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Lessons for Developing College Level Literacy
RESOURCES
Using Google Docs to Foster Collaboration Between Students
Video courtesy of The Teaching Channel
Peer review and editing becomes incredibly simple and efficient with Google Docs. 
  1. Students create their written draft as a Google Doc.
  2. Teacher generates a random or selected list for students, or groups of students, to exchange their assignments by "sharing with commenting rights" with each other via Google's share settings. 
  3. Students read and provide Google comments on the work of their peers. Students who have not yet completed the task spend the time writing their initial draft.
  4. Once they have finished making suggestions for their peers, students assess their peers by completing the rubric, which is then shared with the original write and submitted to the teacher for assessment.
  5. Teacher makes it explicit that students will be assessed on their ability to provide feedback for their peers (in other words, how much they contribute to their peers' papers in terms of substantive comments), not on their own draft.

Scaffolds for Logic and Argumentation
Before students write their first drafts, it is helpful to discuss the importance of logic and well-reasoned arguments.

  1. An offline introductory game, such as the Four Card Monty puzzle, provides a quick and easy way to help students begin to reason logically. 
  2. Next, provide students with an anchor essay such as this one on Animal Testing, to demonstrate the difference between argumentative and persuasive writing. 
  3. Provide students with 2 different color highlighters and ask them to highlight the "facts" (testable claims or information) in one color and "opinions" (untestable claims) in another color.
  4. Discuss in small groups and then come to a consensus as a class on the results. Using this as a model, have the students generate a Writing Comparison T-chart, such as this one, or the simplified version to the right. Make sure that all students keep a copy to reference later.