2. Snowball

This is like ‘teaching by asking'. Instead of starting by ‘teaching by telling', you ask a question that leads to what you want students to learn. Then:

•  each individual writes down their thoughts without reference to others

•  students then share what they have written in pairs or threes

•  Optionally the pairs or threes combine to create larger groups which again compares their answers, and then agrees a group answer

•  The teacher asks each big group in turn for one idea they have had, and writes the useful ideas on the board, perhaps saying a little in support of each idea