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Touchstones® Discussion Project

PO Box 2329Annapolis, MD 21404www.touchstones.org

(800) 456-6542

Touchstones®

Discussion Project

Touchstones®: Building critical thinkers &collaborative leaders

Touchstones® Volume I

Teacher’s Guide

TOUCHSTONESV O L U M E I

Teacher’s Guide

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Other Available Touchstones Program Materials

Elementary SchoolTouchpebbles Volume A (Student and Teacher editions)Touchpebbles Volume B (Student and Teacher editions)

Middle SchoolTouchstones Volume A (Student and Teacher editions)Touchstones Volume B (Student and Teacher editions)Touchstones Volume C (Student and Teacher editions)Courage to Care, Building Community through Service (our community service

volume for middle grades) (Student and Teacher editions)Where’d They Get That Idea?: Issues and Ideas in Science and Mathematics - Vol. I

(Student and Teacher editions)Where’d They Get That Idea?: Issues and Ideas in Science and Mathematics - Vol. II

(Student and Teacher editions)

High SchoolTouchstones Volume I (Student and Teacher editions)Touchstones Volume II (Student and Teacher editions)Discussing the African American Experience (Student and Teacher editions)Discussing U.S. History (Student and Teacher editions)Getting Ready for the Reading Section of the ACT (Student edition)Investigating Mathematics (Student edition)Readings in Social Studies (Anthology)SAT Preparation for Critical Reading (Student edition)Touchstones Alif: Readings from the Arab Tradition

(Student and Teacher editions)

Post-secondaryMapping the Future (Reader’s guide and Leader’s supplement)New Landscapes (Student edition)The Compass (College edition)

Other volumesCourage to Care, Strength to Serve (our community service volume for

older grades or adults) (Student and Leader editions)The Compass (Executive level)Discussion Leadership: Getting Started (Leader’s guide)

In support of your work to bring dialogue, increased critical thinking, collaborative leadership,and community to your students, Touchstones Discussion Project offers educators a range ofprofessional development services. Contact us for more information or to schedule an introductory presentation.

II TOUCHSTONES® VOLUME I

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About the Touchstones® Discussion ProjectThe Touchstones Discussion Project is a nonprofit organizationfounded on the belief that all people can benefit from the listening,speaking, thinking, and interpersonal skills gained by engaging inactive, focused discussions. Since 1984, Touchstones has helpedmillions of students and others develop and improve these skills inschool, work, and life. For more information about theTouchstones Discussion Project, visit www.touchstones.org.

Texts selected, translated, and edited byHoward Zeiderman

©1989, 1995, 2006, 2012by Touchstones Discussion Project

PO Box 2329Annapolis, Maryland 21404

800-456-6542www.touchstones.org

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or repurposed in any form without prior written consent of the authors.

ISBN: 978-1-878461-80-3

TOUCHSTONES® VOLUME I III

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Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Unit I: Forming a Touchstones Discussion Group

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Lesson 1: Introduction to Touchstones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Touchstones Ground Rules and Goals

Lesson 2: The First Phase of Group Formation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21The Iliad: Hector and Andromache, Homer

Lesson 3: Outside Experience and Group Formation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27About Revenge, Francis Bacon

Lesson 4: Opening Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33The Histories, Herodotus

Lesson 5: Opening Questions and Class Responsibility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39The Physics: Book II, Chapter 7, Aristotle

Lesson 6: Starting to Talk about the Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45A Mathematician’s Defense, Godfrey Harold Hardy

Lesson 7: Conclusion of the First Stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes

Unit II: The Dynamics of a Discussion Group

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Lesson 8: Judging Classroom Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61The Prince, Niccolò Machiavelli

Contents

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Lesson 9: Judging a Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Mathematical Principles, Sir Isaac Newton

Lesson 10: Observers and Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73The Confessions, Saint Augustine of Hippo

Lesson 11: Looking at Yourself. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79The Manual, Epictetus

Lesson 12: Poles of Activity: Who Speaks to Whom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85Pensées, Blaise Pascal

Lesson 13: Texts That Cause Factions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91Introduction to Experimental Medicine, Claude Bernard

Lesson 14: Facing One Another. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97The Republic: The Ring of Gyges, Plato

Unit III: Listening to Others

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Lesson 15: Two Voices Saying the Same Thing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109On Colliding Bodies, Christian HuygensMathematical Principles, Law A, Sir Isaac Newton

Lesson 16: Listening and Repeating. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115Passers-By, Franz Kafka

Lesson 17: An Exercise in Listening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121The Metaphysics, Aristotle

