AGQTP Project

A collaborative creative writing experience for Year 8 students

A cluster of 4 inner city schools 32 students in total 1 guest author Introductory and closing evenings 2 full writing days Editing and publishing afternoons Books published in ibook author

 http://animoto.com/play/cLSxcrrn60TnqIrm0SGx1A

 To enhance the writing process through collaboration with peers. To improve understanding of narrative elements such as character point of view and plot structures. To improve editing skills and the ability to provide peer feedback. To provide students with an opportunity to become publishers of material in an authentic online context for a variety of audiences.

To increase effective group participation skills.

 4 students per group Stimulus and story crafting provided by guest author and TLs Group work and ICT skills enhanced by teachers Feedback given by students and some guidance by teachers

 Students collaborate on elements of story 4 characters explore the same scenario from their point of view Each student writes their own story based on the common scenario Shared wiki information, group discussion writing, feedback, editing

Individual stories with peer feedback

Shared space for discussion, development and clarification of story ideas for each group

 Provided a clear structure on how and where to provide peer feedback Provided a platform for support materials and workshop notes Able to be continually modified by teachers and students Able to post engaging multimedia Students able to be active online participants Teachers notified of editing progress Wiki most beneficial support to get the most out of the group work 60% respondents

 Survey results - pre and post workshop comparison Pre workshop survey (32 responses) Post workshop survey (23 responses) Overall - positive feedback from students
Group work Challenges Peer editing and feedback Benefits for learning Digital Citizenship

 Improvement made in attitude towards benefits of group work

Pre workshop survey Post workshop survey

47%

57%
30%

44% 9% 13%

 Decrease in challenges
What challenges (if any) did you have with working in a group? 17 11 18 21 6 1 Linking stories and differing ideas 9

None 5 Uneven contributions 2 Personality Clash 1 Listening 1 Confidence 1 Inflexibility 1

 Positive reflection on peer editing

16% 37% 9% 34% 3% 4%

17% 52% 26%

 Increase in peer status as credible editor

31% 47% 3% 9% 6% 3% 4% 0%

13% 52%

17%

 Students see the benefits for learning

35% 48% 17%

13% 35% 35%

13%
4%

 More input needed on publishing online

9% 25%
12% 19% 6% 29%

0% 22%
31% 26%

22%

Post Workshop Survey

A positive experience

35%
61%

 Professional end product Decide to publish as ibook online or not Some difficulties with different operating systems Some students unfamiliar with Mac Save ibooks in one designated location Allocate group leader to combine books Instruct about copyright permissions Not edited by teachers

Online collaborative writing workshop Term 1 My writing workshop Term 3 Group collaborates on common plot Percy Jackson missing chapter Mrs Weavers Nine Writing Steps apply to practice story, then write a new short story from different characters point of view on G Drive Step 1: Plan for Success Step 2: Characters Step 1: What is story? Step 2: Plot development Step 3: Character - Make them real, Make us care, Make us laugh, Save the cat Step 4: Covenant of the arc: characters are not the same at the end of the story as at the start. Step 5: The writing triangle: Doing stuff, description, Dialogue Step 6: The power of what would be better than this? Brian Falkners Writing Workshop Each group member writes short story from their own characters point of view on wiki

Step 3: Sizzling Starts

Step 4: Tightening Tension Step 5: Dynamic Dialogue Step 6: Show, Don't Tell Step 7: Ban the Boring Bits Step 8: Exciting Endings Step 9: Review, rewriting, reflection

Step 7: Writing with emotion

Step 8: Peer editing Step 9: ibook making

 greater attention to an outcome will improve performance on any measure http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/107018/chapters/What-Isthe-Teacher's-Job-When-Teaching%C2%A2.aspx Almost everything works. Ninety percent of all effect sizes in education are positive setting the bar at zero is absurd. http://pragmaticreform.wordpress.com/2013/03/02/hattie/ Our debates are too concentrated on how we teach, whereas all the visible learning work tells me it needs to be about the impact of how we teach. Observe the impact. Wow, is that powerful. http://www.ifl.ac.uk/publications/intuition/intuition-issue11/interview?SQ_DESIGN_NAME=print_friendly&

1. Eliza breaks into a haunted house at night to retrieve a ball, and finds this very frightening. 2. Clarisse creates an illusory sea monster that attacks Percy, so Percy takes revenge by making Clarisses cabin wet and smelly. 3. In a future world, Technologians run out of coal and attack the Naturalisers who grow their own food and use solar power. Iggy, the son of the Technologian leader is saved by his enemy, the Naturalizers. He stops his father and makes Technologians realise they have to live with nature.

