Gathering+Ideas

Lesson 1: Gathering Ideas

The first lesson in Starting Off Strong highlights the fact that interpretations of challenging literature differ from person to person. This is the cornerstone of Shared Inquiry discussion and all Great Books Foundation programs.

Your role as a Shared Inquiry leader is to ask questions to help students develop their own ideas about the story, rather than to offer answers. In this lesson, you will focus on asking follow-up questions to help students clarify their ideas and recognize that an interpretive question has more than one reasonable answer.

Avoid praising individual student responses. Praise may suggest to students that you are looking for a "right" answer, even though this is not your intent.

Follow-up questions to clarify ideas: Follow-up questions to elicit new ideas: WATCH:
 * When you say [word or phrase], what do you mean?
 * Can you say a little bit more about that?
 * Is there another way you can explain that to us?
 * Does anyone have a different answer?
 * Does anyone have an answer we have not heard?
 * Does anyone agree or disagree with that?

In the following examples, note how the teacher uses follow-up questions to help students say more about their ideas.


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 * [[image:http://moodle.greatbooks.org/file.php/78/Pictures_Charts_etc./audio-graphic-235x251.jpg width="42" height="42" align="bottom" caption="listen"]] LISTEN:
 * [[image:http://moodle.greatbooks.org/file.php/78/Pictures_Charts_etc./audio-graphic-235x251.jpg width="42" height="42" align="bottom" caption="listen"]] LISTEN:

Great Books Senior Instructor Deborah Bowles suggests strategies for involving dominant students more productively in discussion.

WORKING WITH A DOMINANT STUDENT ||

Great Books Senior Instructor Deborah Bowles shares ways to help reluctant students feel comfortable sharing ideas.

WORKING WITH A RELUCTANT STUDENT ||