Describes how, in a second-/third-grade classroom, and in the context of writing workshop, another kind of community developed--an informal but long-lasting "writing club" with eight core members who worked collaboratively and developed a story topic that became the dominant story topic pattern throughout the remainder of the school year. (SR)

Analyzes observations of a writing workshop in a first-grade classroom, finding the children's conferencing and their peer interactions were highly influenced by gender and equity issues. Shows that boys maintained that girls were not adequate conferencing partners; girls did not understand why they were excluded by boys; and certain boys were…

Describes a first-grade teacher's research in her own classroom, and shows how an apparently minor decision contributed greatly to inequality, unintentionally giving an already privileged group of students more knowledge and power, and decreasing the opportunities for knowledge and power of an already oppressed group of students. (SR)