A study investigated whether spelling could be taught more effectively through a holistic writing approach than through the traditional basal textbook approach. Subjects, 19 second grade students at an elementary school in Sheldon, Illinois, first received six weeks of formal spelling instruction using the 1985 edition of the second grade spelling…

Investigating the common perception that collaborative writing in composition classes is being used primarily with finished products, an informal survey was conducted in which writing instructors who used collaborative learning estimated the amount of time they allowed for each stage of the writing process (Prewriting/Invention, Focusing/Thesis,…

Describes instructional and departmental forces creating the following problems for undergraduate creative writing teachers: (1) they hold an uneasy position in the English department hierarchy; (2) courses are radically different from creative writing courses in either high school or graduate school; and (3) instruction has lagged behind…

Explores the concept of peer writing groups by reviewing research and offering a plan for preparing, training, monitoring, and evaluating the peer writing group. (SD)

Describes how to conduct a collaborative group story-writing session with preschool children and encourage the creativity of the group. (MM)

Describes how a class of 13 academically average high school students, inspired by an earlier article in this journal, collaboratively wrote a story. Notes that the students continued to revise their story even after it came back from the printers. (RS)

Describes a collaborative learning activity that can be used in a composition classroom. Suggests ways of planning collaborative activities. (RAE)

Outlines the Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC) program, a sequenced and structured reading/language arts program used by elementary level students at Bracher School in Santa Clara, California. Describes several cooperative reading and writing activities used in this program. (MM)

Describes an advanced composition course involving individual projects which encourage collaboration. Outlines the class, describes how selected students have responded to different elements of it, and comments on what the teacher has learned from it. (SR)

Discusses writing as a social activity and how collaborative writing enables risk taking and promotes a change in writing attitudes. Provides examples of collaborative writing in the following areas of expository text structure: enumeration, sequence, comparison/contrast, and cause/effect. (MG)

Considers the complex roles encompassed in the job of college English professor, including researcher and teacher. Discusses three basic schools of writing traditions. Proposes a model of writing based on collaborative principles blurring disciplinary boundaries, resulting in intellectual property as literacy. (HB)

Illustrates, through a description and examples, the collaboration between a university class and an elementary class. Describes pen pals and collaborative book writing as two approaches that provide student writers with the opportunity to receive rehearsal of strategies such as invented spelling, writing as a process, and integrating the language…

Describes the recent integration of a critical pedagogy within the field of composition studies, especially regarding collaborative learning and difference. Discusses one writing class and how collaborative groups negotiated their differences. Shows how issues of difference affected or created problems within groups. (HB)

Examines female leadership emergence in small groups whose primary task is collaborative writing tasks. Shows how perceptions of leadership depend on both oral and written enactments. Outlines the relationship between the task of writing and the role of the leader in collaborative writing groups. (HB)

Describes the pros and cons of using collaborative writing assignments in the English classroom. Gives one teacher's experiences using collaborative writing in a college prep composition course. (HB)