Fishbowl
Large Group (10 and up)
Ages 6-10
None
10 minutes or more
Development Goal
Activity is used to manage group discussions.
Before You Start
Have some questions you would like kids to discuss amongst themselves.
Set Up
Students form two circles, one inside circle and one outside circle.
How to Play
Each student on the inside is paired with a student on the outside; they face each other. The teacher poses a question to the whole group and pairs discuss their responses with each other. Then the teacher signals students to rotate: Students on the outside or inside circle move one space (or more) to the right or left so they are standing in front of a new person. Now the teacher poses a new question, and the process is repeated.
Variations
Instead of two circles, students could also form two straight lines facing one another. Instead of “rotating” to switch partners, one line just slides over one spot, and the leftover person on the end comes around to the beginning of the line. Some teachers use this strategy to have students teach one piece of content to their fellow students, making it less of a discussion strategy and more of a peer teaching format. In fact, many of these protocols could be used for peer teaching as well.