Lesson 18: Proofs and Arguments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127The Elements, Euclid

Lesson 19: Listening for Differences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135The Seven Books, Mencius

Lesson 20: Asking Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143The Confessions, Saint Augustine of Hippo

Lesson 21: Taking the First Step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149The Will to Believe, William James

Lesson 22: Making Room for Others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155The Peloponnesian Wars, Thucydides

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Unit IV: Student Leadership

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Lesson 23: Introduction to Leadership Roles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Lesson 24: First Student-Led Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175The Ethics, Aristotle

Lesson 25: Second Student-Led Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179The Assayer, Galileo Galilei

Lesson 26: Third Student-Led Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183The Iliad: Achilles and Priam, Homer

Lesson 27: Fourth Student-Led Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189Second Treatise of Civil Government, John Locke

Lesson 28: Fifth Student-Led Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193The Metaphysics of Morals, Immanuel Kant

Lesson 29: Reflecting on Touchstones discussions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin

Lesson 30: The Last Class of the Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203The Republic: The Image of the Cave, Plato

Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Contents

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The Goals of Touchstones Discussions

As the world changes, so must the ways we teach and learn. Our world is becoming more

interconnected, bringing together people with diverse backgrounds and different perspectives.

Technology places volumes of information at our fingertips. Skills such as problem solving in

groups, processing and evaluating new information, and working with diverse groups of people

are more important than ever to students’ success. To master the skills that will enable them to

succeed, today’s students must be independent learners, willing to teach themselves and capable

of doing so.

Touchstones classes aim to enable students to take greater responsibility for learning in their

regular classes. When Touchstones discussions are held weekly over an entire academic year, the

skills students gain readily transfer to their other classes. While motivated students become more

reflective, passive students become more motivated. Furthermore, the texts used to spark

discussion are short and readable and do not require previous preparation. The Touchstones

program is designed this way because if previous preparation were required, those students who

did not prepare would be blocked from participating. And a critical purpose of Touchstones is to

actively engage all students, especially those who do not normally participate.

Touchstones discussions foster the skills of speaking clearly and precisely, listening actively,

supporting an opinion with evidence, and considering the opinions of others carefully and

respectfully, yet critically. Acquiring these skills is fundamental to becoming responsible for one’s

own thinking and speaking.

The Four Stages of Touchstones

By means of carefully selected texts, thoughtfully crafted lesson plans, and exploratory

discussions, students proceed through four stages of inquiry. They begin to (1) overcome their

attitude of reliance on the expertise and authority of others, (2) discover that they and their

classmates can cooperate in speaking reasonably on topics about which they are not experts, (3)

learn to listen actively—the prerequisite to understanding others, and (4) become leaders of the

discussion process itself. Touchstones Volume I leads you and your students through these four

distinct but interdependent stages of inquiry. This approach to inquiry enables young people to

become responsible and thoughtful inhabitants of their rapidly changing technological world.

Touchstones Texts

The texts for Volume I have been selected as tools for learning the skills necessary to form a

discussion group. Touchstones Volume I uses classic Western texts because their unfamiliarity and

abstractness support the formation of new discussion groups. To form a discussion group,

students must believe that they have something to offer the conversation. Students bring to the

discussion both their opinions and their experiences. If the text were entirely familiar and

contemporary, it would only reinforce the opinions of some participants and run counter to the

Introduction

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opinions of others. The result would be argument and debate rather than discussion. Therefore,

the texts used to foster discussion must be unfamiliar in some way. In addition, students’

experiences are, for the most part, circumstantial, detailed, and personal. To provide a

counterpoint to this, the classic texts tend to be abstract and impersonal. Abstract and impersonal

texts help students distance themselves from the individual and unique character of their own

experiences. Adopting this critical distance is what allows individuals to consider other points of

view reasonably, which in turn creates the opportunity for cooperative exploration and discussion.

Once the students have achieved a level of skill in considering other points of view, the texts can

become the focus of their consideration. As the texts take on greater importance and stature, the

authorship becomes more diverse and the texts more contemporary. This transition begins in the

second year, when you will be using Touchstones Volume II.

Getting students to talk is easy. Any provocative and emotionally charged topic will elicit talk.

But talk is different from a genuine discussion. In a genuine discussion, all members speak or

listen attentively, all read the text carefully, and all contribute to some degree. Some members of

the group may even be willing to change their opinions because of what their classmates have

said. Touchstones classes are strategically structured to guide students’ questions and reading to

achieve these goals. Without these guiding principles for the discussion, students would often

simply support their friends, attack their enemies, ignore those they didn’t respect, or reiterate the

opinions they already held. Some students would speak, many would remain quiet, and the

teacher would become a referee rather than a discussion leader.

