Collaborative Writing Sparks Write1World

Struck by the recommendations in Writing Next: A Report to Carnegie Corporation of New York, I found myself thinking about one in particular: collaborative writing.

The report notes, “Studies of this approach compared its effectiveness with that of having students compose independently. The effect sizes for all studies were positive and large. Collectivey, these investigations show that collaborative arrangements in which students help each other with one or more aspects of their writing have a strong positive impact on quality.”

Thinking a little outside the box, I wondered if I could create authentic collaborative experiences. Could I develop something where students not only collaborated on something very real and meaningful, but also collaborated with students outside of this specific classroom.

After writing up my idea, I received a grant from the American Immigration Council this summer to pursue this dream. So, I created an online magazine and podcast called One World (write1world.net) where we will accept submissions about writing/creating, culture, family history, and heritage. My students are its contributors and editors…but we really want to work with your students.

We embrace and support submissions from all grade levels K-12 which include, but not limited to writing and original artwork in all of its forms–again, on the subjects of writing/creating, culture, family history, and heritage.

If something does not appear publishable, my students will work to collaborate with the submitting author/artist in order to move the piece to a publishable stage. We can do this via email as well as Google Hangouts.

So, we are seeking submissions from your students! My students are excited about the prospects of a collaborative effort which potentially reaches far beyond our classroom walls.