The prompt
Score 10 of 10, Excellent
Use it when You need questions that move from recall to real discussion on a reading or topic.
- {{participants}}
- {{session_length}}
- {{discussion_goal}}
- {{material}}
Full prompt and why it works
Prompt
Write discussion questions on the reading or topic below, for {{participants}} in a {{session_length}} session. The goal is {{discussion_goal}}, so the questions should move from checking that everyone has the basics to real discussion in which thoughtful people can disagree. The reading, excerpt or topic: """ {{material}} """ Write 10 to 12 questions in four groups, with a heading for each: 1. Getting started (two questions): recall that checks everyone has the basics. Give the answer and where it is in the text. 2. Interpreting (three questions): why and how questions answered with evidence from the text. Say what a good answer would include. 3. Connecting (three questions): links to other ideas, to participants' work or to the world. 4. Open questions (two or three): questions with no single right answer. Keep each question under 25 words, and under each one add a follow-up probe for when the first answers are thin. Then add a suggested running order with rough timings for {{session_length}}, and one closing question. A good question here is open, asks about one idea at a time, and does not signal the answer the asker prefers. For example, instead of "Did the manager make the right choice?", which invites yes or no, ask "What would the manager have needed to know to choose differently?" The example shows the form only. Rules: - Base the first two groups on the material. Quote it exactly, and do not invent quotes, page numbers or facts. - Avoid leading questions and questions with a hidden right answer. - Do not ask questions that require people to share personal experiences of trauma, health, family or identity. Where a question invites personal experience, make sharing optional. If I have given only a topic and no text, say so, write questions that do not depend on quotes, and mark any fact you rely on with "(check)".
Variables
- {{participants}}
- Who will discuss, for example "a 10th grade English class" or "a team of 12 new managers".
- {{session_length}}
- How long the discussion lasts, for example 40 minutes.
- {{discussion_goal}}
- What you want the discussion to achieve, for example "to weigh the author's argument against their own experience".
- {{material}}
- The reading, an excerpt, or a short description of the topic.
Why it works
- Format. Four groups that climb from recall to open questions give the discussion a shape, so it warms up before it asks people to take a position.
- An example. A before-and-after example shows how to turn a yes-or-no question into one that starts a real discussion.
- What to avoid. Questions never require people to share trauma, health, family or identity, and personal sharing is always optional.