Common Ground for Action (CGA) is an online tool to support deliberation among students in a single classroom and among students in different classroom communities.  It can be used to engage students with contemporary public issues, historical decisions or other academic content while teaching the skills of careful listening. perspective-taking and weighing different options. Deliberation, the practice at the heart of CGA, has been used successfully used in K-12 social studies, communication arts and science classrooms across the US and around the world.  

There is no software or apps to download; CGA runs in any browser. CGA’s interface is designed to be intuitive enough to allow participants of all ages and levels of tech-savviness to be able to participate with ease.

To allow more teachers to access the free CGA platform, The National Issues Forums Institute is offering three free online learning sessions.  A repeating session, titled “Orientation to Deliberation and Common Ground for Action” will offer an introduction to the classroom deliberation and the CGA platform. A second session titled “Becoming a CGA Classroom Moderator” will teach educators how to access the platform and use it as tool to support student learning.  Both sessions and CGA itself are free to K-12 educators.   

In order to become a CGA moderator and gain access to the platform for classroom use, teachers must attend one introductory session and a moderator training.  A CGA coach who is also experienced educator, will be available to offer support to teachers who seek a thought partner to assist them in planning to use CGA with their classrooms this fall. 

The sessions will be offered at the following dates and times:

Orientation to Deliberation and Common Ground for Action: June 18 @ 1:00 EST
**REGISTER**

Orientation to Deliberation and Common Ground for Action: June 25 @ 1:00 EST
**REGISTER**

Becoming a CGA Classroom Moderator: June 26 @ 1:00 EST
**REGISTER**

More information about the CGA platform can be found here.