Discussion work

There are many benefits of students working in groups, and for some activities it can be essential, but how do you organise students to get the most out of these activities?

A few of ideas, which you may already use with different frequencies (and with different names):

Think-pair-share. Students are used to reflect on a question individually for a few minutes, then to share their ideas with a partner in pairs.  These pairs then share their ideas into groups of four, or as a whole class. This can also be used to whittle down a variety of evidence or sources into most useful or

Rainbow groups. students work initially in 'rainbow' groups where each student has a different colour, but then for the second part of the activity move into 'colour' groups - with all other students of the same colour.  This can be useful where different groups are doing different parts of the activity but you want the class to have an overview of all ideas.

Group brainstorming. Give each group a big piece of paper and get each group to record some of their ideas, each group on a slightly different topic/point of view/etc. Pass the paper from group to group, each one adding new ideas. This could be good as a revision activity too.

Envoys. Similar to the above but instead of passing on the work, one member of the group moves to another group and shares their group's ideas before they complete the last part of the task. This can be good if you give different groups different information or viewpoints to work from as a way to share that amongst the class.

Obviously, setting up groupings can be time-consuming, but thinking carefully about which students are working together can really maximise the progress students make in group activities.  It may be worth setting up some groups (assigning each student a colour, number and letter or the like) initially, and then using this as a way to get them quickly into different types of groups whenever the activity calls for it.

Chose one type of group activity to try out in the next fortnight.  What do you need to consider in the planning of this? How did it work out when you tried it? Any other group activities you know work well? Let us know in the comments.