This article examines what happens when first grade students (age six) interact and talk with each other while writing individual texts. The data for the study comprises observations and video-recordings from 26 writing lessons in two different first grade classrooms in Norway. The study builds on sociocultural theories of writing that argue that…

This paper discusses how primary school students, who are writing together in the context of inquiry learning, explicitly orient to knowing of oneself and others within the peer group. Using Conversation Analysis, we disclose the conversational functions of assertions holding 'I know', 'you know' and 'we know'. First, students position themselves…

This research aims at analyzing the features of interactive dynamics in second graders' peer interactions (age 7-8) during cooperative writing in classroom settings. Focused on in-depth qualitative analyses of videotaped data, four pupil pairs' interactions have been examined in light of three dimensions: social, cooperative and cognitive. Within…

Studies on multi-stage writing tasks with adults and children have shown that model texts and task repetition aid language acquisition, especially when learners work in collaboration. However, these studies have not included measures of task motivation, which is vital in young learners (YLs) and could help develop a more comprehensive…

In this article, we analysed the collaborative use of tablets (iPads) in a third-grade primary classroom in Norway where the pupils created fairy tales. The pupils worked in groups of five and shared an iPad in their group. We observed and recorded the story's development, which lasted a week, using video recordings and field notes. We explored…

This study explored the use of wikis in a science inquiry-based project conducted with Primary 6 students (aged 11-12). It used an online wiki-based platform called PBworks and addressed the following research questions: (1) What are students' attitudes toward learning with wikis? (2) What are students' interactions in online group collaboration…

This study explored how to integrate cooperative skills training into learning tasks in the area of writing. Cooperative learning sessions, aimed at developing both cooperative and cognitive skills, were created and conducted in two elementary school classes (Grade 2, age 7-8). Pupils' teamwork interactions were videotaped and analysed.…

This narrative inquiry collective case study investigated the experiences of six sixth grade American Indian males of the Lumbee tribe who struggle with reading. Bounded within an asynchronous closed wiki site, students from three sixth grade classes participated in online threaded discussions and created, posted, and viewed multimedia projects…

"Fable Writer" is an online reading, writing and research tool designed to facilitate synchronous, collaborative writing tool that enables learners to read and copy text and images from teacher-curated books and Web-based resources in the "Fable Reader" digital library. The "Fable Writer" project addressed two…

This small-scale case study explores the challenges and potential benefits of a wiki for students and teachers in a primary-five English-language class in Hong Kong. The study examined how the wiki's key affordances might help in scaffolding students during their collaborative writing projects. The study found that the use of a wiki in a class of…

This article relies on year-long ethnographic data to examine how the intersection of peer status, gender, and race influenced the role stances children took in one urban fifth grade classroom while participating in three different pedagogies: peer tutoring, cooperative peer editing, and collaborative writing. Informed by the sociocultural…

Imaginative writing is a great vehicle for creative thinking and risk taking as children structure a reality in a story. However, the author believes that American children are untrained for this sort of work and progress. They need connected experiences. This insight intensifies the author's resolution to seek collaboration with artists in other…

Focusing on the culture of students with disabilities allows teachers to add another real-world dimension to the multi-cultural atmosphere of their classrooms. While Public Law 94-142 (the Education for All Handicapped Children Act) legislates what opportunities must exist for the differently able, volunteer program such as "Kids on the…

At the end of a 14-week program designed to help them improve their writing and editing skills and to increase their interest in college, sixth graders at School #74 in Buffalo, New York published a book of their imagined narratives. They titled the book "Kids With a Dream." Acting on the premise that school children have a better…