Discussion in Pairs
Very simply, when two children get together to discuss something. With a bit of training, this can work brilliantly. You just need to try and teach the children to both listen and contribute. We know it’s hard to get equally-matched pairs- in reality you’re nearly always going to have someone who likes talking more and someone who is happy listening; or someone who has a better understanding and someone who is reluctant to contribute.
We think it’s best not to worry too much about this. The very worst that can happen is that the one who likes talking gets to clarify his ideas by explaining to his partner and the one who’s a bit more passive gets things explained to him again. Not as good as a finely-balanced discussion, but not the end of the world either. Here’s our very quick guide to paired discussion:
Talk Partners- The classic primary school way of doing things- some might say the original and the best. You ask a question and then ask the children to turn to their partner and talk about it. Then you ask one or two of the pairs to share their answer. Great as everyone is involved in discussion. If you actually pick pairs to feedback, rather than just letting them put their hands up and volunteer, you greatly reduce the chance of them listening politely to your question, smiling and nodding, and then turning to discuss Dr Who, X-Factor or underground hip-hop* (*delete according to your school).
Twos to fours- a quick, easy way of starting off group work. The children talk in their pairs and then join with another pair to widen the conversation. Once children are taught how to do this, it can be amazingly quick and effective.
Whole-Class Discussion
Discussion in Groups
We think it’s best not to worry too much about this. The very worst that can happen is that the one who likes talking gets to clarify his ideas by explaining to his partner and the one who’s a bit more passive gets things explained to him again. Not as good as a finely-balanced discussion, but not the end of the world either. Here’s our very quick guide to paired discussion:
Talk Partners- The classic primary school way of doing things- some might say the original and the best. You ask a question and then ask the children to turn to their partner and talk about it. Then you ask one or two of the pairs to share their answer. Great as everyone is involved in discussion. If you actually pick pairs to feedback, rather than just letting them put their hands up and volunteer, you greatly reduce the chance of them listening politely to your question, smiling and nodding, and then turning to discuss Dr Who, X-Factor or underground hip-hop* (*delete according to your school).
Twos to fours- a quick, easy way of starting off group work. The children talk in their pairs and then join with another pair to widen the conversation. Once children are taught how to do this, it can be amazingly quick and effective.
Whole-Class Discussion
Discussion in Groups
