Graded Discussions To be awesome

What does a graded discussion feel like? It is led by you all. The teacher serves as the moderator and makes sure everyone gets a chance to speak. You will get a list of open ended questions and will have time to prepare your responses. The following must be present in your answers/responses: Answer the question clearly Presenting textual evidence/analysis Presenting critical thinking

What does a graded discussion look like? There are two circles: inner and outer Inner Circle: You are doing the talking, answering questions, and responding to each other. Outer Circle: You are taking notes. If you do not take notes and turn them in, the highest grade you will receive is a 70.

What does the inner circle feel like? We will be taking a poll before the discussion begins to see which questions you want me to address first. Each inner circle gets their own poll. I will ask for answers to the questions first. After everyone gets a chance to answer, I will ask for responses to what people said. You may want to take notes. To get full credit for the inner circle, you must: Answer the question fully (clear answer, text evidence, critical thinking) Respond to at least one other person (agree/disagree/question, added thought)

Cups The inner circle will have green/red cups. A green cup on top indicate that the person wants to speak. A red cup indicates that a person does not want to speak. **If someone has already answered and responded, I may have to ignore their green cup to ensure everyone has an opportunity to answer/respond.

What does the outer circle feel like? The outer circle will be given specific directions for the notes they must take on the day of the discussion. The notes must be complete and turned in to get a grade above a 70 (just because you turn in notes does not guarantee a grade above a 70). The outer circle must be silent. For each talking infraction, 5 points will be deducted for the final grade. It does not matter what you are talking about. It does not matter if you are asking a question to clarify anything. I will not be responding to any questions/comments once we have started.

Grading Inner Circle: Your answer must: Your response must: Clearly answer the question Agree/disagree/question Use textual evidence Restate the answer Have critical thinking Your own thought Outer Circle: (without these you will get no higher than a 70) Your notes must be complete per the directions and they must show me that you were paying attention to the discussion happening in the inner circle.

See handout... See your handout for grading, how to respond properly, etc. You may have it with you during discussions.