Collaborative Writing With Chat

Grade Level:6-12

Materials: One networked computer for each student; Access to Chat software such as the chat module of Blackboard

Description: Instruct students to be seated and to log into the chat room software. It might be useful to instruct students not to talk out loud during the chat. The first few times they do this, however, students will have to exercise some discipline not to post social or off topic comments. In order to encourage this, the instructor might give all instructions (and classroom management instructions) through the chat tool. The idea behind this activity is to have the students respond to writing prompts online so that they can see a variety of ways to phrase an idea. It can be done at the phrase, sentence, or paragraph level. Anything much longer than a short paragraph would probably not work very well as the activity depends on students being able to quickly read each other's work.

Ideally, this activity should be delivered the day after a lesson on a particular writing skill. For example, after delivering a lesson on basic paragraph structures, students might collaboratively write a paragraph. After a lesson on effective thesis statement writing, students might collaborate to craft effective thesis statements.

The teacher should have a series of prompts or questions pre-written to paste into the chat interface. For example, if the class is working on writing an introductory paragraph, the teacher might present a general topic and ask the students to respond with a possible thesis statement for that topic. As students reply, the teacher can make suggestions or encourage them to revise. Some teacher comments might include things like "avoid vague language," or "try to narrow the focus of your idea." Students can continue to submit ideas in one of two formats. Students can randomly submit their own ideas, or a single student can submit his or her idea. Then teachers and or students can critique it. Subsequent students can post revisions to the idea until the entire class ends up with a single thesis statement that is the class's "best work."  

Rationale: The use of a chat tool to collaboratively produce, comment on, and revise writing creates a shared classroom experience that is much more efficient than traditional pen and paper assignments. Students can instantly see each others work and can quickly pass on comments without the delay of making copies or exchanging papers. Because information is exchanged with the written word, students are forced to be precise in their language rather than rely on the vague or ephemeral verbal presentations that often creep into student speech. It is this type of vague language that the teacher hopes to eliminate in a student’s written work. Additionally, this is the type of activity for which a teacher can require 100% participation. In fact, the teacher might require all students to participate and use the chat log to evaluate that participation. The fact that participation can be silent (and in some cases anonymous) might also encourage participation from students who might otherwise be reluctant to speak up in class.