Effective group activities

I enjoy doing conversations or idea sharing activities. One that I enjoy is having the class form two circles. The outer circle faces inward and the inner circle faces outward. Each student pairs up with a student and you the teacher tells them to start. They can discuss any topic you assign them. After a certain time that you decide you tell them to rotate. You the teacher needs to walk around the room to make sure they are on task. If they are on task you can also join in conversations. This is a good way for the students to state their opinion and hear many opinions in a short period of time.

Do you have any other effective group activities?

Grading students that do not do the work but pass the tests

What are some philosophies and strategies of how to grade students that do not do the work in class and do not participate, but they get an A on the tests.

Should we move to a all performance grading system or should the students get dinged for not participating?

Please leave you ideas.

Strategies for Teaching

If you have any strategies for teaching that you think would be beneficial for a language teacher please post them here. Also any methods of managing a class and organizing a class are welcome. I am always looking for ways to improve my teaching and managing of the class.