Salty Revenge Madeleine End Term 3 The huge monster had me pinned to the ground. Horrifying seaweed essence slowly dripped onto the ground beside me. The gigantic mass of seaweed and coral raised its head and roared, shattering my eardrums. Ribbons of seaweed hung from its humanoid figure like tassels. Its spectral yellow eyes were hidden from view, deep underneath the vulgar seaweed tangle. A ring of dead coral decorated its face, like a crown. In my peripheral vision I could see campers rushing out of their cabins, unsure of what to do. I saw someone throw a spear at the monsters back, but it bounced off harmlessly, as if it were a twig. I tried to stretch my hand out towards my sword that lay on the ground beside me. My fingertips were just touching the cool, unforgiving blade.

I sat in front of our Holograph Projector, watching some Technologian freak with shiny waxed legs and unnaturally white hair talk about different shades of eyeliner. I had my eyes trained on her surgically puffed lips with disgust. I unconsciously traced my fingernails around the little buttons around the remote, pretending I was reading Braille. Today I felt so lazy. It was the hottest day this summer and some of our solar panels broke, so we have no air-conditioning. I stared longingly at the picture of Antarctica that my sister, Zeeta, drew. How could such a place ever have existed? Apparently, it used to be so cold, that there was ice there! Now of course, it has melted.

1. At her Dads 5oth birthday rowing party, Elizas dog falls into the water and they both nearly drown. 2. Isabelle is part of a scientific crew trying to find planet Zulu, a new planet for Earths citizens. They crash and Professor Calvin is attacked by a plant. He saves mankind by finding the Ancient City where humans can survive, but dies of plant poisoning. 3. Percy fights a sea serpent who turns out to be friendly. Thus, he learns not to judge others by appearance.

I clung on tightly to the tail of a thrashing sea monster, ten meters above Lake Midas. Glancing below, sharp and jaggered rocks pierced the turquoise water. How did this happen, you ask? Well, it was a tranquil afternoon. Birds happily chirped to rhythm of the waterfall. It was perfect weather for a serene canoe on the lake. I never expected a sea monster to rise from the water. My heart froze, but I managed to seize my sword Riptide, from my pocket. The sea serpent circled around my canoe, her two heads mischievously grinning at me. Whatever she was scheming, it wasnt going to be pleasant. I had to protect myself! We had no way home. Everything was in ruins. Seconds before, the scientific lab instruments were safely locked in the cupboard, my notes were piled on my desk, and the ships controls were working perfectly. Now, after the crash, the ship looks as though a tornado had swept through. The locked cupboard is hanging off its hinges, and shattered glass covers the floor. Furniture had been thrown violently across the room. Paper is scattered in every corner and the ship controls have been smashed. Not dented, but completely smashed to smithereens. They are irreparable. We had no way home.

I, Isabelle Coren, am part of the second scientific expedition travelling to planet Zulu, working to find a new planet for Earths citizens. We were sent when the first expedition, Four4Freedom never returned. As a scientist-in-training I am Professor Calvins assistant. Professor Calvin Tshcolovy is the head scientist from Russia, whilst the rest of our crew ncludes Tabitha Cross, a human-cat hybrid and Felix Banks, the Protector.

Q4 What were the weaknesses of the teacher directed writing workshop? There was only one teacher and many students. Therefore, specific needs for each individual were not addressed in detail. Sometimes there wasn't time for much writing.
Q5 Do you have any other comments you would like to make about these writing activities? I feel as if the group work improved my story the most because I learnt about other people's writing styles and used their ideas to improve my own story. I believe the wiki writing was a unique experience where other students gave me improvements for my story. I liked this, as it was from students my age.

