Techniques

Human barometer

Sue — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 11:46:59 GMT

A human barometer is a great way to capture a broad range of opinions and to allow small changes of view to be measured during a discussion. The barometer is a patricularly good technique to use if an issue is not clearly black and white.

Set up the room with one side labelled ‘for’ and the opposite side labelled ‘against’, then ask your students to stand between the markers at the point where their opinion lies.

This can be repeated after the discussion. You could take a photo of the barometer using a digital camera to compare the differences in individual’s opinions before and after the discussion.

If moving people around the room is not practical, create the barometer on a wall or a whiteboard and use sticky notes or coloured card to mark where students’ opinions lie.

Role play

admin — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 11:57:46 GMT

Role play is a great way to add variety to a lesson and to cover multiple angles of an issue-based topic.

In this short film, Beth Hickey, a teacher from Westminster Academy, and Andrew Davids, a teacher from Thomas Tallis School, explain how they use role play.

Role play works well in short bursts and equally well as a structured whole lesson activity. It can also be used effectively as a plenary.

When a class have similar views on a topic, role play is an excellent way to make students think more widely about the issue. By taking on different roles, students become aware of the breadth of viewpoints and reasons for those views.

The technique introduces a fun dynamic to a lesson and engages different learning styles.

Use TV show formats that students will recognise such as X Factor and Dragons' Den or run a mock trial in the style of Judge Judy. Involve your students in planning the lesson by getting them to suggest a TV show to use for the discussion.

Role play should not be limited to the students; teachers can get involved too!

Download PDF(327 Kb) presenting an overview of discussion techniques, including role play.

Games

admin — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 11:14:48 GMT

Games are fun, and fun is a big part of learning. Students get caught up in playing the game, so learning and key information are put across by stealth.

Games can be used at the start of the lesson to introduce key ideas or vocabulary prior to a discussion, at the end to summarise learning or as a whole lesson format. They allow students to start talk about a topic and use terms in context.

Games can focus on specific topics, raising questions and encouraging groups to solve problems through discussion. Competition and prizes are also good for group motivation.

Word association game such as Taboo or Articulate, or Bingo using words instead of numbers are excellent for helping students learn and understand key vocabulary that will be used in the discussion, while games such as Just a Minute and Speed Dating can be used in the lesson plenary to summarise key learning outcomes of the discussion.

Games that work well include:

Top Trumps
Just a Minute
Taboo
Bingo

Download PDF (327 Kb) presenting an overview of discussion techniques, including games.

Socratic seminar

admin — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 11:12:26 GMT

A Socratic seminar is a good way to involve the whole class in a discussion.

In this short film, Beth Hickey, a teacher from Westminster Academy, explains how to run a Socratic Seminar.

This technique is based on Socrates' theory that it is more important to enable students to think for themselves than to provide them with the ‘right’ answers. Answering a question with a question provokes discussion and deeper thought and understanding of the topic.

A Socratic seminar also helps classroom management as only one half of the class is directly involved in the discussion, the other half assesses the discussion. The notes taken while listening can form the basis of a plenary or homework. Encourage students to think about who they agreed with and why, or what they have heard that changed their opinion and why.

Download PDF (327 Kb) presenting an overview of discussion techniques including a Socratic seminar.

Snowball

admin — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 10:19:36 GMT

Snowball allows students to voice their opinions in smaller groups first and build up in stages to a whole-class discussion. This is a great way to encourage less confident students to participate.

In this short film Andrew Davids, a teacher from Thomas Tallis School, explains how to run a snowball activity.

Snowball is a good technique to use with mixed ability classes and ESOL students because it allows them to talk and express their opinions in the safety of a smaller group. Using key word or statement activities in which students have to reduce a list to the single most important word or statement works extremely well with this technique. Snowball can be used as a starter, a short activity to break up a lesson or as a plenary.

Download PDF (327 Kb) presenting an overview of discussion techniques including more about Snowball.

Marketplace

admin — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 14:22:29 GMT

Marketplace is an excellent technique to use when you want students to explore several different angles or ideas relating to a topic.

In this short film, Andrew Davids, a teacher from Thomas Tallis School, explains how to run a Marketplace activity.

This technique is a great way of using small group discussion to disseminate a large amount of information to the whole class. Making students ‘experts’ on one particular area of a topic means that they all have relevant information to contribute to the discussion. The technique allows for a wide range of activities to be used to assimilate the different viewpoints including creating posters, short films on mobile phones and short role plays.

Download PDF (327 Kb) presenting an overview of discussion techniques and more about marketplace activities.