I learned this technique for structuring discussions from my colleague Anjie. This activity gets everyone up and out of their seats, and the interactions seem more natural with people standing, as if at a party, rather than sitting at desks.
Here’s how it works:

1. Create Conversation Stations around the classroom by posting several discussion questions on the wall at each station. (Tip: The website of the Internet TESL Journal is a good source for questions on many topics.) You will need at least half as many stations as you have students. Number the stations so that students can keep track of where they’ve been.

2. In pairs, students move about the classroom, stopping at the stations to interact. (Students can stop at the stations in sequence, or they can move to any open station.) The activity ends when students have stopped at most of the stations.