Q6 Which method of learning about writing did you find more enjoyable. Please give reasons. I enjoyed collaborative writing more because we had the opportunity to read each others' stories and provide feedback as well as receive feedback.. Wiki writing was very enjoyable, and I would recommend it to anyone. It was a new, enjoyable experience that I have valued. However, for me, I prefer writing by myself as I am in control of the story, and not dependant on others as much. Q7 Which method of learning about writing did you find improved your story writing more. Please give reasons. I feel as if the group work improved my story the most because I learnt about other people's writing styles and used their idea to improve my own story. I believe the wiki writing was a unique experience where other students gave me improvements for my story. I liked this, as it was from students my age.

Q8 What improvements would you suggest for the collaborative wiki writing activity? I would suggest smaller groupsit was very hard to settle on a basic story plot.

More time to talk with the group.

Q9 What improvements would you suggest for the classroom teacher directed writing workshop? I have no suggestions - the lessons given my the teachers were very informative and helpful.

In the last two years I have attended writing workshops, and have found teachers focusing on writing activities too much. I prefer looking over the writing activities as I write, rather than go through them.

Q10 What has helped you to improve your writing most? Please consider any other writing activities that you have been involved in, or your own personal writing explorations outside of class? I have completed writing courses and workshops outside of school, and have also entered numerous writing competitions. Last term I found some of the writing activates I was given helped my story. I believe learning to rewrite sentences in different ways has definitely improved my writing.

GENDER mixed gender groups produce less stereotypical writing. For example, it was found that boys are more likely to present females as victims and use a lot of violence, when writing on their own. Girls were found to create more independent characters with stronger voices, and less feminised stories when writing in mixed groups. Handbook of Writing Research by Charles A. MacArthur, Steve Graham, Jill Fitzgerald
Guilford Press, 2006

CREATIVITY "compositions written by pairs were more advanced than individually written ones, and the benefits of collaboration carried over into subsequent individual creative writing (Hartup, 1996)." Vass et al found that the benefits of collaborative creative writing are dependent on the quality of collaboration, as well as other contextual factors, which is why teachers need to explicitly teach collaborative skills and set up a task suited to collaboration. Vass, Eva; Littleton, Karen; Miell, Dorothy and Jones, Ann
(2008). The discourse of collaborative creative writing: Peer collaboration as a context for mutual inspiration. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 3(3), pp. 192 202. http://oro.open.ac.uk/12788/2/

EMOTION and GROUPS necessity to consider the emotional aspects of cognition. Coates 1996, used the term collaborative floor to describe the period of mutual focus and intense sharing, where the overlaps and interruptions are neither chaotic nor off-putting. This fuzzy, organic, non-linear type of collective thinking is called ripple thinking (Vass 2007b). "When engaged in ripple thinking, ideas build on each other and get more and more rich and complex, expanding in all directions like ripples of water." Vass states productive talk in creative contexts may not conform to tidy or linear discourse patterns. Classroom practices need to accommodate such unpredictability and unboundedness. Vass, Eva; Littleton, Karen; Miell, Dorothy and Jones, Ann (2008). The discourse of collaborative creative writing: Peer
collaboration as a context for mutual inspiration. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 3(3), pp. 192 202. http://oro.open.ac.uk/12788/2/

 ibooks Student surveys - survey monkey Group work and collaboration skills taught explicitly; Listening and conflict resolution training and structures added No story cards Peer feedback - given headings and allocated person to edit Explicit discussion of aspects of collaborative writing eg. plagiarism

Do more conflict resolution and active listening skills before workshop. Discuss importance of character roles - to overcome student conflict over being the hero or the villain. The importance of hero, villain and supporting characters could be explored. The winning group used a jigsaw approach rather than parallel stories, so alternative plot structures could be further developed. More reliance on peer feedback, and reduce teacher feedback further. There could be 2 sessions of peer editing, one by a group member, then another at each school. Gain more understanding of gender differences and writing. Arrange logins beforehand - problem with emails at some schools - check before event. Consider wikispaces - can be used with Apple and Windows devices - now has comment tool. Improve technology barriers; either find and use alternative tools for collaborative publishing or address login and format issues with ibooks. Need more time for publishing ibooks. Develop student input to online publishing leadership role in groups; explicit teaching of digital citizenship. Author input Student activities more conservative and texts mentioned more age appropriate, author speak for less time on night. Welcome evening provide clear aims and breakdown of sessions. Areas for further consideration: compare stories 2011 to 2013 to see if there has been any improvement in stories due to the enhancements to the process.