Come to a discussion prepared, complete an assigned role, and pose and respond to questions that clarify or follow up

Learning goal: Participate in discussions about fourth grade topics and texts in pairs, small groups or whole-class settings: come to discussions prepared, having read and studied the materials; complete assigned roles; and pose and respond to specific questions to clarify or follow up on information. This lesson teaches Ohio's 2026 English language arts standard, first implemented in the 2027-28 school year. Speaking and listening are performances, so an adult should watch the discussions or listen to recordings of them; the written questions in this lesson prepare for the discussions and check understanding, but they do not replace taking part. The companion lesson on discussing evidence teaches how to link your comments to what others said.

Original article — Two Ideas for a Quieter Lunchroom (Hillside Elementary and all its numbers are invented for this lesson)

(1) At Hillside Elementary, the lunchroom had become so loud that students at the same table could not hear each other. The lunch aides rang a small bell whenever the noise grew too loud. On a typical day before the trial, they rang it nine times.

(2) The student council suggested two ideas and tried each one for a week. In the first week, soft music played during the first ten minutes of lunch. In the second week, each table had a set of "table talk" cards with questions such as "What is a skill you would like to learn?"

(3) The aides kept a tally of bell rings every day. In the music week, the bell rang an average of six times a day. In the card week, it rang an average of four times a day. However, on two days of the card week school ended early, and lunch lasted 20 minutes instead of the usual 30.

(4) The student council will share the results with the principal next month. Some students liked the music because it was relaxing. Others said the cards helped them talk to classmates they did not know well.

Part 1: Come to the discussion prepared

Being prepared means that you have read and studied the materials before the discussion starts, so that you can talk about the text and not only about your opinion. An opinion with no reading behind it gives the group nothing to check. Prepare in four steps. (1) Read the material twice: once to understand the whole thing, and once with a pencil. (2) Mark the evidence that answers the discussion question, and note its paragraph number. (3) Write a preparation card. (4) Bring the material and the card to the discussion.

A preparation card has five parts: the discussion question; your answer, even if you are not sure yet; two pieces of evidence with paragraph numbers; one question you still have; and one word or idea you need to check. Here is a model card for the question "Which idea should Hillside keep?"

- Question: Which idea should Hillside keep, the music or the cards?
- My answer so far: the cards, but I am not sure.
- Evidence 1: the card week averaged four bell rings a day and the music week six (paragraph 3).
- Evidence 2: some students said the cards helped them talk to classmates they did not know well (paragraph 4).
- My question: were the card-week numbers lower partly because two lunches were shorter (paragraph 3)?
- To check: average. I think it means the total shared out equally over the days.

A condition. Being prepared does not mean having the "right" answer before you arrive. It means you know what the text says, so your answer can change when someone shows you evidence. If you could not finish the reading, tell the group which part you read rather than pretending.

Part 2: Complete your assigned role

Many groups give each member a role, a job that helps the discussion work. Roles rotate, so everyone learns every job. Four common roles:

- Facilitator: reads the question aloud, makes sure every member is invited to speak, keeps the talk on the question and closes the discussion.
- Recorder: writes down the main ideas and who said them, and reads a summary aloud near the end.
- Timekeeper: watches the clock, tells the group when time is running short and helps the group finish on time.
- Evidence checker: when someone gives a fact from the text, asks where it is and finds the paragraph, so that the group's facts are accurate.

To complete an assigned role means three things. First, do the whole job from the start of the discussion to the end, not only once. Second, still take part with your own ideas: a role is added to your part in the discussion, not a replacement for it. Third, do your own job and not someone else's; the timekeeper does not decide the answer, and the facilitator does not do all the talking. If something makes your job hard, say so: a recorder can ask, "Could you say that again so I can write it down?"

Part 3: Pose and respond to specific questions

A clarifying question asks a speaker to make something clearer when you are not sure what they meant. A follow-up question asks for more information or evidence about something you did understand, to take the idea further. Both kinds must be specific: they name the exact word, idea or fact you are asking about. "What?" and "Can you explain?" are not specific, because the speaker cannot tell which part you mean.

- Clarifying: "When you said the cards were 'better,' did you mean fewer bell rings or that students liked them more?"
- Follow-up: "Which paragraph tells how long lunch was on the short days?" "What happened to the bell count on the three full-length days of the card week?"

Ask after the speaker has finished, and ask about the idea, not the person.

