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Group Discussion
Student Guide
Assignment Information
Purpose: After engaging in a range of discussions, evaluate participation as a listener
and speaker through written responses.
Summary: In this assignment, you will use the reading assignments from this and
previous units to discuss a topic of your choice. You will participate in three discussions:
a discussion with a peer, a small-group discussion, and a large-group discussion.
Discussion Prompt
Choose a topic that is central to one of the texts that you have read in this course. For
example, you might choose to discuss whether a character from one of the stories has
what it takes to be considered a hero.
Assignment Instructions
Step 1: Choose a topic for your discussion.
a) Select a topic and text from one of the Read assignments for this quarter.
b) Brainstorm with your peers and teacher to decide on a topic that everyone can
discuss.
Step 2: Prepare for your discussion.
a) Gather your own ideas about your topic.
b) Review the text and look for relevant details, descriptions, quotations, and
examples that support your ideas.
c) Keep notes as you prepare so you can access your ideas and supporting
evidence during the discussion.
Step 3: Engage in a discussion with one of your peers.
a) Choose one peer to have a one-on-one discussion with you.
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b) Ask your teacher for guidance about how long to spend discussing the topic.
Keep track of time to make sure you and your peer have time to speak.
c) Explain your ideas about the text and topic to your peer. Remember to support
your ideas with evidence from the text.
d) Listen to your peer’s ideas about the text and topic.
e) Ask follow-up questions to learn more about each other’s ideas.
Step 4: Engage in a discussion with two or more of your peers.
a) Continue your discussion by adding more peers to your group.
b) As a group, decide who will be the discussion leader, the notetaker, and the
timekeeper. Your teacher can tell you about how long to spend discussing the
topic.
c) Allow all group members time to share their ideas and support them with
evidence from the text.
d) Ask follow-up questions to learn more about one another’s ideas.
Step 5: Engage in a discussion with your class.
a) Ask your teacher for guidance about forming a class discussion. Your teacher
will help assign roles for the discussion and establish the rules.
b) Take notes about the items on the Discussion Evaluation during the
discussion.
Step 6: Write to evaluate the discussions.
a) Use your notes from the discussion to complete the Discussion Evaluation. Be
sure to write in complete sentences and use appropriate grammar.
b) When you have completed your assignment, return to the Virtual Classroom
and use the “Browse for file” option to locate and submit your assignment.
Congratulations! You have evaluated your discussions.

Explanation:

Appearances

A lady in a faded gingham dress and her husband, dressed in a homespun threadbare suit, stepped off the train in Boston, and walked timidly without an appointment into the president's outer office. The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods, country hicks had no business at Harvard and probably didn't even deserve to be in Cambridge. She frowned. "We want to see the president," the man said softly. "He'll be busy all day," the secretary snapped. "We'll wait," the lady replied.

For hours, the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally become discouraged and go away. They didn't. And the secretary grew frustrated and finally decided to disturb the president, even though it was a chore she always regretted to do. "Maybe if they just see you for a few minutes, they'll leave," she told him. And he sighed in exasperation and nodded. Someone of his importance obviously didn't have the time to spend with them, but he detested gingham dresses and homespun suits cluttering up his outer office. The president, stern-faced with dignity, strutted toward the couple.

The lady told him, "We had a son that attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard. He was happy here. But about a year ago, he was accidentally killed. And my husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on campus." The president wasn't touched—he was shocked. "Madam," he said gruffly, "We can't put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died. If we did, this place would look like a cemetery."

"Oh, no," the lady explained quickly, "We don't want to erect a statue. We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard."

The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham dress and homespun suit, then exclaimed, "A building! Do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs? We have over seven and a half million dollars in the physical plant at Harvard."

For a moment the lady was silent. The president was pleased. He could get rid of them now.

And the lady turned to her husband and said quietly, "Is that all it costs to start a University? Why don't we just start our own?" Her husband nodded. The President's face wilted in confusion and bewilderment. And Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford walked away, traveling to Palo Alto, California where they established the University that bears their name, a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about.

adapted from "Appearances" by Kasha Links

4

Why did the president of the university look down upon the couple?

A.

He had punished their son and felt they were to blame for the trouble he caused.

B.

He didn't think they were important enough to talk to because they looked poor.

C.

He knew them from where he grew up and was trying to avoid them.

D.

He thought they were going to cause problems because they looked dangerous

For this discussion, I felt very prepared. I used both background knowledge and internet research to prepare. The rules created for the meeting were pretty simple: ‘You may not interrupt when one person is talking, You cannot use profanities or vulgar language, and always follow the assigned topic.’ It seemed as though all of these rules were followed, although there needed to be more of them. Some of these being: ‘Do not start talking unless called upon,’ and ‘Use only formal and academic language.’

I feel like I stated my viewpoint clearly and correctly. I also think I was respectful to the other members and responded to their claims in an academic way, using academic language. When stating my claim, I used evidence from a credible internet article, citing the source, and giving the author credit. Other members used evidence from books and videos; they also gave credit to the authors. One of these members had a different viewpoint than mine. I again used evidence to support my claim and argue for it and against the other. When talking, I used the correct language instead of slang. For example, instead of using words like ‘tons’ and ‘heaps,’ I used words like ‘many’ and ‘large quantities.’

When speaking to other members, I made eye contact consistently with each member. I also used appropriate hand gestures to make my point more exciting and draw the other members’ attention.

Overall, the group discussion was sufficient at solving the problem. If there were more rules in place, it would be more effective. Since there was a varying amount of members, we were able to come up with a solution.

Explanation: