5 Easy Steps to Killer Small Group Discussions: Structured Buzz Groups!

Are your small group discussions a nightmare? Do students lose focus quickly? If they struggle to say anything meaningful about the topic at hand and easily stray, you’re in the right place. So, keep reading to learn how you can use structured buzz groups to ramp up discussions, get students focused, and engage them in high quality talk.

You may recall our post on Informal Buzz Groups, meant to get kids talking by loosening constraints. Today, you’ll read about structured buzz groups. Obviously, these small group discussions are more structured. Now, learn what that means.

Rationale: Using structured buzz groups provides students with a focused agenda. This is especially important for classes just getting started with discussions. Over time, you can move into informal buzz groups once students get more comfortable with the support of structured buzz groups.

How To Get Started with Structured Buzz Groups:

1. Start with 3–5 students per group. Don’t do too many more than that. You don’t want students to have too little time to talk. Also, too few (2 or fewer) can put pressure on students to always speak and not spend time listening.
2. Give students a set of questions. These questions can be about whatever! As such, structured buzz groups can get students talking about any branch of any content area. 3–5 is plenty.
3. Set a time limit for the discussion. Students should have 20 minutes or less to have a high quality discussion and build knowledge. Any more time than that can put a strain on the conversation. Even so, you may find they don’t need much time at all or that they need more than you think. Play around with it and make your own judgment call. Watch what they do to determine what you’re going to do with time.
4. Be flexible. If students are talking about one question the whole time, that’s okay. Especially if the discussion is engaging and deep. Coach them to know when it’s time to move on. That is, when the question they’re talking about loses interest or they run out of things to say. The goal is not to answer all of the questions but to have a meaning-making discussion.
5. Students record answers and ideas. If you give students 20 minutes, ensure that you give them the last 5 minutes to jot down their thoughts.

Structured buzz groups provide parameters and guidance for students just getting started with discussions. Use this method to get students talking about what you want them to talk about. Get started now to ensure your students are the ones talking, not you!