Detective Inspectors
Divide the class into groups of three.
Give each group a number (you might want to make this really clear by printing large numbers on sheets of paper and handing these out).
Give each group a different set of resources that deal with a specific part of the overall topic (if you have lots of groups, you may end up giving a couple of groups the same material).
Explain that each group’s job is to find out what the big picture is and how the information they have been given fits into this. Learners will be acting as detectives who are trying to uncover all parts of the story.
Groups begin by familiarising themselves with their resources.
They then find another group with whom to pair up.
The activity is more dramatic if groups sit facing each other, with a table in between them as a barrier.
There are three rules which learners need to be aware of at this stage:
- Groups must take it in turns to ask one question at a time.
- They are only allowed to ask five questions of the other group.
- Groups are not allowed to show each other their resources – they are only allowed to answer the questions that are asked.
Learners should be provided with a handout containing the same number of boxes as there are groups.
They write the group numbers at the top of each box and make a note of the answers they receive underneath.
The activity continues until all possible pairings have been made.
At this point, learners return to their original positions and discuss their findings.
The teacher should provide some questions to structure this, for example:
- What is the big picture?
- How does your information connect to what other people know?
- What do we still need to find out?
You might like to give groups the opportunity to ask three more questions of any of the other groups. This will allow them to address gaps in their knowledge.
The activity concludes with a discussion.
This involves the various groups putting forward their theories about what the big picture is, and how their information connects to this.
Finally, once everyone’s ideas have been shared, the class as a whole can agree n what the big picture really is.
Questions, Soft to Tough
This activity is good to use at the end of a unit of work.
Here’s how it works:
Divide the class in half.
The two groups will, eventually, be facing off against one another.
Before this, each half should split into pairs or threes (depending on the number of learners). We will refer to these as the sub-groups.
The sub-groups are instructed to develop a series of ten questions based on the topic they have been studying.
The questions must start out easy and get progressively harder.
The tenth question should be the toughest of them all.
There is, however, one caveat. Learners must be able to answer their own questions. If they cannot do this, they are not allowed to ask the question.
When sufficient time has elapsed, ask learners to rearrange the room so that there is a long row of tables with chairs placed either side (or two rows if you have a lot of learners).
The two halves of the class then sit themselves on either side of the row. The teacher labels one half as ‘A’ and one half as ‘B’.
Group ‘A’ are invited to go first.
Each learner should ask their ten questions to the learner sat opposite.
That learner tries to answer the questions.
The two learners then discuss the answers, with the questioner correcting any mistakes. The groups then swap over, with the ‘B’ learners asking their questions to the ‘A’ learners.
When this is done, Group ‘A’ learners are invited to stand up and to change seats.
The process is repeated with the new pairings.
It is best if learners do not move to the seat next to where they are sat. This is because the learner who is sat opposite may have heard their questions (and answers) during the first phase of the activity.
The activity concludes with a whole-class discussion in which learners analyse and evaluate the questions that caused the greatest difficulties. This also provides an opportunity for the learners who developed those questions to explain how they came up with them.
