Name _________________________ Date _________ Hour ________

Guidelines for Discussion

During a classroom discussion:

 Everyone needs to talk.
 We listen actively to others.
 We wait for quiet before we speak.
 We raise our hand after someone has finished.
 The person who last spoke calls on the next participant.
 Silence is okay! It means we are thinking.
 No one has a bad idea.
 We build on other’s ideas.
 We maintain eye contact.
 We look at our peers, not our teacher.
 We project our voices to be heard by everyone.
 We respond to one another using the following sentence
stems:

 “At first I thought…”

 “I agree with. . .because. . .”
 “I want to add to the comment about…”
 “I want to build off what _____ was saying…”
 “I disagree with. . .because. . .”
 “I have more evidence for…”
 “I found that comment interesting because…”
 “That comment connects to our earlier discussion of…”
 “I have a question about…”
 “I have an additional point to make…”