Collaborative writing tasks

If you teach groups and have access to breakout rooms, you can include collaborative writing tasks in your live online lessons. You can also ask learners to complete collaborative writing tasks asynchronously.

Task

Look at the lesson outline of a collaborative writing task. What is the aim of each activity? Make notes. The first one has been given.

Activity	Activity aims
1. Learners look at two pages from a website where people are trying to raise money for a local cause e.g. justgiving.com. They read the descriptions and decide which cause they would give their money to and why.	View a model text.
2. Learners look at the descriptions again and identify topics mentioned and persuasive language used. They share the language via a digital tool e.g. Padlet.
3. The class identify local causes they could raise money for via the chat box.
4. Learners work in pairs in breakout rooms and decide what local cause they want to support. They plan a description for the donation website and select persuasive language to use.
5. Pairs write their descriptions together.
6. Pairs share their descriptions with another pair in breakout rooms. They say if they would give money and why/why not. They give tips for being more persuasive.
7. The teacher gives feedback to the class on the strengths of their descriptions and areas for development.

Note that steps 1 and 2 could be done out of class with steps 3-7 done in class. Alternatively, steps 1-4 could be done in class, with steps 5-7 done out of class.

Check your answers.

Reflect and share

What other collaborative writing tasks might your learners enjoy? Share your ideas in the comments below.