Pupil Ping Pong 5 strategies to promote quality pupil discussion and debate

Rationale Passive student Overconfident student Too many questions student Always wrong student Strategies to engage all students and create a classroom climate for class discussion and engagement of all students

1. Pose, pause, pounce, bounce Why? Thinking time, engagement 1.Teacher question (pose) – No hands up 2.Let them think (pause) 3.Ask a targeted student for the answer (pounce) 4.Ask another student their opinion of the student’s answer (bounce) – Continue bouncing the discussion to different students around the room.

2. Play poker Why? Management of discussion, equal participation, engagement Discussion chips – 3 questions, 2 answers, 2 supportive comments… Students must play them into pot in the middle of the table when they use them in the lesson. Aim is to get rid of them all in lesson. Can differentiate in the number and type you give different students Remaining chips = homework sentences based on the chips you have left

3. Team `Ben` Why? Engagement, Support for LA students, Challenge HA students 1.You choose the first person to answer your question – this makes the first team. 2.Then ask, does anyone disagree with Ben’s response? This makes the second team. 3.Class discussion – I’m on team X because… I want to question team X as… Team X is wrong and we are right because… – Can make their own teams (doesn’t have to just be 2) or swap teams during the discussion. Hands up to show result of class discussion and identify winning team at end, then teacher input. Can take 5 minutes or half an hour, depending on question etc.

4. Buzzwords Why? Language of the mark scheme, quality of discussion Accept, Support, Challenge Particularly good with KS4 and 5 but can also be used with higher ability KS3 Every time a student speaks in class they must use one of the above 3 words, even when talking to the teacher – focused discussion, engagement with specific exam skills

5. Roles and responsibilities Why? Collaborative learning, differentiation, enquiry skills E.g. Group enquiry: What was most significant reason why Henry VIII tried to divorce Catherine of Aragon? Person 1 can only question Person 2 can only make points Person 3 can only provide evidence Person 4 can only explain thoughts and evidence Person 5 can only give answers to the class