Description of Implementation
The focus for this first implementation revolved around the questions I had initially set for the AR. How would my implementation of a collaborative group writing project affect my students' joint ability to increase in skill sets? How, also, would working in a group setting to develop one written project affect both motivation towards effort and quality?
My class doesn't usually have homework. Instead, I use an interactive notebook that I sign daily prior to the end of the class and the whole notebook itself is collected on a weekly or biweekly basis. This allows me to see how my students are progressing on a daily basis as well as gives me the opportunity to look at their work in more detail. I wanted to combine the old with new so we used their notebooks to hold all of the information, graphic organizers, brainstorming, and preparations they did before jointly writing the essay in class.
Despite that, this project was a little different for them. On Monday morning we started right off on the differences. I explained to them that they were going to be working together as a team to create an essay based off of some concepts we had explored. I provided them with an overview of the idea of the group collaboration project before giving them a day by day outlook of what we would be doing.
We initially reviewed what a DBQ was and I introduced the question to them. This really was a review since my students had just completed a DBQ prior to Thanksgiving Break and we had built up a good amount of knowledge about the subjects. I then asked them to create and fill in a graphic organizer. We then, as a class, came up with good working definitions based off of the students' answers to both Manifest Destiny and Imperialism.
Over the course of the week, students were given times where they would work both individually and as a group, to strive towards the final product, their collaborative work. Collaboration can take on many forms but in this instance it was a mixture comprising of individual work and individual/group work on structure and content, which ultimately lead to overall group consensus and subsequent creation of a collaborative essay. In this case students were tasked with individual responsibility of both content work and primary source research as well as sharing that work, collaborative agreement of both, and a group writing of a final question.
The final written product needed to answer the original question: “To what extent was the expansionism during the period known as Manifest Destiny similar and different from expansionism during Imperialism?”
The steps of the collaborative process:
1. The Pre-writing process
a. Students individually generated the ideas of Manifest Destiny and Imperialism and as a class we broke the main question down into what was expected.
b. Students used a graphic organizer to work together in brainstorming major similiarities and differences between MD and Imperialism.
c. Students shared ideas, discussed, and decided on a direction for the essay.
2. Planning and logistics
a. Students, then, decided who would write each of the different parts of the paper.
b. Students decided on the major similarities and differences that would go into the paper.
c. Students agreed upon which group members would write about these similarities and differences.
d. Students individually came up with paragraph topic sentences to later share with the group.
3. Research and Data Collection
a. As a class we came up with an understanding of the concepts of Manifest Destiny and Imperialism.
b. Students worked independently to read, analyze, and prepare a primary source in order to share with the group.
c. Students decided who would read and share each of the different primary sources given.
d. Students worked on finding evidence and information in the textbook and sources we have used in the past, to further flush out ideas and garner enough information to be able to put thoughts to paper.
d. Students, then worked during specific times allocated as 'group work times' to put the pieces together and figure out which sources would work best for individual topic sentences. They were doing general research and, in most cases, their research was not about their main point(s).
e. Students turned in, for my review, a sheet with the collaborative thesis and the topic sentences, chosen along with possible primary sources supporting the claims.
4. Drafting and/or writing
a. All group members collaborated and agreed to the content and structure of the various parts of the essay.
b. Each group member had his or her portion to finalize and write.
c. Groups met to discuss how each of the sections would finally fit together and what transitions were to be used.
d. A pre-writing day was taken so students could work together to prepare outlines and finalize the different sections that would go together. They also took this time to revise the main thesis statement as needed, as well as, depending on where they were in the process, create a rough draft.
e. A day is given for the students to collaboratively write their essays.
Individual Work
Throughout the group project, students worked in obtaining information that would benefit the group as a whole. However there were several parts of the project that I wanted the students to work on individually. The idea was for them to work towards combining their knowledge and experience to provide a better learning experience for each member of the group. Initially each student needed to formulate operative definitions for the main concepts within the DBQ question. I asked them to do this individually at first. Manifest Destiny and American Imperialism were both ideas and concepts that they had worked and been tested on already, so they were at the very basic levels, familiar with the content..
One of the main goals of individual student work was to work on gaining insight for becoming 'experts' on different subjects and sources. Student were given different sections to study from the text as well as different primary source documents. They were responsible for generating information that would lead to an overall understanding of information and direction for the essay.
Individual work for this project consisted of reviewing previous concepts, reading and researching primary sources, and coming up with possible topic statements that would serve as the backbone of the paper. Students were then given the tasks of coming up with concrete knowledge, ideas on the structural frame of whole paper, and possible specific sections of the paper they were to write on.
Throughout the group project, students worked in obtaining information that would benefit the group as a whole. However there were several parts of the project that I wanted the students to work on individually. The idea was for them to work towards combining their knowledge and experience to provide a better learning experience for each member of the group. Initially each student needed to formulate operative definitions for the main concepts within the DBQ question. I asked them to do this individually at first. Manifest Destiny and American Imperialism were both ideas and concepts that they had worked and been tested on already, so they were at the very basic levels, familiar with the content..