The texts used in Touchstones classes are essential for creating a genuine discussion. In contrast

with how such texts might be used in a traditional English or literature class, in Touchstones, the

texts are neither mere occasions for discussion nor the exclusive subject of discussion. Rather,

the Touchstones texts are an inseparable part of the discussion process. They have been selected

to foster the development of a specific set of skills that make possible future discussions, which

can ultimately be independent of a text and about concerns closer to the participants.

Although the immediate goal of Touchstones is to foster skills and attitudes that encourage full

participation in regular classes, the long-range goal is for those skills to enable students to discuss

any text, topic, or concern in any setting. This is a long process. Students must learn how to listen

to those with whom they disagree, speak in response to what was previously said, accept criticism

and correction publicly, and make their private experiences available to others for comment

and elaboration.

The Structure of a Touchstones Discussion

In Touchstones discussions, participants, including the teacher, sit in a circle. The teacher leads

the discussion but does not act as a source of background information or as the authority on the

meaning of the text. The teacher reads the text aloud, so that both proficient and less-skilled

readers can participate equally, and then gives time for everyone to read the text again silently.

Initially, the discussion begins with an opening question asked by the teacher. Eventually, the

students will share responsibility for initiating the discussion. The question opens discussion but

is not necessarily the theme of the discussion. The discussion lasts until the class ends. There is

Introduction

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no closure, summary, or conclusion. Because the discussion is open-ended, students may often

continue the discussion beyond the classroom.

Touchstones discussions always involve a text, but personal experiences help bring the text to

life. Students learn to take a text seriously, to recognize a continuity between their work in school

and their outside experience, and to make their private opinions available and useful to others.

In a Touchstones class, students arrange their seats in a circle. Since they may not feel entirely

comfortable with their classmates, students take a risk in facing one another in the circle. The

text not only provides a common point of reference for the group, but also can be an occasion for

personal reflection for each student. A common text permits students to become more

comfortable sharing their opinions about a common object before they are asked to risk sharing

their personal opinions with the group.

Becoming Comfortable with Touchstones

You are about to learn how to lead Touchstones discussions. Courage is needed because leading

a Touchstones discussion may prove to be difficult, especially since it may involve changing your

own habits, expectations, and behaviors. However, understanding a few important aspects of the

process should make the task less intimidating.

First, you are not expected to change the way you teach your regular classes. We at Touchstones

neither believe nor suggest that discussion is the most effective technique for all teaching and

learning. You, the professional teacher, are the best one to judge whether and how discussion

techniques will be useful in your other classes at school.

Second, leading a Touchstones discussion is a skill you will have to learn just as you have

learned many others. Any teacher who conducts a regular class proficiently can also learn to lead

Touchstones discussions. In addition, you will not be expected to surrender the individual

teaching strengths that serve you well. Instead, you will learn how to employ your own strengths

in a new context and toward different goals. There is no mold for Touchstones discussion leaders

and every leader differs from every other. Yet every well-trained leader will agree that one remains

a teacher even in a discussion. Your task in a discussion is to intervene in the conversation by

asking simple pointed questions or by referring to a portion of the text. You will learn to notice

moments and occasions that require decision and possible intervention. Whether you will

intervene and how you will intervene will be determined by how you adjust your teaching

strengths to the goals that you undertake to achieve through Touchstones discussions.

Leading Touchstones discussions is a commitment you make to your students and yourself.

By helping students become more intellectually responsible, you are making it possible for them

to flourish in the society they will inherit. Experienced teachers know only too well that many, if

not most, students lack such skills. Yet, even if students didn’t lack these skills, teachers would

not serve their students well if the students’ entire experience of learning encouraged passivity.

For students to live in the modern world, they must take both initiative in, and responsibility for,

their education.

Even though Touchstones discussions require many changes to the structure and planning of

the traditional classroom, discussions complement the work and goals of the regular curriculum.

Introduction


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Through experience in Touchstones, students learn how to become active participants in their

education. They learn how to cooperate with one another and with teachers. Perhaps most

importantly, they learn how to teach themselves.

How to Use the Teacher’s Guide

The primary purpose of this Teacher’s Guide is to enable a teacher without the previous

experience of a Touchstones teacher-training workshop to conduct a whole year of discussion

classes. The workshop is a very useful initiation to the goals, problems, issues, and methods of the

Touchstones Discussion Project, but it is not a prerequisite for implementing the program.

