10 Ways to Structure Whole Class Discussions to Get Broad Participation

Stand Up, Sit Down is an easy way to add physical activity to a lesson. Students begin seated. You ask a question like “Did you attend a private school?” Students who did stand up. Then you ask a follow up question like, “Did you attend a boarding school?” The students for whom that is true stay standing while the others sit. 

Debates are excellent ways to increase class participation and to get students excited about classroom material. While debates can be structured in a variety of ways, here is one format, with some sample directions.

Debate topic: Set a topic. The one for this example is on keeping or abolishing standardized testing

Debate length:  The debate will be 45 minutes long 

• Debate prep (15 minutes)
•  Opening statement from PRO (2 minutes)
• Opening statement from CON (2 minutes)
• Second speaker from PRO (2 minutes
•  Second speaker from CON (2 minutes)
• BREAK to prepare rebuttals (5 minutes)
• A rebuttal from the CON side. (1.5 minutes)
•  A rebuttal from the PRO side. (1.5 minutes)
• A second rebuttal from CON (1.5 minutes)
• A second rebuttal from PRO (1.5 minutes)
• BREAK to discuss closing arguments (5 minutes)
•  Closing statement from PRO (3 minutes)
• Closing statement from CON (3 minutes)

Debate materials: Students can find their own materials and submit them for approval or the teacher can assign the materials. 

Assign roles. Possible roles include: 

Role 1/2: Researcher (2)

• This person finds and summarizes an article for their side of the debate. They are responsible for writing a strong summary of the article for their team, highlighting relevant points.

Role 3/4: Opposition researcher (2)

• This person is responsible for reading one of the opposition articles and summarizing the arguments.

Role 5: Argument writer

• As the opposing side presents its opening statement, this person records the main details of their argument and outlines possible counter arguments. Person leads the rebuttal preparation session and outlines points that were not addressed in rebuttals to include in closing statements. 

Role 6: Opening statement

•  This person lays out the arguments for their team.

Role 7: Second speaker

• This person lays out further arguments in favor or opposing the resolution and answers questions raised in the other side’s opening statement.

Role 8: Rebuttal 1

• This person responds to the opening statement and second speaker of the opposing team.

Role 9: Rebuttal 2

• This person responds to what was said in the first rebuttal or any other points not addressed yet.

Role 10: Closing statement

• This person summarizes the arguments in favor of or against the proposition.

Role 11: The boss

• This person is in charge of making sure that everyone is prepared for the debate and getting debate prep to run smoothly. This can include developing an agenda, creating a system to call on other group members to ensure everyone is heard, and keeping the group on task.

 Pyramid discussions are another way to structure discussions to ensure that every student has a chance to speak in class. Pyramid discussions also give students an opportunity to practice formulating arguments, agreeing, and disagreeing in a structured setting. Here is how it works:

• Begin a discussion with students in groups of two.
• Once students in groups of two have come to an agreement on the topic, have the groups of two pairs up so that students are in groups of four.
• The groups of four then have to reach consensus before they can pair up with another group of four.
• You can stop the pyramid at any point or keep going as the groups get larger and larger until it is a whole class discussion.

Also known as Philosophical Chairs, this is another movement-based discussion strategy. It is good learning students’ opinions, encouraging higher amounts of participation in discussions, and changing up the format of class. Here is how it works:

• The teacher assemblies a series of statements that the students could disagree or agree with. An example might be, “Gang members can be productive members of society.” The idea is that these are statements that students in your class will have mixed opinions about—and related to the concept that you are covering.
• After you read a statement, students walk to one side of the room if they agree, and the other if they disagree.
• Once they are on the two sides of the room, ask students from each side to share why they agree or disagree with the statement.

Four corners is a movement based discussion activity. It is a great way to learn student opinions, to get more students engaged in a discussion, and to change up the pace of the classroom.