Responding to a question is part of the skill. Answer the question that was actually asked. Point to the text when you can ("Paragraph 3 says ..."). If you do not know, say so and say how the group could find out. Then check: "Does that answer your question?"

Original discussion — The Lunchroom Group (a model for this lesson; Ava is the facilitator, Ben the recorder, Carmen the timekeeper and Dev the evidence checker)

AVA: Our question is which idea Hillside should keep. We have fifteen minutes. Carmen, please tell us when five minutes are left. Who wants to start?

BEN: I think the cards. The bell rang only four times a day.

DEV: That's in paragraph 3. It says an average of four times a day in the card week.

CARMEN: But that's not fair. Two lunches were shorter.

AVA: Carmen, when you say "not fair," do you mean the comparison isn't fair, or that it was unfair to the students?

CARMEN: The comparison. A 20-minute lunch has less time for the bell to ring than a 30-minute lunch.

DEV: Paragraph 3 says that two days were 20 minutes instead of 30.

BEN: So how many times did the bell ring on the three full-length days of the card week?

CARMEN: I don't know. The article doesn't say. We could ask the student council for the count for each day.

AVA: Dev, you've been checking everyone's evidence. What do you think?

DEV: I'm not sure yet. Paragraph 4 says the cards helped some students talk to classmates they didn't know well, so the cards might do two good things.

CARMEN: Five minutes left.

AVA: Ben, could you read what you recorded?

BEN: We think the card week had fewer bell rings, but two shorter lunches might explain part of it. We want the daily counts. Dev noticed that the cards helped students meet classmates.

AVA: Does that match what everyone said? Then our question for the student council is: what were the bell counts on the full-length days?

Worked example 1 — Find each role being completed. In the model discussion, Ava (facilitator) reads the question, sets the time, invites Dev, who has not yet given his own opinion, asks for the summary and closes with the group's question. Ben (recorder) gives his own idea early and later reads a summary that names Dev's point. Carmen (timekeeper) gives the five-minute warning, and she also contributes an important idea about the shorter lunches. Dev (evidence checker) finds paragraph 3 twice, so the group's numbers are accurate. Each person did the whole job and still took part.

Worked example 2 — Clarify or follow up? Ava asks Carmen, "When you say 'not fair,' do you mean the comparison isn't fair, or that it was unfair to the students?" That is a clarifying question: Ava did not know which meaning Carmen intended, and she named the exact words. Ben asks, "So how many times did the bell ring on the three full-length days of the card week?" That is a follow-up question: Ben understood Carmen's point and wants more information to take it further.

Worked example 3 — Make a vague question specific. Vague: "What do you mean?" Specific: "When you said the music was 'relaxing,' do you mean it made people quieter, or that students enjoyed it?" Vague: "Tell me more." Specific: "Which paragraph says what students thought of the cards?" Each specific question names a word or fact.

Worked example 4 — Respond to a question. A classmate asks, "Where does it say lunch was shorter?" A weak response is "It just does." A strong response is "Paragraph 3, the last sentence: on two days of the card week, lunch lasted 20 minutes instead of 30. Does that answer your question?" When Ben asks for the full-day counts, Carmen responds honestly that the article does not say, and she suggests how to find out. That is also a complete response.

Worked example 5 — An unprepared start, repaired. Jonah says, "I didn't read it, but I think music is better because I like music." He has an opinion but no evidence. A prepared version: "I think the music, because paragraph 4 says some students found it relaxing, but I want to know whether the bell counts on full-length days were different."

Preparation and role cards (representation task): Before your group's discussion of a text your teacher assigns, fill in a preparation card with all five parts, including paragraph or page numbers. Then make a role card for your assigned role: list the role's jobs, and after the discussion, put a check next to each job you did and a note about one you found hard.

Independent performance: Take part in a fifteen-minute small-group discussion of the assigned text, with a different role from your last discussion. An observer (a teacher, another adult or a classmate with a checklist) records each time you refer to your preparation card or the text, each action of your role, each question you pose and each response you give. Afterward, write three sentences: one about how preparing helped, one about how you completed your role, and one quoting a clarifying or follow-up question you asked and the answer you received. Success criteria: I arrived with the text and a complete preparation card, and I used at least one piece of my evidence in the discussion. I did every part of my role from start to finish and still shared my own ideas. I posed at least one specific clarifying question and one specific follow-up question, each naming the word, idea or fact I was asking about. When someone asked me a question, I answered what was asked, pointed to the text or said how we could find out, and checked that my answer helped.