Discussion Roles and Preparation

1. Display the text students read yesterday: "Last spring the town of Millbrook switched off its streetlights at midnight to save money. The council said it would save $40,000 a year. Some families were pleased because they could see the stars for the first time. Others said walking home from late shifts felt unsafe. A store owner said nobody had broken into his store since the change." Ask: "Was Millbrook right to switch off its lights?"
2. Check preparation in ten seconds: thumbs up if you have two lines marked with a point beside each. Anyone without gets ninety seconds to mark one now — the discussion depends on it, which is the reason we prepared.
3. Hold up the four role cards and read the starters aloud. Chair: "Who hasn't spoken yet?" and "Let's move on to...". Questioner: "Why do you think that?" and "What in the text shows that?". Note-taker: "So we decided...". Timekeeper: "Two minutes left."
4. Ask: "Which of these four people is also allowed to give an opinion about Millbrook?" Fish for "all of them." Write on the board: "ROLE + IDEA."

1. Bring three volunteers to a fishbowl with you as chair. Model a good opening: "Our question is whether Millbrook was right. I think it was, because the town saved $40,000. Priya, you haven't spoken — what did you mark?" Point out that the chair gave an idea of their own before passing on.
2. Model the questioner asking a real question. Have a volunteer say "It was wrong because it's dangerous." As questioner, ask: "What in the text tells you it's dangerous?" The answer to fish for: "People walking home from late shifts felt unsafe." Contrast it with a formality question: "Does anyone have anything to say?" Ask the class which question made the discussion go further.
3. Now model the bad chair: only say "Next. Next. Okay, next." for thirty seconds. Ask: "How many people were really in that discussion?" Answer: three, not four — the group lost a member.
4. Model the bad note-taker: write furiously, head down, then fail to answer when asked "What do you think?" Ask what went wrong. Answer: she stopped listening to write everything down.
5. Write the rule under "ROLE + IDEA": "My role is a job I do AS WELL AS taking part." Students copy it onto their role card.

“You are chairing and you are in the discussion. Both. The role card tells you an extra job; it never tells you to stop thinking about Millbrook.”

1. Groups of four, one card each, seven minutes on the Millbrook question. The timekeeper calls three minutes and one minute left.
2. Rule for every group: each person must use one of their prepared lines, by quoting it ("My marked line says..."). The chair keeps a tally of who has spoken on a sticky note.
3. Circulate and listen for the questioner. Prompt any questioner who is silent with: "Ask someone what in the text made them think that."
4. Stop. Everyone passes their card to the left. Run a four-minute second round on a narrower question: "Should Millbrook switch the lights back on just on the main road?" The new roles are harder because the habits of the old ones carry over — that is the point of rotating.

“Look at the chair's tally. If one name has five marks and another has none, the chair's job is not finished yet.”

1. Students complete the printable discussion page: marking points to prepare for a discussion question and planning what they would say in a given role.
2. Remind them the sheet is preparation, not the discussion — every role they plan must still include a point of their own.

1. Two note-takers read their notes aloud. Ask the class: "Could someone who was absent tell what this group decided and where they disagreed?" A good set sounds like: "We mostly agreed it saved money. We disagreed about safety. Jo said the store owner proves it's safe; Ali said one store isn't proof."