Listing provides students a shorthand form for recording many ideas. Nutshelling is described by Linda Flower in A Problem-Solving Approach to Writing and asks the writer to identify central ideas in information. This process enables writers to begin the process of selection essential to critical thinking. Peer Review Groups provide writers with peer response to work in progress. Procedures for groups vary, but the following set of directives draws on Peter Elbow's Writing without Teachers.
Class meets in small groups of three or four students.
Each member is allocated an equal portion of the available time. Traditionally, each student brings one copy of their draft and reads that copy aloud to their peer group before each member of the group responds. Groups designate a timekeeper and divide the time available by the number of people present. It is the timekeeper's responsibility to be sure the group stays on schedule, allowing an equal amount of time for each member. Each member's allocated time is divided into half for reading and half for group response.