Collaborative planning and prewriting: The effects of structured peer collaborations on primary-age students' writing development

Current writing theory and curriculum frameworks suggest that primary-age students should be taught to utilize the complete writing process. Emphasis throughout instruction should be placed on planning and revision (California Department of Education, 2007). However, due to an absence of research, it remains unclear whether primary-age students are developmentally ready for formal instruction in these skills. Consequently, the purpose of this study was to determine whether prewriting and planning could become an internalized step of the writing process during the formative years of learning.;A two-group, mixed methods in-depth case study design was used. The intervention group was comprised of 23 students drawn from an intact, balanced grade 2 class from a northern California public k-2 school. The comparison group consisted of 132 students from the six additional second-grade classes at the same school. Intervention students participated in an eight-week language arts unit in which students were taught to compose a personal narrative using the entire writing process. Instruction emphasized peer-assisted learning within a modified Writers' Workshop structure. Intervention students received explicit instruction in collaborative story planning. Students self-selected planning partners with whom they co-planned all stories. Comparison class students received process-oriented writing instruction without specific emphasis on collaborative planning.;Five forms of data were collected. These included a pre, post, and maintenance on-demand writing task; recordings of time intervention students spent planning; pre and post student interviews; and video recordings of student discussions. To measure students' internal feelings during writing, the Writer Self-Perception Scale (WSPS) was administered both pre and post treatment.;Results revealed that intervention students were far more likely to independently plan stories than students in the comparison classes and this skill persisted overtime. Interview responses revealed significant changes to students' knowledge of the importance of prewriting and planning on subsequent writing. Post interview responses revealed students' preference for working collaboratively during the planning stage of the writing process. Results from the WSPS revealed that students maintained positive self-perceptions about themselves as writers throughout the treatment. The results from this study suggest that primary-age students may be developmentally ready to receive formal instruction in prewriting and planning.