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Interactive
Small
Group
Activities
Below you will find many ways to engage an adult audience. These are tried-andtrue strategies that work to get adults moving and taking hold of their own
learning. Working with adults, you will lead your group in interactive activities that
focus on particular concepts or support specific ideas you want to emphasize.
Some of these activities include such strategies as:
 K-W-L
 Anticipation Guide
 Brainstorming
 Carousel Brainstorming
 List-Group_label
 Think-Pair-Share
 Wordsplash
 Gallery Walk
 Quick Write
 Micro Lab
Note: The examples listed here are designed around working with teachers to
improve reading strategies with young children, but they can be used with any
audience around any topic. Read on to learn how to use these interactive activities
to keep your participants moving and engaged as they work together to improve
their learning.
1. K – W – L
Description
K-W-L refers to the “Know-Want-Learn” discussion tactic:
 what participants know (K) about a topic
 what they want (W) to know about the topic
 what they learned (L) about the topic
Materials
Use large chart paper to make the chart shown in Figure 1 below. Or use a separate
piece of chart paper for each column.
Procedure
 Introduce the topic, ask for a volunteer scribe, have participants brainstorm
what they know about a topic, and use this information to fill in the K column.
 Ask for a second volunteer scribe, lead a discussion about what participants
want to know about the topic and use this to fill in the W column.
 Read the Course Overview, view a chapter from the course videos, discusses
what participants learned about the topic, and discusses what they still need
to learn.
 Fill in the L column with what participants say they learned.
 Ask participants to determine if their questions (W column) were addressed
and see if they have additional questions about the topic.
Example
K-W-L Chart
What We Know
What We Want
to Know
What We Learned
Please note: This strategy can be used at the beginning of a session
and then revisited at the end of the session.
2. Anticipation Guide
Description
The Anticipation Guide calls upon participants’ prior understanding of a topic by
asking them if they agree or disagree with a list of provocative statements about a
topic that you introduce.
Later in your presentation, you may have participants then review their original
responses and reflect on how their ideas have changed and why.
Materials
You will need chart paper or a pre-prepared PowerPoint slide for this activity.
Procedure
 Post 3-5 statements on a chart or overhead or as a PowerPoint slide. Make
your statements as provocative as possible to spark debate!
 Give participants a few minutes to respond individually to the statements by
indicating if they agree or disagree with them. At this point, participants
simply say “Agree” or “Disagree” without discussing the statements in any
more detail. (You may also want participants to discuss the statements in
pairs before a general sharing).
 After the chart is filled out, ask participants to discuss their answers by
giving reasons or reactions to the statements.
 Introduce new material. Then return to the Anticipation Guide to determine
if participants changed their minds or need clarifications.
Example
Statement
Students need to know all
their letter-sounds before
they begin to read words.
Since consonants are
easier for students to
learn than vowels, all the
consonants should be
taught before any vowels.
Agree
Disagree
3. Brainstorming
Description
Like the previous activity, brainstorming activates prior knowledge by asking
participants to tell all they know about a topic or idea.
Materials
All you need are the notebooks participants already brought with them.
Procedure
 Introduce the topic you will be addressing.
 Divide participants into pairs and instruct them to jot down all the ideas and
comments they have for the topic in question.
 After a few minutes, ask each pair to read their responses and list their
ideas on chart paper or an overhead.
 Spearhead a discussion about their responses
 Connect the ideas participants mentioned to the material you plan to
introduce.
 Conclude this exercise by setting a purpose for the material to follow.
Example
Introduce the activity with a statement along the following lines: “Today we are
going to talk about developing rules and routines in the classroom. Before
discussing this, please break into small groups and brainstorm about the methods
you all use to establish rules and routines in your rooms. Remark on what is the
easiest for you to do and what is the hardest.”
4. Carousel Brainstorming
Description
Carousel brainstorming is an effective technique to activate knowledge about
topics that can be divided into subtopics or questions about the topics.
Materials
Bring several colors of magic markers with you for this activity. You will also need
to post several sheets of chart paper around the room, each with a different
question or subtopic written on it.
Procedure
 Divide participants into small groups, and give each group a different color
magic marker.
 Ask each small group to stand in front of one piece of newsprint posted in
the room.
 Have each group choose a recorder.
 Each group reads the questions on “their” newsprint, brainstorms, and writes
their responses.
 After about 2 minutes, alert the groups that they are going to move to the
chart on their right, and repeat the process.
 Continue until each group has had the chance to respond to the question on
each chart.
 After all groups have finished, have them return to their original chart and,
among themselves, debrief the responses, group similar ideas together, and
finally, report their findings to the whole group.
Example
Topic and Subtopics
Setting up the Room
What resources and How can you use the
materials do you
materials you
already have?
already have in a
more purposeful
way?
What sources can
you think of for
inexpensive
materials?
5. List-Group-Label
Another strategy to activate participants’ prior knowledge of a topic: they first
brainstorm and list everything they know about a topic. Then, they group (sort)
their ideas into categories. Once they have agreed on what goes where, they label
the categories.
Materials
You will need Post-Its, large chart paper, and magic markers for this activity.
Procedure
 Ask participants to brainstorm everything they know about a specific topic.
You can do this with the whole group or by dividing the participants into
pairs or small groups. Have them write their responses on post-its and place
these on a chart set up so all can see it.
 Review the ideas written on post-its and ask participants to move the postits around so they are sorted into categories.
 Instruct participants to label the categories.
Example
Ask participants, “What do you do when you open one of the centers in your
classroom?” The following is an example of the initial brainstorming lists
participants might create. Please note: the first time that you try this activity you
might need to guide participants in labeling procedures by providing a list of
possible categories.
INITIAL BRAINSTORM LIST
 Show children the materials.
 Model center procedures and behavior.
 Demonstrate proper center clean-up.
 Role-play some center interactions.
 Let children explore the center.
 Explain center management procedures.
 Have a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
LABELED GROUPS
1. Environment
 Circle/meeting space
 Materials in center
2. Center Management System
 How many children at each center?
 Will all of the children get to use the center each day?
 What is the proper center behavior?
 What is the proper center clean up routine?
3. Teacher’s Role