Touchstones is founded on the premise that, in order to hold discussions, two groups need to

develop skills: the discussion leaders and the other participants. The workshops begin the

development of leadership skills for teachers. This Teacher’s Guide undertakes the same task—

though in much greater detail.

How the Units Work Together

This Teacher’s Guide assumes that Touchstones discussions will be held weekly over a full

academic year. Therefore the Guide has 30 lessons, approximately one for each week of the year.

The lessons are split among four units. Each unit focuses on building specific skills and

dispositions through small group work, large group discussions, and various activities centered

on the use of the texts. Unit I begins the process by helping a class composed of diverse students

form a cooperative discussion group. A primary focus of Unit I is helping students speak with one

another without the constant mediation of the discussion leader. Unit II makes the students aware

of the dynamics of the discussion. Various exercises and discussions show them how they speak

and listen to some students but not to others. The exercises and discussions work together to

break down various factions, enabling each student to speak and listen to every other participant.

In the first two units, the text is secondary since it is used as a tool for pursuing the aforementioned

goals. In Unit III, you and your students will begin to focus more attention on the text. We all

occasionally misread what an author writes or mishear what a speaker says because of our own

opinions and goals. Unit III concentrates on developing the skills required to listen to or grasp

what an author states as well as attend to what the other participants actually mean when they

speak. Unit IV actively involves students in leadership activities in cooperation with the teacher.

It thereby enables the students to share the responsibility with you for leading the discussion.

Although this Teacher’s Guide contains procedures and strategies written to help you

successfully implement the Touchstones program, it does not contain anything that could not, at

some stage in the process, be shared with your students. This raises a general point about

Touchstones discussions. The more students understand the role of the leader, the use of the texts,

and the nature of the dynamics of the group, the more successful the entire activity becomes. All

members of the class can and must take on leadership roles for the discussion to be

truly successful.

Introduction


Purchase this volume to read the whole introduction.

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For this first lesson, the introduction will walk you through the steps of the lesson plan.

Subsequent introductions will focus on the theoretical reasoning behind the lesson plans and

choices of texts and explain in greater detail how the particular lesson’s activities fit with the goals

of the Touchstones Discussion Project.

Before class, make sure that you have made enough photocopies of Worksheet 1 included at the

end of this lesson for all members of the class. To begin, have the students arrange their chairs in

a circle, including a chair for you. At first this will take two or three minutes and will be noisy and

confusing. However, as the students become used to rearranging the classroom in this way,

forming a circle will require about one minute at the start of each class. Do not attempt to have a

discussion with the students sitting in rows or in the regular classroom configuration.

Point the students to the first lesson in Touchstones Volume I Student’s Guide entitled

“Introduction to Touchstones.” In addition, make sure each student has a pen or pencil. Read the

introduction and ground rules and goals slowly and carefully to the class. Hand out

the worksheets.

Ask the students to read the materials silently and to complete the worksheet you distributed.

Do not have students put names on their papers. Have them write (1) the ground rule they think

will be the most difficult for the class to obey and (2) which goal of the Touchstones Discussion

Project they wish to achieve the most. These activities should take about 10 minutes.

Have the students break up into small groups of four or five students. Ask each group to agree

on one ground rule that will be the most difficult for the class to follow. Allow 10 minutes for this

exercise, and then bring the groups back into the larger circle. Go around the room and invite

each student in turn to say which ground rule will be the most difficult for the class to follow.

When it is your turn, give your opinion. Start the sequence so that you speak neither first nor last.

1The Preliminary Discussion


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Start the discussion with an opening question: Which rule will be the most difficult to follow?

Do not be surprised if there is silence after your question, though it is unlikely there will be. If a

20-second period of silence ensues, call on a student—neither the best nor the worst in the class—

to state which rule and why. Ask for comments from others. At some point, have the students

comment specifically on a ground rule that you read from the handout. As the group discusses this

matter, the ground rules may be violated or broken. At first, do not point this out. However, you

should eventually bring the breaking of a rule to the students’ attention and ask them how they

might have avoided breaking that rule. Let this discussion last about 15 minutes. After it is

finished, ask the students to move their chairs back to their regular arrangement.

Before the class ends, tell the students when the first text-based discussion (Lesson 2) will occur.

Tell them that they will need to arrange their chairs in a circle at the beginning of the class. Read

the goals again and ask the students to write one or two sentences on the goal that they most wish

to achieve for themselves (item 4 on the worksheet). Collect the students’ written work. You may

want to periodically review their worksheets in order to gauge students’ level of participation and

degree of engagement in the individual and small group activities. Although you shouldn’t use

them to single-out students, the worksheets can help you think about what strategies you might

use to help all your students participate fully.

