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?

Student Team Assignment Resources

http://studentteams.x10.mx/

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.