At a glance
Groups of four · one 25-minute seminar led by your group, plus participation in everybody else’s · a question, two passages, and a written follow-up · assessed on Communication, Thinking, and Knowledge
The task
Lead a discussion of Moon of the Crusted Snow that other people want to be in.
What your group brings
- One question that cannot be answered yes or no, and that the novel does not settle. Approved by me two classes before.
- Two passages, with page numbers, that the room will read aloud.
- A plan for the silence. What you will do when nobody answers: a smaller question, a vote, a “read this line again and tell me what the verb is doing”.
- A closing move: what you will ask the room to leave with.
What being led looks like
You are not presenting. A seminar leader speaks less than a fifth of the time. The skills are on Seminar Skills: opening with evidence, building, complicating, inviting, steelmanning, and conceding.
The follow-up
Individually, after your seminar: 400 words on what your question produced. Not a summary of what people said — an argument about what the discussion revealed about the novel, including the answer you did not expect.
How it is marked
| Category | What I am looking for |
|---|---|
| Knowledge | The question and the passages show that the whole novel has been read |
| Thinking | The seminar goes somewhere; the follow-up says what the discussion established and what it did not |
| Communication | You listen, respond to what was actually said, and make room for other people |
Participation in other groups’ seminars
Assessed too, and on the same terms: evidence, building on others, conceding. Attendance with nothing to say is not participation, and talking over four other people is not either.
The best seminar question this room has had
“Aileen says the word ‘apocalypse’ does not fit. Is the novel agreeing with her, or with the reader who brought the word?” It is answerable in four different ways, all with passages, and no group has ever finished it in twenty-five minutes.
Curriculum connection
A1.5
develop and explain interpretations of oral texts, including increasingly complex texts, using evidence from the text and the oral and visual cues used in it to support their interpretations (e.g., explain how the narrator’s tone in the voice-over influenced their interpretation of the visuals in a movie trailer; explain similarities and differences between the deliveries of a monologue in the stage and film productions of a play)
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A2.2
demonstrate an understanding of a variety of interpersonal speaking strategies and adapt them to suit the purpose, situation, and audience, exhibiting sensitivity to cultural differences (e.g., adapt speech according to the role/ responsibility assumed in a reading-circle discussion; negotiate consensus, when appropriate, by identifying the commonalities among the various points of view; use language and forms of address that are appropriate for the level of formality of the situation)
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A2.3
communicate in a clear, coherent manner, using a structure and style appropriate to the purpose, subject matter, and intended audience (e.g., identify and use specific references from a text to strengthen arguments in a presentation; present an argument that has a clearly stated purpose, point-by-point development, and relevant supporting details)
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B1.4
make and explain inferences about texts,
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A1.3
select and use appropriate listening comprehension strategies before, during, and after listening to understand oral texts, including increasingly complex texts (e.g., make jot notes during a class discussion about character development; discuss, in a small group, other classmates’ ideas about a controversial issue in order to understand divergent opinions)
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A1.6
extend understanding of oral texts, including increasingly complex texts, by making connections between the ideas in them and personal knowledge, experience, and insights; other texts; and the world around them (e.g., compare their own delivery of a Shakespearean monologue with deliveries by their classmates or in professional productions; use role play and drama to explore ideas, emotions, and issues presented in oral texts; listen to a professionally recorded play and then explain how a character’s struggle resonated with a personal experience)
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A3.1
describe a variety of strategies they used before, during, and after listening and speaking; explain which ones they found most helpful; and identify steps they can take to improve their oral communication skills (e.g., explain how they used visual and audio aids to clarify ideas in a small-group presentation; discuss what they find most difficult about presenting orally in class, and list strategies that might make it easier)
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B3.3
identify and use a variety of strategies to expand vocabulary (e.g., identify examples of idioms, euphemisms, slang, dialect, acronyms, academic language, and technical terminology and use a variety of resources to check their meaning; review the etymology of unfamiliar words in an etymological dictionary)
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