Ask teachers about their biggest challenges in elementary and middle school, and many will say the teaching of writing. It is often difficult for students find the joy, discovery, and satisfaction writing can yield. What Lisa Eickholdt and Patricia Vitale-Reilly have found is that adherence to genre studies can get in the way of student collaboration. Believing writing instruction should be more authentic, they want students to have more choices, develop better collaboration, and sustain a sense of community, all through the implementation of writing clubs.In their book Writing Clubs: Fostering Choice, Collaboration, and Community in the Writing Classroom , you'll discover ways to: Collaborate throughout the process of writing Choose what to write and how to write it Examine mentor texts and study craft techniques across genres Develop speaking and listening skills Celebrate classmates’ accomplishments through publication Collaboration is widely recognized as a vital life skill. Eickholdt and Vitale-Reilly present a plethora of ideas on how gratifying it can be right now, as well as in the future. There’s an old proverb that says, ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with others.’ In Writing Clubs , we discover that there is no limit to how far young writers can go when teachers show them what it means to collaborate.

Drawing upon previously unpublished archival materials as well as historical accounts, Gere traces the history of writing groups in America, from their origins over a century ago to their recent reappearance in the works of Macrorie, Elbow, Murray, and others. From this historical perspective Gere examines the theoretical foundations of writing groups, challenging the traditional concept of writing as an individual performance. She offers instead a broader view of authorship that includes both individual and social dimensions, with implications not only for the teaching of composition but also for theories of rhetoric and literacy.

Writing is the principal means by which doctoral candidature is monitored and measured; this, combined with the growing tendency to use publications as proxy measures of individual and institutional productivity, underlines the centrality of writing in academia. One of the central questions for scholars in higher education, therefore, is ‘How do we make writing happen?’, and it is this question which the book seeks to answer. The book provides detailed illustrations of collaborative writing pedagogies which are powerfully enabling, and through theoretical and conceptual interrogation of these practices, the authors point the way for individuals as well as institutions to establish writing groups that are lively, responsive and context-specific. Key topics include: new pedagogical responses for increased writing productivity and the ‘push to publish’; innovations for supporting academic writing quality, confidence and output; scaffolding the thesis writing process; new theoretical explorations of collaborative writing approaches; writing group formulations and pedagogical approaches; writing groups for non-native speakers of English; writing as women in higher education. A particular strength of this book is that it showcases the potential of writing groups for advanced academic writing by pulling together a unique mix of authors and scholarly approaches, representing a wide range of new theoretical and pedagogical frames from diverse countries. Writing Groups for Doctoral Education and Beyond will be attractive to academics seeking new ways to advance their writing productivity, doctoral students, their supervisors and those who are tasked with the job of supporting them through the completion and dissemination of their research.

This unique collection considers the nature of writing groups inside and outside the academic environment. Exploring writing groups as contextual literacy events, editors Beverly J. Moss, Nels P. Highberg, and Melissa Nicolas bring together contributors to document and reflect on the various types of collaborations that occur in writing groups in a wide range of settings, both within and outside the academy. The chapters in this volume respond to a variety of questions about writing groups, including: *What is the impact of gender, race, and socioeconomic class on power dynamics in writing groups? *When is a writing group a community and are all writing groups communities? *How does the local community of a writing group impact the participation of group members in other local or global communities? *How does the local community of a writing group impact the participation of group members in other local or global communities? *What actions contribute to a strong community of writers and what actions contribute to the breakdown of community? *When and for whom are writing groups ineffective? *What is it about belonging to a community of writers that makes writing groups appealing to so many within and beyond the academy? Each chapter highlights how writing groups, whether or not they are labeled as such, function in various spaces and locations, and how collaboration works when writers from a variety of backgrounds with diverse interests come together. Writing Groups Inside and Outside the Classroom illustrates that writing groups outside of the academy are worthy of study and serve as important sites of writing and literacy instruction. Offering significant insights into the roles of writing groups in literacy and writing practice, this volume is appropriate for scholars and teachers of writing, rhetoric, composition, and literacy; for writing center administrators and staff; and for writing group participants.

Teachers’ writing groups have a significantly positive impact on pupils and their writing. This timely text explains the importance of teachers’ writing groups and how they have evolved. It outlines clearly and accessibly how teachers can set up their own highly effective writing groups. In this practical and informative book, the authors: share the thinking and practice that is embodied by teachers’ writing groups provide practical support for teachers running a group or wishing to write for themselves in order to inform their practice cover major themes such as: the relationship between writing teachers and the teaching of writing; writing as process and pleasure; writing and reflective practice; writing journals and the writing workshop. The authors provide a rationale for the development of writing groups for teachers and for ways of approaching writing that support adult and child writers and this rationale informs the ideas for writing throughout the book. All writing and teaching suggestions have been extensively tried and tested by class teachers, and will be of enormous interest to any teacher or student teacher wishing to run their own successful writing group.

This book is an original account of coterie culture in twentieth-century Ireland and the networks and connections which fostered women's writing. It paints a vivid portrait of the inspirational women involved in the Women Writers' Club, showcasing their influence and achievements in literature and their political campaigning for intellectual and creative freedom.

Make the most of small group time—in-person or online To help students progress as readers, they need personal attention from a teacher and a connection with their peers. Small groups offer both! When you work with just a few kids at a time—whether face-to-face or in a virtual setting, you provide a safe, trusting environment that encourages them to challenge themselves. In this timely handbook, author and reading expert Debbie Diller provides concrete guidance for tailoring the small-group experience to literacy instruction. You’ll learn how to assess student skills and needs, how to flexibly organize groups, and how to differentiate instruction to give every reader a pathway to success. Features include: Strategies and tools grouped by developmental reading stages At-a-glance charts for assessing current skill level and identifying next instructional steps Downloadable printables for planning and instructional use Easy adaptations for use in online learning Reflection prompts and guiding questions Whatever your instructional setting, you and your students need the relationships that are best forged in small groups. With this book, you’ll build those relationships and help young readers achieve success.