Conversation Cafe
Activity Summary
The students will engage together, through the format of a “Conversation Cafe”, in making sense of the topic they have learned about. The format is 5-person groups that will go through a facilitated conversation about a question around what they have learned, through using a talking-object to ensure everyone has the chance to speak and reflect out loud.
Activity Plan
1
5 mins
Divide the classroom into groups of approximately 5 people per group. Arrange the chairs into smaller circles with a talking-object on the floor at the centre of the chairs.
The intention of the talking-object is to speak uninterrupted and with purpose, and that you can only speak when you hold the object, and need to put it back in the centre on the ground when done.
You as a teacher keep an eye on the time and let the students know when to switch to the next person, next round, and generally facilitates the flow of the activity.
2
5 mins
Host a Conversation Café (in groups) around the question:
What have we learned about [insert relevant topic, problem or activity]?
Feel free to make another relevant question that allows your students to dive fully into discussions to deepen and anchor their learning about the content you have been working on.
3
5 mins
Round 1: One minute each with talking piece – immediate reflections.
4
5 mins
Round 2: One minute each with talking piece – reflections on the first round.
5
20 mins
Round 3: Open conversation with talking piece. The students are more free to grab the talking object and speak with intention. Next person needs to wait to have the talking object to speak.
6
5 mins
Round 4: One minute each with talking piece – takeaways from the conversation.
7
5 mins
The students get a piece of paper to write down the most important highlights from their conversation, that they can bring with them moving forward.
Tips & Tricks
- Depending on the time and ability levels of your students you can adjust and modify the number of rounds in this activity.
- Everytime you facilitate this activity with your students you can add in another round of reflection to scaffold and develop their reflection bit by bit.