Transcript: What does it look like when students begin to do active listening?

Sophia: Who is the midrash talking about?

Eli: (Reads the text): "Chavurah U-mishpacha, friends and family."

Sophia: Friends and family. (They both write.) Wait, do you think it's the rocks too? Should we write down the rocks?

Eli: Then there wouldn't be room for friends…According to the midrash, what is a group of people and family like?

Sophia: Umm. Like a group of people…Do you have an idea?

Eli: I think a group of people and a family are like stones because it says there's a pile of stones. It represents a pile of stones.

Sophia: So represents a pile of stones, that’s according to the midrash.

(They both write down their responses.)

Sophia: (Reading havruta guided question sheet): “What happens to a pile of stones when you take one out?”

Eli: When you take one out of a pile of stones, it all starts to totter.

Sophia: So totter. So it starts to totter. (They both write.) According to the midrash, what would happen to a group of people if you take one out?

Eli: If you take one out it would all start to go out--

Sophia: --and it would affect the group of people.

Eli: If you take one out it would affect the whole group, not just one of the people.

Sophia: Yah, and it would change how they felt about the group. (They both write.) So, it would affect a lot

Eli: The whole family.

Sophia: It would affect the whole group of people. Do you think we could do better on either one?