This book offers a tested method for utilizing groups in the English classroom. It uses theory and ethnography to document why groups succeed and how to remedy them when they are failing. Five chapters focus on: (1) "Group Work Matters" (e.g., how to make groups worth it, the need for groups, and the process of finding communication); (2) "How Learning Happens" (e.g., Vygotsky's premises, race and gender and the group, and benefits of the circle); (3) "The Circle Breaks: Why Groups Fail and Why They Succeed" (e.g., failure due to dictators, slackers, and teachers and success due to facing conflict and unmixing motives); (4) "Race and Gender: The Role of Groups for Confronting Difference" (e.g., group conflicts, race and the group, and gender and the group); and (5) "Blueprint for Action: Making Groups Work" (e.g., make group work organic, teach group dynamics, make group membership permanent, and make the group's work real). The book offers questions and answers commonly posed by teachers about group work (e.g., what to do about personalities, what size the group should be, and how to evaluate groups). (Contains 85 references.) (SM)