Lesson 1: The Preliminary Discussion


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Lesson Plan 1: The Preliminary Discussion

Activity Time

1. ARRANGE CLASSROOM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 minutes

• Have the students form a circle with their chairs. Pass out copies of Touchstones Volume I

Student’ Edition.

• Make sure each student has a pen or pencil.

2. GROUND RULES AND GOALS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 minutes

• Read the introduction to Touchstones and the ground rules and goals aloud, and then have

the students read the material silently in the Student’s Guide.

• Have the students complete the worksheet, selecting the ground rule they think will be the

most difficult to follow and the goal they most wish to achieve for themselves.

3. SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 minutes

• Have the small groups agree on which ground rule will be the most difficult for the class

to follow.

4. LARGE GROUP DISCUSSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 minutes

• Have each student give his or her opinion on which ground rule will be the most difficult for

the class to follow.

• Ask an opening question to begin class discussion of the ground rules.

5. THE NEXT CLASS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 minutes

• Remind the students of the next day that they will have a Touchstones discussion.

• Tell the students that they will have to remember to arrange the classroom at the beginning

of the next class.

6. REVIEW GOALS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 minutes

• Re-read the goals of Touchstones and have the students write two sentences on why they wish

to achieve their chosen goal.

7. REARRANGE CLASSROOM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 minutes

• Have the students return the chairs to their original configuration.

Total: 45 minutes



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Introduction to Touchstones

You are about to begin a class that is based on discussions. In these discussions, you will be

talking to one another as well as to your teacher. We are all familiar with discussions because we

have all discussed problems, feelings, opinions, and experiences with friends and relatives all our

lives. However, the discussions you will have in this class will differ from your previous experiences

of discussions.

Touchstones discussions differ from your regular classes.

1. Everyone sits in a circle.

2. The teacher is a member of the group and will help, but isn’t the authority who gives the

correct answers.

3. There is no hand-raising; instead, everyone will learn how to run the discussion.

4. No one does homework for this class.

Touchstones discussions differ from other discussions.

1. Discussions involve everyone in the class from your best friend to students you don’t know

very well.

2. Discussions are about the Touchstones texts and not just about your own concerns

and experiences.

3. Discussions will occur once a week at a scheduled time. The large group discussion will be

preceded by the reading of a selected text and will begin with a question asked by the teacher

or discussion leader.



Ground Rules

1. Read the text carefully. In Touchstones discussions your opinions are important, but these

opinions are your thoughts about the text.

2. Listen to what others say and don’t interrupt. A discussion cannot occur if you do not listen

carefully to what others say.

3. Speak clearly. For others to respond to your opinions, everyone must be able to hear and

understand what you say.

4. Give others your respect. A discussion is a cooperative exchange of ideas and not an argument

or a debate. You may become excited and wish to share your ideas but don’t talk privately to

your neighbor. In a Touchstones class, you must share your ideas with the whole class.

Goals

You will learn to—

1. listen better to what is said;

2. explain your own ideas;

3. speak and work with others whether you know them or not;

4. receive correction and criticism from others;

5. ask about what you don’t understand;

6. admit when you’re wrong;

7. think about questions for which the answers are uncertain;

8. teach others;

9. teach yourself;

10. become more aware of how others see you.

Possible Questions to Raise

• Which ground rule will be the most difficult for you to follow? Why?

• Which ground rule will be the most difficult for the class to follow? Why?

• Why are ground rules necessary for a discussion?

• What can the class do to avoid breaking the ground rules?

• Are there other ground rules that the class might need? What are they?

• Is obeying the ground rules necessary for you to achieve your own personal goal?

• What problems do you anticipate the class having with discussions?

• What would make it hard for you to participate in discussions?



Worksheet 1: The Preliminary Discussion

Individual Work

1. Which ground rule will be the most difficult for the class to follow?

2. Which ground rule will be the most difficult for you to follow?

3. Which goal of Touchstones discussions would you most like to achieve?

4. Write two sentences explaining why you wish to achieve this goal for yourself.


THIS PAGE MAY BE REPRODUCED FOR CLASSROOM USE.


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Students between the ages of 6 and 18 typically spend more than 30 hours a week in school—

thus, no other activity occupies such a dominant place in their lives. Students react very differently

to the opportunities and requirements of school, but they do have one approach in common:

every student judges what happens in school. No student is neutral, and the students’ judgments

range the entire spectrum of opinion and feeling. But these judgments, although about school,

have no formal place there. In other words, the students judge their teachers, other students, and

what they study, but these judgments are rarely addressed in normal classroom activities. The

judgments are articulated outside of school and in the halls and cafeteria.

