Conducting a Group Focus Session
Group Size: Class Size group 12- 25 students
Time Needed: 45 to 60 minutes
Physical Set up: Classroom setup prefer a circle or conference table
Materials: Recording material, whiteboard or flip chart, student journals
Goal: Students will all share in a group discussion to identify the group or
community issues around a selected topic.Procedure: Meet & Greet Activity:
Select from talking leather activities in Chapter One
Introduce a topic that is group and age appropriate to discuss with the entire
group. This can be a topic such as the ones identified in the chapter or any
other topic selected by the teacher some examples would include:
Why don't adults understand kids?
Why do people hate?
Why does peer pressure work?
Discuss the topic looking for as many different perspectives as the class or
group can generate in twenty minutes.
Multi-vote the top five ideas in rank order of importance as determined by the
class.
Have the students rank order the top five in personal order of importance.
Have the students work in groups of three or four to explain their differences in
rank order as compared to the class rank order.Follow-up: Conclude by having one representative from each group share the most important
observations of their small group.Reflection: Journal entry.
How I am different from the group. Have students describe in their journal the
differences or similarities they feel for the topic discussed with the group and
speculate why.