One of the main goals of individual student work was to work on gaining insight for becoming 'experts' on different subjects and sources. Student were given different sections to study from the text as well as different primary source documents. They were responsible for generating information that would lead to an overall understanding of information and direction for the essay.
Individual work for this project consisted of reviewing previous concepts, reading and researching primary sources, and coming up with possible topic statements that would serve as the backbone of the paper. Students were then given the tasks of coming up with concrete knowledge, ideas on the structural frame of whole paper, and possible specific sections of the paper they were to write on.
Group Work
Interspersed with the individual work each day was the scheduled opportunity for students to work together to discuss what they had come up with individually in terms of information as well as, what they had worked on in regards to paper's structure. The group work was a time for students to come together and discuss their findings and discuss how they would like their overall paper to look like. Each group was given a template of what was expected and allotted times where ideas were introduced for debate and discussion. As the project went on, a gradual release of responsibility took place wherein students were given more time to work collaboratively on their projects with less and less direct instruction. They had individually and jointly been obtaining the information they needed to complete the work and were now given the time and group space to formulate their pre- project work. As mentioned previously, students were individually given the role of expert for a text subject and primary source. Once they came together they needed to formulate topic sentences, similarities and differences between Manifest Destiny and American Imperialism and give the group information to help support these ideas.
Interspersed with the individual work each day was the scheduled opportunity for students to work together to discuss what they had come up with individually in terms of information as well as, what they had worked on in regards to paper's structure. The group work was a time for students to come together and discuss their findings and discuss how they would like their overall paper to look like. Each group was given a template of what was expected and allotted times where ideas were introduced for debate and discussion. As the project went on, a gradual release of responsibility took place wherein students were given more time to work collaboratively on their projects with less and less direct instruction. They had individually and jointly been obtaining the information they needed to complete the work and were now given the time and group space to formulate their pre- project work. As mentioned previously, students were individually given the role of expert for a text subject and primary source. Once they came together they needed to formulate topic sentences, similarities and differences between Manifest Destiny and American Imperialism and give the group information to help support these ideas.
To the right is an example of work that students did independently but that led to group collaboration. For this portion of the work, each group decided which member would read, analyze, and share each of the primary source documents that were selected. I modeled how to use this G.O. using a non-related political cartoon and idea about industrialism and then asked them to continue on this idea. I asked that they take about a page per document filling in each section for their own document after they had read and taken notes. They, then came back and orally presented their findings. All students were expected to have the G.O. filled out completely. They were then asked to discuss which documents would go best with each of the paragraph topic sentences. These sentences, which students had created earlier, were statements that Manifest Destiny was simillar or different in particular ways. For example, Manifest Destiny and Imperialism share an expansion of economic opportunity as a driving force. They made up the main ideas behind the thesis that they had created as a group and they were expected to have both similarities AND differences in order to answer the question fully.
Writing the Essay
Two entire days, with full notice and an interactive notebook of shared and prepared information ready to go, was devoted time for the groups to prepare the collaborative essay. Students had worked all week to accumulate all the information they needed both individually and as a team. They had had daily discussions about how they would present the information they had learned and collected together before finalizing the work they had done to produce a cogent and unified essay. As per my desire to have a gradual release of responsibility, I let the students take full charge of how they would prepare to write the full and final essay. I did suggest that they create an overall outline and rough draft but did not require them to do so. As was the case in each of the different phases, I spent a good deal of time working with each individual groups to monitor their progress, do formal observations, and help in any way that I could during the writing process. As in all aspects of this, I reminded the students that this was not a test and that I was there to help and answer questions. The students took this time, in their various ways, to continue to formally write the paper, and in some cases, re-write the draft.
Two entire days, with full notice and an interactive notebook of shared and prepared information ready to go, was devoted time for the groups to prepare the collaborative essay. Students had worked all week to accumulate all the information they needed both individually and as a team. They had had daily discussions about how they would present the information they had learned and collected together before finalizing the work they had done to produce a cogent and unified essay. As per my desire to have a gradual release of responsibility, I let the students take full charge of how they would prepare to write the full and final essay. I did suggest that they create an overall outline and rough draft but did not require them to do so. As was the case in each of the different phases, I spent a good deal of time working with each individual groups to monitor their progress, do formal observations, and help in any way that I could during the writing process. As in all aspects of this, I reminded the students that this was not a test and that I was there to help and answer questions. The students took this time, in their various ways, to continue to formally write the paper, and in some cases, re-write the draft.
The final product
The students were given this template to identify the basic aspects of how the paper should be structured and what should be included. Groups consisted of mostly four people, with a few exceptions of three, and they were expected to include a primary source support for each statement. They were also expected to have the entire essay make sense as a whole and not have patchwork writing that didn't reflect the question, the thesis, or each of the other aspects.
The students were given this template to identify the basic aspects of how the paper should be structured and what should be included. Groups consisted of mostly four people, with a few exceptions of three, and they were expected to include a primary source support for each statement. They were also expected to have the entire essay make sense as a whole and not have patchwork writing that didn't reflect the question, the thesis, or each of the other aspects.