Although each student judges differently, each judges from a characteristic stance. Students

often view school much like a consumer or a moviegoer would, attending only to the question of

“Do I like it?” In short, although students constantly judge school, they rarely judge themselves

and their relationship to the activities of school. In this week’s Touchstones class, the students

will explicitly judge an academic activity. However, they will not be asked to decide whether they

like or dislike a class or their fellow students or a teacher, or whether they believe a certain activity

is useful. Instead, they will judge an activity in which they play a direct part, and this judgment

itself will become part of the activity. In order for students to begin to take responsibility for a

class, they must take possession of the activity—they must feel that the activity is their own. This

class is geared toward increasing this sense of ownership.

Your students probably fall into three groups. In one group are students who believe that they

have a stake in the discussion process because they recognize that discussions should occur in

school. Other students have entered the discussion as an escape from ordinary school activities

but still do not recognize the importance of discussion. The third group also believes that this

activity does not seem like school, but these students have not participated and may have

attempted to thwart or disrupt the discussion class. The function of the first lesson in this unit is

8Judging Classroom Activity


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to move the second and third groups toward the first one by both increasing their participation

and redirecting their enthusiasm.

The first part of the class will be a short discussion about the text. The second part will be a

discussion about the discussion process itself. In the latter activity, the students are not being

encouraged to criticize the discussion class. Instead, they should consider the question, “How

can each of us improve the discussions?” Some critical remarks may enter the group discussion,

and this is appropriate when these remarks explain why a certain suggestion for improvement is

made. If other criticisms seem inappropriate, you should not take on the responsibility of

addressing them. In a discussion of this sort, the other students will often explain why a particular

criticism is inappropriate or does not adequately describe what happens. If such explicit criticisms

occur and other students don’t address them, or if the remarks are not directly related to serious

suggestions for improvement, you should redirect the students to your question. You may want

to use a blackboard or other visual aid to list the suggestions for improvement. By using such an

aid, you are able to leave the circle and take additional control over the situation and the line

of discussion.

Frequently, the students who do not participate in the discussion of the text will participate

during an analysis of the discussion. The students who have not actively participated in

Touchstones discussions have, in many cases, assumed a judgmental attitude toward the

discussion process. Discussion analysis gives these students the opportunity to express their

opinions and allows others the opportunity to respond to them. The result is that the students

who didn’t participate previously now enter into the activity. Often the reasons that they felt

inhibited from participating come to light during this discussion analysis, and their suggestions

are accepted by the whole class. The students can then join the work of modifying the class. You

may feel that certain unfair criticisms arise during the discussion of the discussion, but it is not

your job to defend the activity by rebutting these criticisms. If you were to do this, you would be

returning to your role as an authority rather than remaining in your role as a discussion leader.

Another frequent occurrence during a discussion analysis may require you to gently intervene

as the discussion leader. When the students are asked to analyze the discussion process and its

dynamics, they often move back to a discussion of the text. Such a return to the text may dampen

the emerging enthusiasm and confidence of the heretofore passive observers who felt able to

enter the process as critics of the discussion. If, in the midst of this discussion of dynamics, the

class begins talking about the reading, you should allow it to continue for a short time. However,

at a point that is not intrusive, you should return the group to the issue of your initial question:

“How can each of us improve the discussions?”

Lesson 8: Judging Classroom Activity


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Lesson Plan 8: Judging Classroom Activity

Activity Time

1. ARRANGE CLASSROOM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 minute

• Have the students form a circle with their chairs.

2. TEXT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 minutes

• Read the text aloud, and then give the students time to read it silently.

3. DISCUSSION OF TH E TEXT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 minutes

• Have each student jot down an opening question.

• Have the students read their questions aloud to the group.

• Have a large group discussion about their questions.

4. INDIVIDUAL WORK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 minutes

• Have the students consider three things that they could do to improve the discussion.

5. DISCUSSION ANALYSIS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 minutes

• Begin the discussion analysis by asking, “How can each of us improve the discussions?”

6. REARRANGE CLASSROOM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 minute


Total: 45 minutes



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The PrinceNiccolò Machiavelli

I wish now to speak about how a ruler should treat his friends and subjects. Many famous

authors have written about this, and I am afraid you will think that I am being arrogant for writing

about it again. This is especially so since what I have to say is so different from what the famous

authors of the past have said. They have written about imaginary governments that don’t exist in

reality. To me it seems more useful to write down the simple truth of the matter.