Show center materials and how they should be used.
Explain center management procedures.
Model center procedures and behavior.
Role-play some center interactions.
Lead ribbon cutting ceremony.
Help children explore the center.
6. Think-Pair-Share
Description
Think-Pair-Share is a three-part discussion strategy that promotes mental
rehearsal and verbal practice before sharing with a group. The concept of wait
time is important to give every person a chance to think about the question and
frame an answer.
Materials
No supplementary materials are required for this activity.
Procedure
 Ask participants a question or pose a statement for their reactions.
 Model the use of providing wait time so each person can think of an
appropriate response.
 Pair participants so they can share and discuss their responses.
 Invite the pairs to share their responses with the whole group.
Example
Ask, “What does a teacher need to do to organize and manage a lively literacy
classroom?”
.
Helpful Tip: Suggest that participants jot down their responses before
moving into pairs.
7. Wordsplash
Description
A Wordsplash is a collection of words and phrases that reflect the key terms or
concepts you want to impart on your audience that session. Each word or phrase in
the Wordsplash should represent a key concept you want participants to focus on.
The participants will use the words and phrases to generate complete sentences
relating the words and phrases to the overall topic, activating their prior
knowledge, determining if their predictions were accurate, and revising if needed.
Materials
You will need to prepare a chart with the name of the topic for discussion in the
middle of the paper. Write words and phrases relating to this topic over the chart
in random order.
Procedure
 Have participants work individually or in pairs to generate complete
sentences, not phrases, predicting the relationship of the words or phrases
to the topic.
 Record their predictions on a chart or overhead.
 Ask participants to view the video or read the selection and revise/discuss
their predictions as appropriate.
Example
Questioning during reading
Vocabulary instruction
Reading Aloud
Writing to assess
comprehension
Listening
comprehension
8. Gallery Walk
Description
A Gallery Walk is a strategy that allows participants to work in groups and then to
see what members of other groups have accomplished. This activity supplies an
interesting alternative to having small groups report orally to the large group – it
gets people moving and chatting!
Materials
You will need large pieces of paper or poster board to distribute to participants.
Procedure

Divide participants into small groups and instruct them to record their ideas
on a relevant topic that you provide

Have them display their ideas on poster board or large sheets of paper.

Post the groups’ lists on the walls at different points in room or hallway,
alongside a smaller sheet of paper, which will be used for writing comments.

After each group has posted both its large and its small paper, encourage
the group members to group from one display to another.

After everyone has had an opportunity to view and comment on the displays,
group members return to their own display and read the posted comments.
Example
Pose the following question to the group: “What methods do you use to manage the
centers in your classroom?” Follow the procedure above to generate reflection on
different approaches to managing centers.
9. Quick Write
Description
In Quick Write, participants write about a topic for a brief time period, a method
designed to help them organize their thoughts and tap into their previous
knowledge and experience.
Materials
Nothing more than the notebooks and pens participants brought with them to the
meeting.
Procedure
 Select a topic that you want the participants to write about and give those 3
to 5 minutes to scribble down their reactions.
 Invite participants to share what they have written.
 Draw attention to common themes and link these themes to the course
material participants will be tackling.
Example
Say the following to participants: “I’m going to give you 5 minutes to write down
how you make students feel welcome in the classroom.” Then lead a discussion
comparing the results.
10. Micro Lab
Description
Micro Lab is a term used to describe a process by which participants work in small
groups and respond to a question posed by a facilitator.
Procedure
 Participants are grouped into trios and told to identify themselves as
individual A, B, or C in the group.
 Announce the following directions, “I will pose a question and each person in
your group will have an opportunity to respond. Responses will be timed.
While the A’s respond to the question, the other members of the group will
listen. No interruptions are allowed during individual sharing.”
 Pose the question and give the A’s 2 to 5 minutes to respond. Then repeat
for the B’s and C’s.
 At the end of this activity, debrief the Micro Lab by making connections,
suggesting applications and pointing out common themes.
Example
Pose the question, “What part of developing classroom routines and procedures do
you find to be the most difficult?”