google docs for group essays

[Margaret Lee]

I assigned each member of my AP Language class a section of Jessica Mitford's "The Formaldehyde Curtain." Each student contributed an analysis of his or her section to a class document. Instead of simply discussing Mitford's essay, we put the google doc on the Smartboard, and listened to each student read his or her contribution.

 

This activity achieved a number of things. 1. Students felt accountable to one another, and they did the homework. Only one student did not complete the assignment. 2. Students heard their peers responses to not only the observations they made about Mitford's language, but to their own sentence craft and correctness. 3. The activity was a good change from simply verbalizing observations. 4. Students saw responses of varying quality and could reflect on that without my pointing to what was done well or not so well.

 

I definitely will do this activity again, and I'll try to adapt it to other works.

[amy underwood]

I'm so glad to know that you found something that works and is beneficial!