Groups.Writing.Growth.

To begin a class with the expectation that the class will be working together and will be writing, Zemelman & Daniels suggests three things that a teacher should have their students right away. (Chapter 6)

1. Everyone writes.

2. Writing is shared.

3. Everyone helps define the group.

Ways to get students writing and sharing....

Zemelman & Daniels lesson ideas(Chapter 6):
Introduction activity
This activity accomplishes the following goals: It helps students to begin to have an identity in a classroom and in a group setting. It helps students model the writing process (writing, responding, drafting, revising, presenting, discussing). It helps students think about the type of learning they are doing (metacognition). It helps students build friendships. It gets all students sharing their writing. Because all students will be sharing the same writing in an informal, ungraded atmosphere, there is less pressure to be 'good' or 'right'.

1. Tell students about the activity. Tell students they will be in pairs and conduct an interview.

2. Brainstorm with the class types of questions they could ask during the interview.

3. Have students pair up and introduce each other, making sure to take notes of the interview.

4. Have students write a short paragraph about the person they interviewed.

5. All the students will read aloud. Have pairs read their writing together. Afterward, have students discuss how they felt through each part of the assignment.

6. Have students meet again in their pairs and discuss one thing they would like their partner change in their paragraph about them. The 'responder' needs to give reasons for the change. Then teacher has a large class discussion on the types of changes. Ask "What sort of changes were asked for?", "how did you feel as the writer about the change request?", "was it hard or easy to change the text", and "what implications does this have for other writing?".

7. Use the paragraphs that students write about each other to put in a book with profiles for that hour. 

Free Writing
Have students write continuously without stopping. If students cannot think of anything to write they should write "I can't think of anything to write" over and over again. They could doodle or do some sort of graphic activity. Have students share. This activity helps students to get a better idea of where their thoughts are coming from, while possibly giving ideas for writing topics.

Hills Like White Elephants Activity
1. Read Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants
2. Students write a free-write response.
3. A few students are asked to share their writings.
4. Students gather in their small groups to discuss the story. They should talk about thoughts it brought to them. Everyone needs to share something, and a representative from the group will share what the grouped talked about.
5. The representative will share in the large group setting.
6. Students are now asked to go back and write a once sentence statement that they find to be true about the story. It could be about characters, themes, or the time period. The goals is for students to "find something [they're] sure about"
7. Everyone will read aloud their one sentence statement. There will be "no debating or evaluation of people's ideas".  (This creates a basis to start a thesis).
8. Teacher guides students through an imagery process. The teacher will talk about the setting and scene (see text for script) while students close their eyes and imagine the setting.
9. Students will then write about what they felt, saw, smelled, heard while imagining the scene the teacher set. Their response could be a poem, an essay (using thesis statements created by their assertions), short story, character sketch - anything.
10. Students will share their thoughts in small groups.
11. Then share in large groups.
12. Then they will revise their reactions to the imagery process.
13. They will edit one anothers' reflections to get ready to publish them.
14. Students will publish their writing in a class booklet.

In the book Bridging English, Milner and Milner give more ideas for group learning activities.

The Shell Game (Chapter 11)
This activity teaches students how to work together. It also helps them build skills in the area of description. This type of project helps build on skills that can make them better writers as well.

Find shells that are similar to one another, and put a number on the shell . Divide the class into groups. Each groups will have a shell. They will then try to describe the shell in writing in as detailed a way as possible. Then other teams have to find which shell was being described. The teams will better descriptions with consideration of texture and color, for example, will be the team that wins. This has students work together, lean from one another's perspectives, and develop writing skills.

The Survival Dilemma
"This classification facilitates discussion. And as the categories are refined and ordered, material and motive for writing develop. Hillocks (1986) found that these kinds of activities developed prewriting skills, which are building blocks for good analytical writing. Excersiese such as these, which pique analytical reasonsing and give it a concrete and engaging context, energize thinking and therefore writing" (293). Moreover, in these groups, students will find identity within the group and seek to defend their positions. This creates healthy relationships in the classroom and gives students a purpose and meaning.Students are given a scenario in which they need to survive. They are told they are in a lifeboat with 12 others people. It is getting very cold. one woman is in a bathing suit. With strong winds and high waves, the overcrowded life boat is not match to the open sea. In order to survive they must remove sixty pounds of weight in order to survive. In groups that the teacher assigns, the students will choose which items they will remove. You can not suspend items from the side of the boat, nor can you remove any people. They must choose from these items.

- 3 wet suits (5lbs each)
- a 2-gallon container full of water (15lbs)
- four wool blankets (2lbs each)
- a large S.O.S. flag (3lbs)
- thirty cans of tuna (1lb each)
- first-aid kit (10 lbs)
- five slicker raincoats with hoods (2lbs each)
- battery-operated signal light (8lbs)
- 2 buckets for bailing (3lbs each)

Each student will then have to write a paragarph listing and justifying his or her choice. Then in groups, they will listen to one another's ideas and choose which is the best solution. They will compile their individual work into one document. In a big group setting, the small groups present. Other groups are able to challenge the groups decision and as a small group, the presenter needs to defend their position.