Coming Prepared to a Discussion

1. The homework passage, read aloud once now so everyone starts level: "Last spring, Oakfield School gave up one corner of its playground to make a garden. That corner used to be for ball games at lunch. Now it has four raised beds of beans, tomatoes and sunflowers. Room 3 waters it every morning before the bell. In June they sold 40 bags of beans at the school fair for a dollar each. Some children who used to play ball there say lunchtimes now feel crowded."
2. Everybody holds up their copy, starred on two lines that help answer the board question. Unmarked copies are visible at once; those students get two minutes to star lines before anyone speaks. Preparation is a requirement, not a bonus.
3. Ask one student: "Read me a line you starred. What is it for?" Fish for a line tied to the question: "The 40 bags of beans, because it shows the garden made money." If the answer is "It was interesting," ask: "For which side?"

1. Act out two contributions to the board question, one after the other. Unprepared: "I think the garden is good because gardens are nice." Prepared: "I think it was worth it, because the passage says they sold 40 bags of beans at the fair. That is forty dollars the class earned from one corner."
2. Ask: "Which one helped the discussion more?" Fish for: the second has a fact from the passage the group can check, agree with or argue with. The first could be said without reading anything.
3. Write on the board: "A point is something a classmate could disagree with." Beside it write a summary: "The school made a garden and they grow beans." Ask: "Could anyone disagree?" No — it is just what happened. That is why it is not a point.
4. Read your sticky note word for word, eyes down. Then say it looking at the group, starting "The passage says...". Ask which sounded like talking to people.
5. Model building on somebody, which is harder because your plan has to bend. "Maya said it was worth it for the money." Then: "I want to add to what Maya said. Room 3 waters it every morning, so it teaches them to look after something." And disagreeing: "I see it differently from Maya. Lunchtimes feel crowded now, and that matters every day, not just at the fair."
6. Write the rule up: "Preparation is what you bring, not a script you deliver."

“Your point is ready. Now wait for the place it actually fits. If someone has already said it, say "I agree with Sam, and here is the line that proves it."”

1. Groups of four, plus an observer if numbers allow.
2. Rules on the board: "Everyone uses one starred point. Everyone builds on or disagrees with someone by name." The stems card sits in the middle of the table.
3. Observers tally a check mark for each line used from the passage and a star for each build on a named classmate, then report one prepared point that fitted its moment well.
4. If a group stalls, ask: "Who has a starred line nobody has used yet?" Then have someone who has spoken respond to it, so talk builds rather than going round in turns.

“Before you speak, look at who spoke last. Is your point an answer to them, or are you starting something new?”

1. Students complete the discussion page. It gives a short new passage and a discussion question.
2. They star two lines and write each point as a sentence that someone could disagree with, then write one sentence that builds on an imaginary classmate's point using a stem.
3. Ask "could anyone disagree?" of any point that is really a summary.

1. Ask for one prepared point that got used and one that did not. For the one that did not, ask why. "Somebody else said it first" and "The talk went a different way" are both good preparation, not failure — say so.