The Writing Group

The writing group is a time for learners to share their writing and get specific feedback on what they did well. You can designate one of your regular sessions as the writing group or set up a different time.

The writing group is a special place, a sea of positive emotions. Learners hear feedback in a warm enthusiastic tone, instead of cold words on paper. They often find common ground with others through reading about their experiences; certainly they have the shared experience of being told their writing is good, and of working confidently to make it better. The fact that everyone gets the same quantity and quality of feedback promotes a sense of community and equality between beginning and more sophisticated writers.

When learners know from experience that their writing will be held up as an example of good practice, they come to the writing group prepared to be pleased and proud; this gives them the space to be generous towards others. So, for example, when I notice out loud that someone’s story is longer than anything they have written before, the rest of the group is quick to join in with their congratulations.

Any form of writing, whether assigned in the writing program or elsewhere, can come to the writing group: a narrative of personal experience, a poem, a report on a science experiment, a recipe, a fictional story, an essay, or an opinion piece.

Learners who have not produced any writing are part of this feedback session. They feel the supportive atmosphere, see for themselves the respect that is given to learners’ writing, and they benefit from hearing the feedback on other learners’ writing. Learners who are reluctant to write become more willing to give it a try. I just wait for that to happen.

If I have copied a piece of writing, but the writer is absent, we do not read it or comment on it, but we save it for another time, when the author can read it for us. Learners who have two pieces (usually because they were absent at the last writing group) choose which one to read. Of course if you are working one-to-one, you will have no time constraints, and you can take up every piece a learner writes.