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This presentation explores the definition of collaboration in the classroom, provides some brief history of composition (and related) theories that support collaboration, and looks at some of the benefits of having students collaborate, whether in small classroom exercises or on larger projects. The majority of the presentation focuses on some practical ways to get students writing together in the classroom, including a model for scaffolding and modeling the process before leaving students to alternately write both collaborative and independently. The presentation concludes with some additional examples of collaborative writing exercises for the classroom and by sharing some online resources for team assignments and online collaboration.
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Collaborative Composition Histories:
Some Practical Classroom Activities
Monique Babin, EnglishClackamas Community College
Oregon City, Oregon CCHA Regional Conference – Portland Oregon,
Oct. 2012
AgendaHow do we define collaboration?What is the history of collaborative
composition theory?What are some benefits to
collaboration?How do we help students
achieve successful collaboration?What can we conclude?
Collaborative learning includes . . .
Peer tutoringPeer responseSmall group and class discussionCo-authored textsGroup papers (Viggiano)
Theoretical Basis for Collaboration
Mikhail Bakhtin (1895-1975)Roland Barthes (1915 – 1980)Michel Foucault (1926 – 1984)Kenneth BruffeePatricia BizzellDavid Bartholomae
Mikhail Bakhtin
Language and communication are . . .
DialogicA product of social interaction and
recreationMade up of utterances that belong to
speech genresContextual and
intertextual (Brandist)
Roland BarthesThe author is no longer the sole origin
of a text’s meaning.To view the author as central to the
meaning of the text is an act of suppression of difference.
With no final meaning signified, we have only the text.
“The text is a fabric of quotations resulting from a thousand sources of culture.”
(Allen)
Michel FoucaultThe author is outside the text and
precedes it.We classify works as characteristic of
an author (e.g. a poem is Baudelairian).The author becomes the expression of
the discourse rather than the text being theexpression of the author.
Kenneth Bruffee“Thought is internalized conversation.”Therefore, though is not “an essential
attribute of the human mind,” but rather “an artifact created by social interaction.”
“If thought is internalized public and social talk, then writing of all kinds is internalized social talk made public and social again.”
Patricia Bizzell & David Bartholomae
Students have to “appropriate . . . a specialized discourse . . . mimicking its language.”
We need to help students determine the conventions and demystify them.
The writer “is in a constant tangle with the language, obliged to recognize its public communal nature and yet driven to invent out of this language his own statements.”
(Bartholomae)
(Bartholomae)
Benefits of Collaborative Writing
Forces writers to articulate thought processes.
Provides peer models for students who may be struggling.
Allows for more complex projects.Builds relationships and community.Generates higher order and more
complex thought.Mirrors real-world practices.
(Viggiano)
Provide Scaffolding I – Inquiry M – Modeling S – Shared Writing C – Collaborative Writing I – Independent Writing
(Read)
Inquiry Present a sample Read aloud Ask student to identify predominant
features and conventions Provide specific writing instruction
appropriate to the task(Read)
Student Sample: Evaluation of a Work of Art
The ball could have been tiled illustrating a mosaic design of
Oregon only, however city officials thought it important to show the rich
diversity of the world through a mosaic design of ecological
awareness. The layers of saturated color add depth and dimension to
Eco-Earth. Each two inch by two inch tile was cut by volunteers to fit
the design of the 60 panels that comprise the ball. Oceans are a
blend of aqua blue in the deepest areas of the oceans, marine blue
tiles flow along the forms of the continents. The panels encircling the
spherical sculpture replicate the latitude and longitude lines of a globe.
Many of the icons depicting each individual ecological system are
layered with
Student Sample: Evaluation of a Work of Art
brilliant colors thoughtfully chosen to consciously represent each
ecological environment. There is a whimsical nature about Eco-Earth
that appeals to children; this is evident in the mythological creatures
such as a mermaid that lies in the aqua tiled oceans. Planet Earth has
been portrayed using many different mediums of art, however what is
awe inspiring about Eco-Earth is the level of skill required to mortar
86,000 tiles onto a curved surface and unfold a unique depiction of our
planet. Eco-Earth . . . [makes] one contemplate why . . . it is vitally
important that we care for our Earth through educating ourselves on
the balance of people with our ecological environments.
ModelModel the process at all stages (Read)
Prewriting
WritingRevising
Shared WritingInstructor involves studentsin making decisions about Topic Sentence structure Organization
(Read)
Collaborative Writing Student writing group assumes
complete responsibility Students produce a single text or
parallel texts, but process is collaborative
Process is particularly valuable to English language learners (Read)
Independent Writing
(Read)
Scaffolding removed
Independent writing
Alternate independent & collaborative
process
Elbow’s Collaborative Collage1. Arrange students in small groups and have them
write individually on a given topic.2. Have students choose sections that they like best
and share them with the group.3. Instruct students to create a collage from their
favorite pieces (sequence, additions, omissions, transitions, etc. must all be determined). Any new pieces are written individually, but revisions are made as a group.
Students might also write a reflection that discusses the group experience, along with the benefits and drawbacks of working in a group. (Viggiano)
Additional Collaborative Activities Post passages from class readings to a wiki
and have students provide annotations. Assign student groups to lead weekly class
sessions. Have students create or contribute to a
wiki-style encyclopedia or glossary. Ask students to co-author a short story. Remove an excerpt from a short story and
have students write the missing piece.(Phillipson)
Additional Collaborative Activities Have a small group of students (3 or 4)
work together to outline an argument. Think-Pair-Share. Pass the prompt freewrite. Others?
Online Collaborative Fun!
Folding Story: http://foldingstory.com/ Ficly: http://ficly.com/ Story Mash: http://storymash.com/ Novlet: http://www.novlet.com/
Conclusions The theoretical basis for collaborative
writing demonstrates the social nature of language, thought, and communication, and the need to introduce students to collaborative learning and writing.
Instructors must model these processes in the classroom and create clearly defined collaborative activities.
ReferencesAllen, Graham. “Roland Barthes.” New York: Routledge, 2003.
Print.Bartholomae, David. “Inventing the University.” When a Writer
Can’t Write: Studies in Writer’s Block and Other Composing Problems. Ed. Mike Rose. New York: Guilford, 1985. 273 – 85. Print.
Brandist, Craig. “The Bakhtin Circle.” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. N.p. 15 Jul. 2005. Web. 20 Nov. 2011.
Bruffee, Kenneth. “Collaborative Learning and the ‘Conversation of Mankind.’” College English. 46.7 (1984): 635 – 52. Print.
Foucault, Michel. “What is an Author?” Twentieth Century Literary Theory. Ed. Vassilis Lambropoulous and David Neal Miller. New York: Albany State UP, 1987. 124 – 42. Print.
Phillipson, Mark. “Engaging in Collaborative Writing.” Enhanced: New Media Tools and Resources for Enhancing Education. 12 Nov. 2007. Web. 20 Nov. 2011.
ReferencesRead, Sylvia. “A Model for Scaffolding Writing Instruction: IMSCI.”
Reading Teacher 64.1 (2010): 47-52. ERIC. Web. 14 Mar. 2011.
Viggiano, Emily. “Teaching Tip Sheet: Collaborative Writing.” George Mason University. N.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2011.
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