The way it works is that a teacher asks a question and gives four options for answers. Students walk to the corner of the room that corresponds with their answers. Oftentimes, the teacher will have posted posters or letters in that corner so students know where to go. Once students are in their corners, they discuss their response. Then students from each corner of the room share their opinion.

Tip: The discussion in the corners works better if students are in groups of two or three, so break larger groups up once they are in their corners. Make sure to give them time to share their ideas with the larger corner group.

Affinity mapping is another group discussion strategy. This one however includes the use of sticky notes, which can facilitate the participation of more silent students. Here’s how it works according to Gonzalez (2015).

• Give students a broad question or problem that is likely to result in lots of different ideas, such as “What were the impacts of the Great Depression?” or “What literary works should every person read?”
• Have students generate responses by writing ideas on post-it notes (one idea per note) and placing them in no particular arrangement on a wall, whiteboard, or chart paper.
• Once lots of ideas have been generated, have students begin grouping them into similar categories, then label the categories and discuss why the ideas fit within them, how the categories relate to one another, and so on.

Citation:

Gonzalez, J. (2015, October 15). The big list of classroom discussion strategies [Blog]. Cult of Pedagogy. Retrieved from https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/speaking-listening-techniques/

Socratic Seminars are a structured discussion technique that encourages higher-level thinking and text comprehension. Here is how Facing History explains them– note that the quote marks below are because this whole explanation is in their words, not in mine!

• “1. Select an Appropriate Text
  • The Socratic Seminar strategy is based on close textual analysis, so it is important to select a text that provides ample avenues for interpretation and discussion. If you choose a simple text where the meaning is fairly straightforward, there won’t be much for students to discuss. Also, the text should not be too long to read closely in the allotted amount of time. Often, teachers select a text ranging from one paragraph to one page. An example of texts often used as the basis of Socratic Seminar activities include the preamble to the US Constitution, Dr. Martin Luther King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, or the reading No Time to Think from our resource Holocaust and Human Behavior.”
• “2. Give Students Time to Prepare
  • Before beginning the seminar, it is essential that students have time to prepare ideas. Students should annotate the text before the start of the class discussion. Teachers often assign a discussion leader who generates a few open-ended questions that can be used to begin the seminar.”
• “3. Develop a Classroom Contract
  • These seminars have rules that may not apply to other forms of discussion, so before beginning the seminar, it is important that everyone is aware of the norms. Below are typical rules used to structure a Socratic Seminar activity. Of course, you can adapt these to fit the needs of your students.
    • Talk to each other, not just to the discussion leader or teacher.
    • Refer to evidence from the text to support your ideas.
    • Ask questions if you do not understand what someone has said, or you can paraphrase what another student has said for clarification (“I think you said this; is that right?”).
    • You do not need to raise your hand to speak, but please pay attention to your “airtime”—how much you have spoken in relation to other students.
    • Don’t interrupt.
    • Don’t “put down” the ideas of another student. Without judging the student you disagree with, state your alternate interpretation or ask a follow-up question to help probe or clarify an idea.
    • Common statements or questions used during a Socratic Seminar activity include:
    • Where does that idea come from in the text?
    • What does this word or phrase mean?
    • Can you say that in another way?
    • Is this what you mean to say…?
    • What do you think the author is trying to say?
    • What else could that mean?
    • Who was the audience for this text? How does that shape our interpretation of these words?
    • Who was the author of this text? What do we know about him/her? How does that shape our understanding of these words?
  • Before beginning the seminar, it is also important to remind students that the purpose of the seminar is not to debate or prove a point but to more deeply understand what the author was trying to express in the text.
  • If you have never done a Socratic Seminar activity with your students before, you might spend a few moments brainstorming the qualities that would make for a great seminar. These qualities or criteria can be explained on a rubric and used to evaluate the seminar at the end of the class period. Criteria you might use to evaluate a Socratic Seminar activity include engagement (everyone listening and sharing), respect (no interruptions or put-downs), meaning-making (students understand the text more deeply at the end of the seminar), and use of evidence (comments always refer back to the text).”
• “4. The Socratic Seminar
  • A Socratic Seminar activity often begins with the discussion leader, a student or the teacher, asking an open-ended question. A typical opening prompt is: What do you think this text means? Silence is fine. It may take a few minutes for students to warm up. Sometimes teachers organize a Socratic Seminar activity like a Fishbowl activity, with some students participating in the discussion and the rest of the class having specific jobs as observers. At least 15 minutes should be allotted to the activity, and it can often last 30 minutes or more. As students become more familiar with the Socratic Seminar format, they will be able to discuss a text for longer periods of time without teacher intervention.”
• “5. Reflect and Evaluate
  • After the Socratic Seminar activity, give students the opportunity to evaluate the process in general and their own performance specifically. Reflecting on the seminar process helps students improve their ability to participate in future discussions. Here are some questions you might discuss or have students write about when reflecting on the seminar:
    • At any point, did the seminar revert to something other than a dialogue? If so, how did the group handle this?
    • What evidence did you see of people actively listening and building on others’ ideas?
    • How has your understanding of this text been affected by the ideas explored in this seminar?
    • What parts of the discussion did you find most interesting? In what parts were you least engaged?
    • What would you like to do differently as a participant the next time you are in a seminar?”

