Placemat Consensus

Grouping of students: 3-5 students per group (although this can be modified to fit classroom needs)

Materials needed: Blank, rectangular “placemats” that are divided into as many sections as there are students in the group. A blank circle should be in the middle, and each section should have an area for the student to write their name.

Directions:

1.) Divide the students into groups. Each student should write their name on one section of the placemat.

2.) A topic should be presented (either provided by the teacher, brainstormed by the students, etc., depending on lesson)

3.) Give the students two minutes (time can be varied if necessary) to write down all their thoughts on their side of the placemat. This should be done in total silence.

4.) When this is done, the groups should then vote on the ideas they all agree on using the thumbs-up/thumbs-down method.

5.) Ideas the group agrees on should be listed in the center circle.

6.) As a class, discuss ideas that made it into the center circle (if applicable).

Peer-Assessment Directions: Placemat consensus can also be modified for peer-editing situations. The placemat would be passed around with the student’s essay/project/etc. In this case, the student would not have a section to comment on the placemat. Each student in the peer-editing team would make comments and constructive criticism about the essay in his/her section. The owner of the essay would then use the middle circle to write what he/she plans to change and keep about the essay.

Resources:

UniServity. (2011). Instructions for placemat consensus. Retrieved on 21 July 2010 from

http://clc2.uniservity.com/GroupDownloadFile.asp?GroupID=178613&ResourceId=2437149