Lesson 18: A Single Shard, Fishbowl Conversation

Turn and Talk

Say These Directions: Take out the article “The Youngsters Keeping Traditional Trades Alive” and your homework from Lesson 17.

Review the homework assignment:

• Read “The Youngsters Keeping Traditional Trades Alive.”

  • Find two quotes from the text that show two different stages of learning.

  • Come up with one question about Tree-ear’s learning process so far, thinking about the stages he has been through and what he still must learn. Explain how this relates to the theme of mentorship.

  • Say: Share with your partner the two quotes from the text that connect to the stages of learning. Also share your questions and discuss how they relate to the theme of mentorship.

Say These Directions: Turn and Talk to respond to the following questions.

• Ask: What trades are discussed in the article? What skills or mindsets are needed for a trade apprenticeship? Use examples from the article to support your ideas.

  • Some trades discussed are leatherworking, globe making, clog making, wheelwrighting, and papermaking. The skills and mindsets needed are “common sense, good eyesight, and to be good with their hands,” as well as interest in the craft, ambition, risk-taking, ability to work with tools, belief in learning and passing down ancient skills, and enjoyment/ability to work with your hands.

Invite two or three pairs to share their responses with the class.

Connection to Today’s Learning

• Say: Today, you will engage in a Fishbowl Conversation, a type of class discussion, using information from the article that you read for homework.

Conversation Norms

Lead students in a co-construction of the conversation norms they will be following during today’s group discussion. You may follow the sequence below, or, if time permits, allow students to identify and name norms using a less structured format.

Display each identified norm for students to see during discussion.

Say These Directions: Work together to develop conversation norms for the text-based group discussion.

• Say: Our first norm will focus on listening.

• Ask: Why is it important to listen during a discussion?

  • An effective discussion has a balance between listening and speaking, giving everyone a chance to share their ideas and taking time to think about others’ points before responding.

• Say: We can call this norm "Listen without interrupting.” This means that group members take turns, one voice at a time, waiting until a speaker finishes before responding.

• Say: Our second norm will be about using evidence to support ideas.

• Ask: Why is it important to use evidence to support your ideas?

  • When discussing a text, you don’t just share ideas; you support them with details from a text or other source so that people know where your ideas came from.

• Say: This norm can be: “Support ideas with evidence.” When you provide evidence, include a page number or describe the excerpt so others can find it. This way, others can see where your ideas came from.

• Say: The next norm focuses on using language from the text to express our ideas.

• Ask: Why is it important to use language from the text?

  • Using specific language from the text to explain your ideas gives a speaker credibility and also keeps the discussion grounded in the text.

• Say: This norm can be: “Use language from the text.” This includes referencing specific names of people, places, and concepts in fiction, as well as using domain-specific or technical vocabulary in informational texts.

• Say: Our final norm should focus on how we respond: in a strong discussion we address ideas rather than individuals, using both a respectful tone and language.

• Ask: Why do you think it’s important to respond to ideas rather than individuals?

  • If you react to individuals, they might take it personally. Responding to ideas keeps the discussion on the text and people won’t feel as though they are being criticized if you disagree with their ideas.

• Say: Let’s write the norm, “Respond to ideas rather than individuals.” Instead of labeling a comment as “wrong,” we explain our thinking using evidence.

Connection to Today’s Learning

• Say: Today, you will participate in a Fishbowl Conversation to discuss A Single Shard and the article “The Youngsters Keeping Traditional Trades Alive.” During the activity, use the agreed-upon conversation norms to help you listen and respond to your classmates.

Part A: Preparing for Discussion (SL.6.1, SL.6.4) (10 minutes)

Preparing for Fishbowl Conversation

Provide students with Accountable Talk sentence stems and Reflect-and-Respond graphic organizers to support their participation in the discussion. Explain that the sentence stems can guide them in agreeing, disagreeing, and building on others’ ideas, while the Reflect-and-Respond graphic organizer can be used to record questions, ideas, and observations before, during, and after the discussion.

Before students prepare for their group discussion, explain the Fishbowl Conversation routine.

