Sentence completion: What impressed me most about the reading for today was… The question I’d most like to ask the author is… The idea in the reading that I most disagree with is…
	Quotes from reading: The passage in the reading that I agree with most is… The quote from the reading that I disagree with most is…
	Illustrative quotes: The quote that best illustrates today’s concept is… The quote that best exemplifies my viewpoint on this issue is…
	Hatful of quotes: Each student selects a slip of paper from a container. Slips have ideas, passages, ideas or other statements related to the topic of the day. Each student must respond to the statement on his or her slip.
	Open-ended questions Ask how, why. Have students compare the relative merits of something or to consider how well something fulfills its function. Have the students bring their own list of questions

	Problem, dilemma or theme poser: Introduces the topic of conversation
	Reflective analyst: Records the conversation’s flow, offering a periodic summary
	Scrounger:  Listens for suggestions and needs, records them and reviews them at the end of the discussion so the group may decide an action plan
	Devil’s advocate: Expresses a contrary view to group consensus
	Detective: Listens for unexplored biases, and brings attention to them
	Theme spotter: Identifies themes needing time at the next session
	Umpire: Listens for personal judgments in order to enforce ground rules

Assign conversational moves for participants to try

	Express interest in someone’s comments
	Encourage someone to elaborate on his or her comments
	Explain a link between the comments of two people
	Make a contribution that builds on someone’s comment
	Paraphrase someone’s comment
	Summarize several comments
	Ask a cause and effect question
	Ask for time to think about a comment
	Express appreciation for what you’ve gained from the discussion
	Disagree with a comment in a respectful and constructive way