Words of Warfare: Discussion Directions

WOW

Student-Led Group Discussion Directions

Before the Discussion:

Form a group of four people. Your group will be assigned a Thursday where you will have to provide texts that focus on a specific issue related to what we are currently studying or have studied during the year and a discussion technique that allows all voices to be heard in the classroom. You become the moderators for the discussion. Any printed text must be copied and given to your teacher by Friday the week before your discussion. Be sure to vet your issue with the teacher beforehand.
Your classmates will be required to read and mark the texts in preparation for the week’s discussion. (I expect the group to have read them as well.)
Your texts don’t all have to be written texts like articles or the current novel we are reading. They can be visuals that are easily copied or ones found on the Internet that are projected. Be inventive. If using a written text other than the novel, limit the text to two pages. One to two different sources should be enough.

Roles For the Moderators During the Discussion

You are required to have a warm up exercise and to monitor the discussion as the class progresses. In essence, you are the teacher for the day. Try to maintain a neutral position and allow the students to talk rather than have you lecture. In other words, stay out of the discussion as much as possible unless your discussion technique requires more interaction from the moderator. Have one person keep track of who has spoken and who has not. (Ask me for a class list to mark your tallies.) All students are required to make at least one comment during the discussion so insure that this happens. Best teaching practices suggest that small group discussions work best. See the list of discussion strategies at the end of this document.

Roles for the Classmates

Read all the materials assigned to you before the discussion.
Mark the texts with pen in hand.
Contribute at least one comment per discussion.
After the discussion, reflect on what was discussed in a discussion journal, which can be a spiral or three-ringed notebook. Reflections should be at least one page long. If you use a composition notebook, your reflections should be at least a page-and-a-half. You will be responsible for keeping track of your journal. I will grade journals at the end of fourth quarter after our last discussion.

Discussion Strategies

Here is a list of a variety of discussion strategies you can choose from to help guide your discussion. If a previous group used a discussion strategy, say Socratic seminar, then find a different one that will best fit your topic. I have posted these on the blog, so you can find the links there.

Academic Conversations