Using Regional American Short Stories to Promote Student Collaboration

Collaboration and the appreciation for multiple perspectives have become increasingly important. The current political and economic condition in the United States and globally has exemplified the urgency for people of many different backgrounds and ideologies to work together to find solutions to world problems such as climate change and economic recession. The English language arts classroom lends itself to teaching collaborative skills through fostering meaningful discussion and encouraging group authorship, group inquiry, and cooperative problem solving. Today's students need not only to be able to understand and interpret what they read, but they also need to be able to create and negotiate meaning and realize that different backgrounds, cultures, orientations, and experiences shape their interpretations. Literature can be used as a springboard to help students develop all these collaborative and interpretive skills. In this article, the authors suggest a variety of creative group activities to engage students in literature that explores several geographic areas of the United States. Advice for managing the group activities and lists of short stories are provided. (Contains 3 figures.)