Learning Through Harkness  

Putting Harkness into Action

 

Annotating 

 

Annotating is the act of highlighting, underlining, jotting notes and making connections on a text. For students, this may be on an English text, a scientific article, a poem, primary source documents about a historical event, a music piece, a handout with several ways to solve a math problem, a piece of art, or a newspaper article. Having students annotate something before coming into a Harkness discussion is a way for them to start forming their opinion or ideas before hearing others' ideas. As teachers become more comfortable, they may start making discussion packets that contain a variety of materials, often with differing perspectives. This will help students start to think about the complexities of the topic at hand. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tracking the Conversation

 

Write each student's name around the oval based on where they are seated for that discussion. Remember, students should be encouraged to vary their spot around the circle from one conversation to the next. Either the teacher or a student can track the conversation as it flows from one student to the next simply by drawing a line from the names as students speak. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Completed Discussion Tracking Sheet retrieved from Google Images 

 

 

 

Recording Types of Comments 

 

In order to help students improve their discussion skills, it is important to also track the types of comments made by individuals. This will make the group discussion stronger. Here is a chart that I devised and use, but teachers can develop one based on their age category and the types of discussion behaviours they find most valuable. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Formal Group Grade

 

Since Harkness is a group endeavor, I have attempted to create a "group rubric". Students are familiar with this rubric and know what characteristics make a productive, meaningful discussion. This grade is balanced with an individual grade based on pre-discussion and post-discussion work. This can include their annotations, a chart of notes and textual references and an assignment following the discussion. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Self and Group Reflection 

 

One of the reasons that Harkness is holistic, is that it includes a reflective element. Teachers should always leave at least 5 minutes at the end of every discussion for reflection. Students can reflect individually or as a whole about what worked and what didn't work and how they can enhance their discussion skills.