There is such a great difference between how human beings actually live and how they ought

to live. A ruler who ignores what is being done by human beings in order to think about what

ought to be done will bring about his own destruction. Since a ruler always has subjects who are

not good, he too must learn how not to be good.

Let us therefore stop talking about imaginary things and start saying what is true about a ruler.

All men, rulers included, are said to have qualities for which they are praised and blamed. Some

men are called generous, others stingy, some cruel, others merciful, some treacherous, others

faithful, some cowardly, others brave, some religious, others unreligious, and so on.

Everyone will agree that it would be nice if a ruler had all the qualities mentioned above that

are considered good. However, it is impossible to have them all, for human nature is not like that.

The ruler should be smart enough not to get the reputation for having those bad qualities which

could cause him to lose power. As for the other bad qualities, he should not worry too much about

his reputation. If he thinks about the matter carefully, he will see that if he tries to acquire certain

qualities that seem good, he might lose his power. On the other hand, some other qualities that

seem bad will help him increase his power.


• Should rulers strive to be good people?

• How might acquiring good qualities cause a ruler to lose power?

• How might qualities that seem bad help a ruler increase power?

• Should rulers be more concerned with being just or with keeping their power?

• Does a ruler need to learn how not to be good? Why?

• What makes a good ruler?

• Should a ruler worry about his reputation?

• What good qualities might cause a ruler to lose his power?



Worksheet 8: Judging Classroom Activity

Individual Work

1. Jot down an opening question about the text.

2.List three things that you and your classmates can do to improve your discussions.

(1)

(2)

(3)




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We often believe that we have really listened when we can repeat what someone has said, either

by paraphrasing it or by repeating it word-for-word. However, listening is more than attending to

the words. The previous lesson included a difficult exercise—having the students describe reasons

supporting a view opposed to their own. One of the main purposes of Unit III is to improve this

skill. Lesson 16 will show how the presentation of words strongly affects what they mean. The

lesson’s exercise will help the students understand what they need to listen to in order to get at the

reasons underlying an act of speech or writing.

We began this process in Lesson 15 by comparing two texts. That activity did not make the

students’ ability to listen to one another central. Rather, listening to the texts was central to

deciding whether one writer’s statement was the same as or different from the other’s. The

students explored how to attend to these similarities and differences on a topic with which they

had little emotional involvement. Lesson 16 takes another step. The students will discuss the ways

in which the opinions of the group differ from those in the text as well as the ways in which their

opinions differ from one another.

Kafka’s story, though unusual, is accessible to all the students. Someone walking home at night

sees two men approaching. One man is ahead of the other and both are running. The walker is

puzzled by what he sees. He wants to find out more. However, the uncertainty of what is going on,

and therefore the risk involved, outweighs his curiosity. His fear keeps him on his own path. He

partially hides his fear by making up excuses for his unwillingness to intervene. This incident is

familiar to all of us. The students will therefore have much to say about it from their

own experiences.

In the second paragraph, Kafka describes the possible reasons for what the walker sees. He

does this in a sentence of 59 words. The sentence, punctuated only by commas, is almost

unreadable. The initial difference between the text and the students is not at the level of content,

16Listening and Repeating


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but of form—the peculiar punctuation of the central sentence of the piece. Any reader will stop

and rest at many places. Today’s exercise will ask the students to punctuate the sentence as they

hear it read by each other. Different readings will lead to different punctuation. Then eventually

you will ask them to compare their punctuation with Kafka’s and to discuss why he wrote the story

in such a strange form. This exercise, although at the apparently superficial level of punctuation,

raises all the important issues of listening and of using texts and each other as touchstones.

While the students are in the large group, read the story aloud to them. You will find that you

run out of breath. Feel free to comment on the difficulty you have reading the long sentence. Tell

the students that their assignment is to make this sentence easier to read by putting marks in the

sentence where a reader is allowed to take a breath. The unpunctuated sentence is reproduced on

the worksheet. Tell them to close their books. Assign the students to pairs. Ask each member of a

pair to read the sentence aloud to the other. As one student reads, ask the other to place marks of

punctuation on the reproduced copy. You will have to explain the rules of this activity. The

students can use three marks of punctuation: the comma (,), which will represent a short pause;

a period (.), which will represent a complete break and a new start in the reading; and the

semicolon (;), which represents an intermediate value.

