#15: Line of Agreement (Value Line)

(Kagan, 1994)

Purpose: Students have the opportunity to learn to identify and assess their own view and understanding. They also become aware of and appreciate other perspectives. This is also a good strategy for a facilitator to use to open a discussion about a particular subject.

Procedure:

1. Draw a line on the floor with a piece of masking tape.
2. Present an issue or topic to the group and ask each member to determine how they feel about the issue (could use a 1-10 scale; 1 being strong agreement, 10 being strong disagreement).
3. Form a rank-ordered line and number the participants from 1 up (from strong agreement to strong disagreement, for example).
4. Form your groups of four by pulling one person from each end of the value line and two people from the middle of the group (for example, if you had 20 people, one group might consist of persons 1, 10, 11, 20).

Tip: Because this activity, in its original form, requires a lot of movement, as the scale of the class gets larger, it is necessary to adapt this activity. You can do this by inviting student to raise their hands based on the different value statements. As the facilitator, take note of the approximate number of students who identify with the different value statements. At the end of the activity, recap what you saw from your vantage point and then invite comments from the different levels of agreement.