What are discussion stations?
Discussion stations are used to create effective small group discussions around a variety of questions or ideas. They involve having physical bases around the room which each prompt different discussion.
How it works
- The teacher places questions/ideas around the room.
- Students are divided into groups and they rotate around the stations, discussing the topics and recording their answers/thoughts.
- Once every station has been visited by every group, students return to their seats.
- A whole class discussion then allows students to feedback, sharing thoughts and answers.
Prompts can just be questions to consider or they can be supplemented with articles/sources to read, photos to consider, quotations, videos running on laptops, objects to handle. Anything to stimulate talk and ideas.
Across the curriculum
Adaptable for all ages and subjects. For example:
- In literature each station could ask the students to discuss a different character from the text they are studying or it could be a way to introduce a set of new poems
- In maths, each station could have a tricky problem to solve as a group
- In art, each station could have a artwork to consider
- In biology, each station could be a step in the digestive system
- In business studies, each station could be a business case study