Open Access Resources for Freshman Composition Collaboration & Community Building

"In this chapter, I offer an approach to teaching literacy narratives, which encourage students to reflect critically on their diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. I interweave examples from literacy narratives written by three of my first-year writing students in Saudi Arabia. By examining the ways students’ stories reverberate across multicultural dimensions, I recontextualize Stewart’s essay “Weaving Personal Experience into Academic Writings” and Chaudhuri and Bhowmik’s “Literacy Autobiography” assignment for a global, multilingual context. I conclude by sharing guidance for writing a literacy narrative that examines the complex ways literacy becomes interwoven with identity."

Copyright © 2025 Ruth Li

From school to the workplace, managing team projects isn’t always easy, but this chapter aims to prepare students for success. In this chapter, we guide students through different tools for working with others, maintaining project goals, and completing projects where technology is at the forefront. We provide information for students on what to expect from their instructors, as well as how to set boundaries with and get to know their team members. This is accomplished through rapport, understanding of access needs, and methods of communicating. We also introduce students to key organizational documents that will allow them to better structure their group work. To this end, we discuss the purpose and creation of a team contract and project schedule. Finally, we introduce various tools which can be used to compose collaboratively across various forms of media. After reading this essay, students will be elevated from novice to navigator of any group project!

Copyright © 2023 Ellen Cecil-Lemkin, Tamara Gluck