Citation:

Facing History (n.d.). Socratic Seminar. Retrieved from https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/teaching-strategies/socratic-seminar

This is a way for students to see what each other have worked on and to engage with each other around their work. Here’s how it works:

• Have all groups of students post their work on the wall.
• Split the class into half (half if you want four rounds, thirds if you want six). One half of the class is presenters and the other half audience.
• During round 1, each group of presenters presents to one audience group. At the end of round 1, the audience gives feedback. Then the audience moves on to a new poster, and the group of presenters gets to present again.
• This variation allows each group to see the work of two peer groups. To have students see more, either split the class into more groups (with three groups each group would go to four stations) or have two students stay at the poster while two from their groups visit other posters (and then have them switch).

A fishbowl is a structured discussion in which a small group of students discusses a topic while the remainder of the class observes the discussion. Eventually students on the outside and inside switch. The structure is ideal for encouraging broader participation, getting more student to student discussions, and addressing challenging topics.

Here’s how to run one.

• Begin by setting up a circle of chairs in the middle of the classroom. You want everyone inside the fishbowl to be able to see each other’s faces. The number of students in the middle can vary but normally you want at least four for a good discussion.
• Then pose a question that has no right or wrong answer. The questions should be ones where the answer is complicated and allow for students to express multiple opinions.
• Invite students into the fishbowl. While you can force students to go in, the first round is easier if there are volunteers.
• The rest of the class sits on the outside. Go over expectations for students on the outside (listen, no cell phones, take notes, etc)
• Give students in the middle a few minutes to discuss the question and then begin swapping out students.
• There are a few ways to swap out students. The first is to let students on the outside tap someone to come in. That lets the central group stay relatively constant and is useful if the discussion is going well and the students have a lot to stay. If the discussion is dying, ask a new question (or sub-question) and swap out all of the students.
• At the end of the discussion, have the whole class debrief the discussion and the experience.

These are genius for days when you just need some quiet… or you know days when you want to really hear from everyone. That too. You can do these on paper or digitally with a platform like padlet or Google Slides. Here’s how it works. Each student has a sheet of paper (or padlet) and writes a question about a reading or topic you have been/will be discussing. Then each student passes their piece of paper onto the next student. That student writes a response and passes it on again. The third student has to look at what has been written and then add on, creating a conversation. You can change up the format from post-its to poster paper to digital– but the idea is that students silently engage in a discussion with each other. Then when you are ready, you can switch it to an oral discussion. To learn more, check out this helpful post on We Are Teachers!