Think-Pair-Share Strategy

Posting #135 – August 4, 2020

Dr. Wendy Ghiora

 

I have found the “Think-Pair-Share” strategy to be one of the best ways to get even the most shy and reluctant students involved and willing to participate in the learning goal of the lesson.

 

Here is a summary of the “Think-Pair-Share” strategy taken from:  

Readwritethink.org

 

·       Before introducing the Think-Pair-Share strategy to the students, decide on your target for this lesson.  You may choose to use a new text that the class will be reading, or you might want to develop a set of questions or prompts that target key content concepts that you have been studying. 

·       Describe the strategy and its purpose with your students,and provide guidelines for discussions that will take place.  Explain to students that they will (1) think individually about a topic or answer to a question;(2) pair with a partner and discuss the topic or question; and (3) share ideas with the rest of the class.

·       Using a student or student(s) from your classroom, model the procedure to ensure that students understand how to use the strategy. Allow time for students to ask questions that clarify their use of the technique.

·       Once students have a firm understanding of the expectations surrounding the strategy, monitor and support students as they work through the steps below.  Teachers may also ask students to write or diagram their responses while doing the Think-Pair-Share activity. 

·       Think:  Teachers begin by asking a specific higher-level question about the text or topic students will be discussing. Students "think" about what they know or have learned about the topic for a given amount of time (usually 1-3 minutes).

·       Pair:  Each student should be paired with another student. Teachers may choose whether to assign pairs or let students pick their own partner.  Remember to be sensitive to learners' needs (reading skills, attention skills, language skills) when creating pairs.  Students share their thinking with their partner, discuss ideas, and ask questions of their partner about their thoughts on the topic (2-5 minutes).

·       Share:  Once partners have had ample time to share their thoughts and have a discussion, teachers expand the "share" into a whole-class discussion. Allow each group to choose who will present their thoughts, ideas, and questions they had to the rest of the class.  After the class “share,” you may choose to have pairs reconvene to talk about how their thinking perhaps changed as a result of the “share” element.

 

 

You will discover even the most shy and reluctant students are much more willing to share their thoughts with only one other soul in the class, versus with the entire group.  The chances of a good result can be increased if you place the shy/reluctant student with a helpful and caring attitude. Once the two have exchanged their thoughts and ideas about the subject at hand, the teacher then asks for volunteers to share the ideas out to the whole class.   If the “shy/reluctant” student still doesn’t want to share, their more outgoing partner can share the ideas of the “shy/reluctant” student to the group. In this way, the “shy/reluctant” student can still have pride in knowing his/her ideas do matter.  In time, these students will be more and more willing to participate in many types of classroom activities. 

 

This is really a win-win, as it helps the students gradually build trust and gain self-confidence, and helps the teacher reach and understand the thoughts and ideas that are inclusive of more and more students.