• Say These Directions: During the discussion today, you’re going to follow the Fishbowl Conversation routine. This routine helps us build meaning together instead of just sharing separate opinions. Here’s how it works:

  • The class will be split into two groups: one will sit in a circle in the middle of the room (the inner circle), and the other will sit in a circle around the first group (the outer circle).

  • Students in the inner circle will have 10 minutes to discuss the question prompts.

  • While the inner circle group is discussing, the outer circle group will silently take notes on the inner circle’s discussion to add to their own thinking and provide responses to points brought up by the inner circle.

  • After 10 minutes, the groups will switch places, and the new inner circle group will have their turn to discuss the question prompts while the new outer circle group silently takes notes.

Provide students with the question prompts they will be discussing during the Fishbowl Conversation. Then model a response to at least one of the question prompts using discussion stems and examples (see the sample responses below).

• Ask: How does an apprentice navigate the stages of learning in order to succeed in a craft? Use textual evidence to support your ideas.

  • An apprentice navigates the stages of learning by seeking out opportunities to observe and to try. For example, the article explains how leatherworking apprentice Leighann Perry became interested in her trade after observing leatherworking at a museum and then looked for a way to learn the skill.

• Ask: Across Chapters 1–8 of A Single Shard, what patterns show how observation, trying, and failing help Tree-ear grow as a learner? Which moments best demonstrate how difficult learning actually works? Use textual evidence to support your ideas.

  • Chapters 1–8 show how observing, trying, and failing are a part of a cycle. For example, Tree-ear observes other potters cutting clay from the riverbank. He tries to replicate their actions and instead gets his spade stuck. He tries again and eventually succeeds. Once he has learned this skill, he observes, tries, and fails at other parts of the pottery-making process, such as purifying the clay to the exact right consistency.

• Ask: What does it take to learn something difficult? Cite examples from the novel and the article to support your ideas..

  • Both the novel and the article show that learning something difficult takes perseverance and risk. In A Single Shard, Tree-ear takes risks by asking Min for an apprenticeship and continues to work hard even when he struggles or things don’t go his way. Min perseveres and takes risks when he tries, fails, and works to perfect the technique developed by Kang. In the article, the globe-making apprentice Eddy da Silva explains how he took a risk to pursue his interest: “The 24-year-old, who was born in Venezuela but now lives in England’s capital, left a corporate environment to pursue the craft but said ‘only a handful of people supported my decision.’”

Preparing for Discussion

Instruct students to prepare for the Fishbowl Conversation by reviewing the prompts and preparing textual evidence from both texts to support their ideas.

• Say: Before we begin the Fishbowl Conversation, review your responses to the prompts and prepare textual evidence from both texts to support your ideas. Take a few minutes to review the novel and article to locate specific pieces of evidence you plan to use. Mark the page number or paragraph so you can clearly reference the evidence during the discussion.

Part B: Fishbowl Conversation (SL.6.1, SL.6.4) (20 minutes)

Fishbowl Conversation

Say These Directions: Now we will engage in the Fishbowl Conversation routine using the agreed upon norms. Remember to refer to your Accountable Talk Sentence Stems to help you phrase your questions and comments. Also use your Reflect-and-Respond graphic organizer to record questions and ideas as they come up during the discussion.

Divide students into the inner circle and outer circle groups. After 10 minutes, have the groups switch places so that all students have the chance to contribute to the discussion.

Quick Write

Say These Directions: Use the Quick Write routine by writing a one- to two-sentence response to the following prompt:

• Ask: What is one new connection you made between the novel A Single Shard, the article “The Youngsters Keeping Traditional Trades Alive,” and the stages of learning?

  • I noticed that A Single Shard includes more description about the stages of learning, while the article looks at why young people pursue apprenticeships and learn a trade. This connection helps me understand why people might choose to engage in difficult learning.

Have students read Chapter 9 through “. . . so often close companions?” on p. 102. Instruct students to respond in their Journal to the following:

After reading the first half of Chapter 9, respond to the following prompt:

• Focus on the quote “Why was it that pride and foolishness were so often close companions?” (p. 102). What does this mean?