Alternative discussion formats: The talk show

The talk show is a format with which students are already familiar, and it provides the structure for a great discussion.

By Kathryn Walbert

Handouts for the talk show discussion

• Handout for talk show host group: RTF, PDF
• Handout for talk show guest groups: RTF, PDF
• Writing prompt #1: RTF, PDF
• Writing prompt #2: RTF, PDF
• Writing prompt #3: RTF, PDF
• Writing prompt #4: RTF, PDF

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Alternative discussion formats

Class discussions often take one of two forms — either question-and-answer sessions, in which the teacher throws out questions and students answer them, or debates. Both of these formats are useful, but adding a few more ideas to your teaching repertoire can make for more variety in the classroom and provide more opportunities for engaging discussions. This edition explains how to manage dicussions in the form of a public relations campaign, a trial, a talk show, or the design of monuments, memorials, and museum exhibits.

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Related pages

• Alternative discussion formats: History and literature on trial: Putting historical or literary figures on trial makes a lively and challenging alternative to a class debate.
• Alternative discussion formats: A public relations campaign: By creating a PR campaign for a historial or literary figure, students can practice a wide range of thinking skills.
• Alternative discussion formats: Museum exhibit design: Designing museum exhibits encourages students to think creatively and to use a wide range of thinking skills.

Related topics

• Learn more about collaborative learning, cooperative learning, discussions, group work, history, literature, and talk shows.

Legal

“Today on Montel — a family torn apart by adultery, treachery, and yes, even murder!” Imagine Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude, Polonius, Laertes, Ophelia, and the ghost of Hamlet’s father on a modern talk show, each telling his or her own side of the story and engaging the others with heartfelt questions, emotional reactions and pointed accusations. A talk show format provides a contemporary twist on a class discussion, encouraging students to take on the role of literary characters or historical figures in an impassioned, in-your-face way.

Unlike formal debates, the talk show a format that many students are familiar with, whether they love talk shows or hate them, and it provides opportunities for many talk show guests to share their viewpoints, allowing you to get beyond two-sided dualism and into more complex analysis. In my experience, students often really enjoy this discussion format and interact with one another in a lively and spirited way while also learning a great deal.

Preparation

Select several key characters from a novel or several key figures or groups in a historical period or event. Divide the class up into groups with one group per character plus one extra group to serve as the “talk show host” group. Ideally, each group will have three to five students so that the groups are large enough for discussions within the group but small enough to facilitate reaching a consensus relatively quickly within each group. Explain to students that today we’ll be hosting the selected historical or literary characters on a classroom talk show.

The groups should be divided for ten to fifteen minutes of group work and instructed as follows:

Talk show host group

You will be responsible for setting the tone of the discussion, keeping the conversation moving, and maintaining order in case things get out of hand (!). Meet as a group and:

1. Decide on a name for our class talk show and decide what kind of talk show it will be. You may choose to model the talk show after a show on television such as those hosted by Oprah Winfrey, Maury Povich, Montel Williams, Ricki Lake, Jerry Springer, or Sharon Osbourne.
2. Think about your guests for today’s episode of the show and decide on the theme for today’s show.
3. Think of three questions for each of today’s guests. These questions should be thought-provoking and should go beyond simple yes-or-no questions.
4. Think about the order in which you will ask guests to tell their story and decide which members of your group will ask questions to which guests. You will be responsible for asking your questions to the other groups and encouraging them to ask questions to one another.

Talk show guest groups

You will be representing the assigned character/historical figure on today’s talk show. Meet as a group and:

1. Come up with a short biography in which you will tell your story from your perspective. You may wish to include what your relationships are to the other guests on today’s show.
2. Write two or three questions that you would like to ask each of the other guests on today’s show. Keep in mind that these should be questions from your character’s perspective. All members of your group should speak up during our talk show to reflect your group’s point of view, so you may wish to decide who will ask which questions in advance.
3. Try to anticipate any questions that you think other guests might ask you, and think about how you might respond.

Staging the talk show

After ten to fifteen minutes, have the groups reconvene. The host group can write their show title on the board and then introduce today’s topic. They will then (with coaching from the instructor as needed) introduce each guest in turn and allow the guest groups to introduce themselves. From this point forward, the host group should be able to moderate the discussion, asking their own questions and encouraging each group to ask questions of the other groups. As the discussion proceeds, the instructor can encourage quieter members to participate, throw in questions of his/her own, and (if necessary) help keep the discussion flowing smoothly and keep the students on-task. This discussion period can last anywhere from twenty minutes to an entire class period, depending on when you do the preparation work and how much time you have to devote to the discussion.

Wrap-up

After the talk-show, ask students to write about the experience, either by reflecting on the controversial issues raised in an essay or other graded assignment, or simply by writing a short response on an index card or piece of paper before leaving the classroom. Possible short prompts might include:

• Discuss one thing you didn’t know before today’s discussion that you think you understand better now.
• Which talk show guest made the best arguments today and why were they so persuasive?
• What was your favorite part of today’s discussion and why?
• What other guests might have been included on today’s show, and how would their participation have changed the discussion?