Wildcat Teacher Resource Center

Inner-Outer Circle

The teacher prepares questions or provides a question card for each student.

Students form pairs. One student from each pair moves to form one large circle in the class facing outward. The remaining students find and face their partners (class now stands in two concentric circles).

The inside circle students ask a question from their question card; outside circle students answer. The inside circle students then praise or coach. (Alternative: The teacher asks a question or projects a question on the screen and indicates whether the inside or outside circle student should answer to their partner.)

Partners switch roles: Outside circle students ask, listen, then praise or coach.

The partners then trade question cards. The inside circle students rotate clockwise to a new partner. (The teacher may call out how many spaces to rotate and in what direction: “Rotate 3 places clockwise.”) 

Variation – Rotating Lines 

Students stand in two straight lines facing each other. One line rotates, while the other remains in place. Rotating students rotate to a new partner and rotate to the back of the line when they pass the last student in the fixed line.

Source

Kagan, S. and Kagan, M. (2017). Kagan Cooperative Learning. San Clemente: Kagan Publishing, p.6.34.

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