of fourth and fifth…

Third and fourth graders' talk during collaborative writing assignments with teachers and peers was transcribed and coded. Found that the students devoted a significant amount of peer and teacher interaction to the subject of spelling, and that the amount of talk about spelling did not vary with the spelling ability of the students. (MDM)

Examines the role of play as a composing strategy for the development of children's writing abilities. Finds that boys use play more extensively than girls, and that boys balance their use of play and marked control (gisting and evaluating) while girls rely on a marked control strategy more than on play. (KEH)