Discourse Community Introduction and Guidelines (PDF)

The lesson showcases one of my favorite class activities, "Think-Pair-Share" [also called "1-2-4-All" by Liberating Structures]. The activity makes the class more engaged as students walk around a bit, instead of sitting in the same spot all the time. It also gives students time to "think" before they share with the class. After thinking, they share their thoughts with one or two classmates and prepare a response for the class together. This way, they slowly build their confidence in speaking about a term from the readings (instead of the dreaded silence after I ask "so what did you learn from the readings for today").