Ideas for Collaborative Writing Using a Word-Processor

Group Writing

Work on a text together. A group of pupils prepare a document at the computer, conferring on language, spelling, style. Print out several copies.

Paired Writing

Two pupils work as author and secretary (or scribe). They share the task between them. A child full of ideas can develop them without having to type: another pupil gets typing practice.

Proof-reading

A group of children work to prepare a text for 'publication', improving the language, checking spelling and grammar. They address these issues without 'marking' or judging mistakes.

Sandwich Poems

Write a poem, then space out the lines by pressing return at the end. Another child then adds lines in between them... Repeat the process. This encourages reading lines in context to make the meaning flow.

Example

Cumulative Stories

One child writes a sentence, another follows and so on...The group discusses and re-drafts the final piece. This is a quick way to generate text and discuss narrative structure.