An introductory slide-deck exercise reviewing evidence that political polarization is reaching crisis levels, inviting student discussion at each slide. Materials are provided as a downloadable PowerPoint and PDF.

Introduces the components of active listening — focusing attention, listening to connect, checking understanding, and acknowledging the speaker — through paired and small-group practice activities.

Deepens students’ understanding of the Can We Talk? ground rules for dialogue, reviewing why each rule matters and how to put it into practice in classroom discussion.

A get-to-know-you interactive exercise where students practice active listening skills with classmates, useful for launching a Can We Talk? unit or preparing students for more explicit listening instruction.

Teaches students to ask different types of questions — clarifying, build-upon, and more — that show genuine interest and deepen conversations, building on a physicist’s story about the value of well-framed questions.

A 20-25 minute exercise, framed by Einstein’s advice to spend most of an hour defining a problem, that teaches students to dig past a surface complaint to find the real, underlying issue.

Helps students discover that their own key issues aren’t the only ones worth caring about, and that others may frame a shared issue very differently, through a process adaptable to national, state, or local topics.

Sparks discussion about the pros and cons of students’ own community, revealing how people can view the same facts differently, using Force Field Theory to identify what helps and hinders positive outcomes.

Prepares students to navigate difficult conversations by identifying pitfalls in advance and reframing them as opportunities to learn, rather than to win or avoid entirely.

Helps students identify the range of values Americans hold and recognize how those values can come into tension with one another, not as good versus evil, but as competing goods worth discussing.