I'll spend some class time interrogating the logic behind statements made. I can establish a similar classroom ethos in an English classroom by asking students to offer textual evidence for their claims, and by inviting them to evaluate each other's claims and evidence. Such classroom work teaches students how to critique their own logical processes, a valuable skill they'll need to have internalized by the time they write their papers. As discussion moderator, I'll prepare a list of intriguing study questions to accompany reading assignments. In class, I may ask the same question of several students and then compare their reasons for their choices.
Students get more deeply involved when they solve problems in the manner of the discipline .
Assigning broad questions ahead of time gives them a reason to scrutinize the material. In teaching Dickens' Hard Times this fall, I'll ask students to describe how, to what extent, or if this novel makes a plea for better working conditions. After completing a couple of these mini-projects, students' confidence will rise, and their classroom articulateness will rise commensurately. Clearly, the earlier they do these projects, the sooner the benefits will materialize. Finally, in the interest of encouraging self-motivated learning, I'll ask students to devise their own questions about the topic, and I'll use a selection of their questions as the basis for next meeting's discussion.