Joint Construction is a critical component of the writing curriculum, as it nurtures a writing community and it models negotiating writing moves. In this post, I want to describe what Joint Construction is and give some tips for negotiating the writing of texts with students.

Joint Construction is similar to Shared Writing, however I prefer the term Joint Construction because  the word construction reminds us of all the thought that goes into designing a strong text. Begin by developing norms for discussion. I aim for a mix of opportunities for students to shout out answers and opportunities when we are listening to one voice at a time, so students know the norms are different during each of these. It is important that all voices are heard, so I may ask students to turn and talk or think/process for a bit before sharing ideas. There is a sense of experimentation and trying out many ideas during the dialogue, so make sure students know there is no right answer and we cannot use every idea; rather we are growing ideas off what each of us says to come to the most effective word choice.

Before we engage in Joint Construction, we often begin by analyzing a mentor text in the genre we intend to write. Students have copies of the text and it is projected or enlarged for the class to see. Partners can study and mark up the mentor text together to note the vocabulary, organization, structure, transitions, cohesion, and other key aspects of the text. (Cohesion is “how language connects ideas within and across sentences and discourse“.) Then share noticings with the whole group, as the teacher or a student annotates the enlarged text. This makes the mentor text author’s moves visible to all of the students.

Before writing, determine the purpose and audience for the text; these are key because they will influence the choices the students make about the best writing moves. With audience and purpose in mind, the students and teacher collaborate to write a joint text (a sentence, paragraph, entire text, etc.). In some instances, many options are shared before the class decides on the best way to write a section/word. Because the focus is on conversation and oral rehearsal of the text, the teacher scribes for students on a poster or in a projected electronic document. It is powerful for students to see that a word or phrase may be crossed out and replaced with stronger, more precise language. The writing reinforces the language and structure aspects analyzed in the mentor text while enabling students to make their own informed choices. This video is an example of conversation to write an informative sentence about pollinators:

 

It is important to prompt students as you negotiate the text, to revise ideas. Prompts might sound like:

• • Does this word (or do these words) help us say what we mean?
  • Does this sentence go with this part?
  • How could we start this sentence/part? 
  • Is this enough information for the reader to understand?
  • Is there a more precise word we can use here?
  • Think about our audience. How might we rework this part?
  • We heard __ and __ as ideas. How can we combine these into one cohesive sentence?

During Joint Construction, there is a sense of curiosity and mutual respect, an excitement and joy around writing. Negotiating choices in writing a text empowers students to make choices when they write. Instead of using a formula, they can make intentional decisions given their purpose and audience. Like many high quality instructional practices, it is essential for some students and great for all students.

“This joint expertise… can be a significant factor in the education of multilingual learners, and a critical part of the infrastructure that supports intentional, resourceful, and responsive design for the achievement and success of multilingual learners.” – WIDA

Resources:
Joint Construction, PETAA
WIDA English Language Development Standards Framework