In addition to the discussion participants, two more roles are required to be filled: a facilitator who keeps time, and a recorder who records and organizes the information from the discussion.
Participants are instructed to listen actively to each other, and allow pauses and silences for time to think. Teachers are instructed to minimize their own speaking time compared to students, and ask questions that bring out implications and clarifications of students' ideas.
First, the text is read by the group and the facilitator provides an overarching question to the group. Next, the participants discuss the text openly in 45 minutes. Speakers are encouraged to cite specific pages and paragraphs when speaking about a section of the text. Finally, the recorder restates the initial question and summarizes the contents of the discussion.