Despite teachers' best intentions, traditional whole-class discussions sometimes end up sounding like the monotonous drone of Charlie Brown's teacher. But with careful planning, teachers can structure discussions that encourage meaningful student interaction and collaborative thinking, write Laura Billings and Terry Roberts of the…

Recognizing the profound relationship between thinking and language, the authors have developed the traditional Paideia seminar into a literacy cycle of instruction that involves students in reading, speaking, listening, writing, and thinking. As staff members of the National Paideia Center, they have observed that learning to think requires…