After both students in each pair have performed this exercise, have them compare each other’s

punctuation. Did the recorder listen accurately to the way it was read? Allow the reader to alter the

recorder’s punctuation further if necessary. Combine pairs to form groups of four. Ask the groups

to decide how best to punctuate the sentence and to give reasons for their choices. Ask the students

to think about whether the different punctuation changes the story in any way. Then bring the

groups back into the large group. Have one student from each small group read the group’s version

with the agreed-upon punctuation. Members of the other groups should be allowed to comment

if they wish or to ask for reasons. Then tell the students to open their books again to the Kafka story.

Ask an opening question about the whole event. For example, “Does the narrator of the story really

want to know what’s going on or does he prefer not to know?”

In the last few minutes, ask a new question: “In what ways did the exercise at the beginning of the

period help us have a better discussion of the whole story?” The exercise of this section addresses

the issues of listening at the level of punctuation. It also addresses the students’ use of one another

and of the texts as touchstones. The content of the story presents an image of the difficulties people

face in discussion. In a discussion, most of us feel not like friends but like strangers. We are people

brought to the same place for a short period of time. We wish to know what others are thinking and

feeling there, and yet we are aware of the risk involved in self-exposure. Often, fear overcomes us and

we simply move on, having been silent or having spoken noncommittally, neither having listened

to others nor having been listened to. This matter is appropriate to raise with the class in the last few

minutes if you feel it will be useful.

Lesson 16: Listening and Repeating


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Lesson Plan 16: Listening and Repeating

Activity Time

1. ARRANGE CLASSROOM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 minute

• Have the students form a circle with their chairs.

2. TEXT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 minutes

• Read the text aloud, and then give the students time to read it silently.

• Distribute the worksheet, and read the unpunctuated story again, pausing when you would

naturally punctuate the sentence.

3. PAIR WORK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 minutes

• Divide the class into pairs.

• Have one student punctuate the sentence while the other reads; then have them switch roles.

4. SMALL GROUP WORK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 minutes

• Combine pairs to form small groups of four students.

• Have each small group come to an agreement on one set of punctuation marks.

5. DISCUSSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 minutes

• Have the small groups report their punctuated sentences.

• Have a discussion in the large group about the text.

6. REARRANGE CLASSROOM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 minute


Total: 45 minutes



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Passers-ByFranz Kafka

When you go walking at night up a street and a man, visible a long way off for the street goes

uphill and there is a full moon comes running toward you, well, you don’t catch hold of him as he

passes. You let him run on even if he is a feeble old man, even if someone is chasing him and

yelling at him.

For it is night, and you can’t help it if the street goes uphill in the moonlight. And besides, these

two have maybe started the chase to amuse themselves, or perhaps they are both chasing a third

person, or perhaps the first is an innocent man and the second wants to murder him and so you

would become an accessory, or they are merely running separately home to bed, or perhaps the

first has a gun.

And anyhow, haven’t you a right to be tired, haven’t you been drinking a lot of wine? You’re

thankful they are now both long out of sight.


• Would you have stopped the first man? Would you have stopped the second man?

• Was it right to let both men run by?

• Make up a story about what these two men were doing. Would you stop either of them if your

story were true?

• Is it risky to let other people know what you are thinking or feeling in a discussion?

• What keeps you from revealing your thoughts to others?

• Is it risky to ask others questions?

• Why do you think Kafka chose to write one very long sentence instead of a number of shorter

ones? Does this sentence make the story harder to understand?

• Why is the narrator thankful when both men are out of sight?

• When is it appropriate to interfere with strangers in public?

• Does the narrator in the story really want to know what’s going on or does he prefer not

to know?

• Why do you think this story is written in such a strange form?

• In what ways did the exercise at the beginning of the period help us have a better discussion

of the whole story?




Worksheet 16: Listening and Repeating

Pair Work

Read the sentence below silently a few times. While you are reading, think about where you are

pausing or stopping. You and your partner should then decide who will read the sentence aloud

first. While one person reads the sentence aloud, the other should add punctuation, using a comma

(,) to represent any pauses in the reading, even if they are slight; a period (.) for a complete stop in

the reading; and a semicolon (;) for anything in between. You and your partner should then switch

roles.

And besides these two have maybe started the chase to amuse themselves or perhaps they are

both chasing a third person or perhaps the first is an innocent man and the second wants to

murder him and so you would become an accessory or they are merely running separately

home to bed or perhaps the first has a gun.

Small Group Work

Come to an agreement on one set of punctuation marks. Mark them on the sentence below.

And besides these two have maybe started the chase to amuse themselves or perhaps they are

both chasing a third person or perhaps the first is an innocent man and the second wants to

murder him and so you would become an accessory or they are merely running separately

home to bed or perhaps the first has a gun.



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