Welcome to CONVO

A civil, deliberative discussion format where the students do ALL the talking — and the teacher stays quiet (shhhh).

THE BIG QUESTION — ALL YEAR LONG

"Is America a land of freedom or tyranny?"

The Beagle in Chief

Woof! I am Roger the GoPup, and I have a very important job today: I am not allowed to talk during CONVO, and neither is your teacher. This is YOUR conversation. Four seats in the middle, everyone else listens, and every single person has to speak before we're done. Let's get you ready.

🗣️ What Is CONVO?

CONVO is a Socratic-style seminar built around one simple idea: real understanding comes from talking WITH your classmates, not just listening to a teacher. The room is set up in two circles — a small pod of four chairs in the middle, and everyone else in a big circle around it. Only the four people in the pod may speak. Everyone else listens, takes notes, and waits their turn. Speakers tag out once they've spoken, new people rotate in, and the conversation keeps going until every single student has spoken at least once.

🐾 Today's Mission Path

1. Learn the Big/Unit/Class question structure → 2. Build your own CONVO claim → 3. Master the listening tips → 4. Learn the discussion rules → 5. Run the live Pod Tracker during class → 6. Fill out your Scorecard → 7. Write your persuasive paragraph → 8. Self-evaluate with the rubric → 9. Wrap up

📚 All CONVO Resources — Click to Open

🖥️

CONVO Slideshow

Google Slides | Intro Deck

📄

CONVO Overview Doc

Google Doc | Full Format

🍎

CONVO Overview for Teachers

Google Doc | Teacher Guide

✍️

CONVO Claim

Google Doc | Pre-CONVO

👂

CONVO Listening Tips

Google Doc | Reference

📏

CONVO Discussion Rules

Google Doc | Reference

🎯

CONVO Scorecard

Google Doc | During CONVO

📝

CONVO Writing

Google Doc | Post-CONVO

✅

CONVO Eval

Google Doc | Rubric

📐 Big → Unit → Class Questions

Every CONVO connects a small daily topic all the way up to the year's biggest question. Here's the ladder.

🪜 Three Sizes of Question

BIG (course-long)

"Is America a land of freedom or tyranny?" — this question runs through the ENTIRE year.

MEDIUM (per unit)

Each of the 5 units connects the Big Question to that unit's specific content.

SMALL (per lesson)

Each individual class period has its own small question about that day's topic.

📊 The Five Unit Questions

#	Unit Topic	Unit Question
1	Foundations of American Democracy	Did the Framers give us liberty or tyranny?
2	Interactions Among Branches of Government	Does our system of separation of powers and checks and balances help or hinder tyranny?
3	Civil Liberties and Civil Rights	Do our civil liberties and rights encourage liberty or tyranny?
4	American Political Ideologies and Beliefs	Does American political culture and belief promote liberty or tyranny?
5	Political Participation	Do the institutions that connect the people to the government increase liberty or tyranny?

✍️ Today's Small Question

Type in today's class topic and small question — this connects your CONVO all the way up the ladder.

Saved! Roger has it written down. +20 XP

✍️ Build Your CONVO Claim

Before you can speak in the pod, you need a claim. "I believe ___ because ___." The more support, the better.

The GoPup demands evidence

A claim without support is just an opinion shouted into the void. Give me facts, data, quotes, reasons — anything that backs you up. Woof.

🎯 Your Claim

TODAY'S TOPIC

I BELIEVE...

BECAUSE...

ONE QUESTION I WILL ASK A COLLEAGUE

ONE COUNTERARGUMENT I COULD MAKE

Claim locked in! Roger is proud of you. +50 XP

Open Official Claim Doc 📄

👂 Listening Tips

CONVO is 90% listening. Tap each tip to expand it, then prove you actually read them.

🎥 Watch: Celeste Headlee — 10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation

A short, famous TED Talk on the skill of real listening. Highly recommended before your first CONVO.

Watch on TED.com ▶️

The GoPup is listening (he's a dog, it's his whole job)

Answer 5 quick questions to prove you can listen as well as I can. Woof.

📏 The Rules of the Game

The room is set up in two circles. Only the pod speaks. Everyone must talk before anyone talks twice.

⭕ The Circle Setup

1

2

3

4

Outer circle: the rest of the class (silent, listening, scoring)

The gold pod in the middle holds four speakers at a time. The outer dots are the rest of the class — they listen, take notes, and fill out their Scorecard, but they may NOT talk until it's their turn in the pod.

📋 CONVO Rules

✓ Everyone must speak at least once during CONVO.

✓ Only people in the inside pod may speak.

✓ People in the outside circle may not speak.

✓ The teacher picks four volunteers to start the pod.

✓ Attack ideas, never people. No abusive or exclusionary language.

✓ Students stay in the pod until they have spoken.

✓ Outside students may raise a hand to tag in — but only for a seat that has already spoken.

✓ After someone finishes, they clap twice. The next speaker restates a brief summary of what was just said before adding their own point.

✓ No one may speak a second time until EVERY student has spoken once.

✓ Students who don't speak receive a low participation score.

✓ The teacher may remove a student who is unprepared, breaks the rules, or is disruptive.

"The Golden Rule of CONVO: Listen to others as you would have them listen to you."

Beagle in Chief — enforcing the rules

Six quick questions on the rules. Get them right and I do a happy spin. Get them wrong and... well, you'll hear it.

Open Official Rules Doc 📄

🎙️ Run the Live CONVO

Use this tool during class. Add the roster, fill the four pod seats, mark speakers as they finish, and tag in the next person.

Roger is the world's quietest referee

Add everyone's name to the roster. Then drag people into the four pod seats. When they finish talking and clap twice, mark them "Spoken" and pull in the next person. I'll let you know when the whole class has gone.

Class Roster

Roster: 0

Spoken: 0

Remaining: 0

The Pod (4 Seats)

🎯 CONVO Scorecard

Fill this out as the discussion happens (or right after). This is your record of what you heard, and how you did.

The GoPup takes notes too

A good scorecard proves you were actually listening, not just waiting for your turn. Be specific. Use names.

Open Official Scorecard 📄

📝 CONVO Writing

Now that you've heard everyone's claims, write a persuasive paragraph — 150 words maximum. Use your words!

✅ Requirements

• State a clear claim (your opinion) about today's topic.
• Use at least two pieces of strong evidence: facts, data, information, or logic/reasoning.
• You are not trying to convince yourself — write to actually persuade a reader.
• Maximum 150 words. This should expand on your original claim: "I believe ___ because ___."

0 / 150 words

Saved! Roger read it and approves. +60 XP

Open Official Writing Doc 📄

✅ Self-Evaluation

Rate yourself honestly on all five parts of CONVO. Your teacher will do the same — see how close you land.

0 / 100

Your Self-Score

Saved! Roger respects self-awareness. +40 XP

Open Official Eval Doc 📄

🐾 Wrap Up

You just ran a full CONVO cycle: claim, discussion, scorecard, writing, and self-eval. That's the whole loop.

The GoPup is officially impressed