Discussion Group Tag

Students discuss a topic in groups; at intervals, one student rotates to a new group, reports what their previous group said, and continues the discussion.

Procedure

1. Provide a topic or task to discuss and write it on the board.
2. Students do any preparatory work (think about the topic, make notes).
3. Put students in groups of four to six. Arrange groups so there is a clear clockwise or anticlockwise movement. Give each student a number within their group.
4. Start the discussion. When you call a number and direction (e.g., "Student three — clockwise"), those students move to the next group.
5. The new group finds out from the arriving member what the other group was discussing, then continues the discussion.
6. Repeat every two or three minutes, or when discussion lags.
7. For feedback, ask students what difference it made when a new group member arrived.

Tips

• The extra speaking generated by newcomers reporting what their previous group said is the main benefit.
• With smaller classes (two or three groups), move students by monitoring and choosing who moves where — this allows more targeted mixing based on strengths and weaknesses.
• Works well online using breakout rooms.
• Keeps discussions from running out of steam by constantly "refreshing" group composition.