Speed Chatting Organize students into an inner and outer circle so that students are paired with someone in the opposite circle. Give students a prompt, question, or topic to discuss with their partner. Set a timer for few minutes (2-4). At the end of the time, have the outer circle move to the right one person and discuss the prompt, question, or topic with their new partner for the time frame. Repeat as many times as desired. Jennifer

Fishbowl This discussion technique is useful for having the students summarize a discussion and works well in large classes. Before the next class discussion, ask a subset of the class (about a third) to be prepared to be in the fishbowl at the next class where they will actively participate in a discussion. During the discussion, these “fishbowl” students sit in a circle in the middle of the room. The rest of the students sit in a concentric circle outside the fishbowl looking in at the students inside the fishbowl; they are observers and note-takers about the discussion. At the end of the discussion, the observers share their observations and ask questions. Their notes might be provided online to the rest of the class.

Classroom "Talk Show" In this activity, several students volunteer to be a guest on the "show." The idea is to represent different points of view by having a varied panel of guests. For instance, in a discussion bout slavery, students could take the roles of a slave, a slave owner, an abolitionist, an anti-abolitionist, a priest, etc. Students not role-playing act as the audience and ask questions. The instructor should act as moderator and prepare several questions that will provoke different points of view in case the discussion lulls.

Speed It Up Try a speed discussion, where you ask a question with several answers and have students go around the room answering as quickly as possible. To facilitate this type of discussion, play music quietly in the background and toss a small ball or soft toy around like a "hot potato" so that if a student catches it they must answer before passing it along. The excitement of the game helps students warm up their brains and get talking more quickly than they might if they just had to sit in their seats and raise their hands to offer information and ideas Read more: Activities for Discussions in the Classroom | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/list_7621765_activities-discussions-classroom.html#ixzz2GpdrOgZ1

Pass the Hat In order to facilitate a discussion and address the ideas of the quieter students, pass around a hat or another type of container and instruct every student to write her name on a slip of paper along with a question or an idea they have that is related to the topic of the day. Then take the hat up to the front of the room and read each slip out loud, one at a time--omit the names of the students as you read, but keep them for yourself to know that everyone has participated. Use the ideas on the slips to generate class discussion and get everyone talking as they discuss the idea or answer the question. This idea works particularly well if students have a reading assignment for homework, as they can write down their questions at home while they read and then come prepared for the discussion in class the following day

Save the Last Word for Me In groups of three or four, each participant silently chooses an idea or passage from a reading which s/he found to be significant. When the group is ready, a volunteer begins by reading his/her passage but says nothing about why s/he chose that point. The other two or three participants each have one minute to respond to that idea. The reader then has three minutes to state why s/he chose that passage and to respond to his/her colleagues’ comments. The same pattern is followed until all members of the group have “had the last word.” The instructor keeps track of time; talk has to stop when time is called, and if the speaker finished before time is called, the group sits in silence reflecting. When the process is complete, the instructor debriefs the process, asking, for example, “How did this work for you?” and “What didn’t work for you?” Debriefing is essential and must not be skipped.

"Stand by your Quote" Place thoughtful quotes on the walls--leave plenty of room between the quotes and make certain the print is large. Make sure that the quotes touch on different aspects of the topic under study. Ask the participants to leave their chairs and walk around the room reading each of the quotes (there is no particular order).  Then have them stand by one quote that they particularly like.  When all participants have selected a quote (you can have more than one person by a quote), have them explain to the group what they like about their quote

Ask the Right Questions After studying a topic, ask students to work in small groups and develop five different types of questions about the material they have studied. After they are done writing their questions, have groups exchange cards and answer or discuss the questions. 1. Open-ended questions Questions that encourage broad discussion 2. Clarification questions Questions that help focus a topic or issue 3. Detail questions Questions that request facts, details, or yes/no 4. Explanation questions Questions that request descriptions or explanations 5. New direction questions Questions that move thought into new areas