Think+Pair+Share

=Think Pair Share = by Karla Aranda



Think-Pair-Share is a strategy designed to help students formulate their own ideas and share them with another student with a given topic. Instead of having the teacher ask a question and having only one student who responds, Think-Pair-Share encourages the students to think about their responses and share with others.


 * What is the purpose? **


 * Providing "think time" increases quality of student responses.
 * Students become actively involved in thinking about the concepts presented in the lesson.
 * Research tells us that we need time to mentally "chew over" new ideas in order to store them in memory. When teachers present too much information all at once, much of that information is lost. If we give students time to "think-pair-share" throughout the lesson, more of the critical information is retained.
 * When students talk over new ideas, they are forced to make sense of those new ideas in terms of their prior knowledge. Their misunderstandings about the topic are often revealed (and resolved) during this discussion stage.
 * Students are more willing to participate since they don't feel the peer pressure involved in responding in front of the whole class.
 * Think-Pair-Share is easy to use on the spur of the moment.
 * Easy to use in large classes.


 * How can I do it? **


 * With students seated in teams of 4, have them number them from 1 to 4.
 * Announce a discussion topic or problem to solve. (Example: Which room in our school is larger, the cafeteria or the gymnasium? How could we find out the answer?)
 * Give students at least 10 seconds of think time to THINK of their own answer. (Research shows that the quality of student responses goes up significantly when you allow "think time.")
 * Using student numbers, announce discussion partners. (Example: For this discussion, Student #1 and #2 will be partners. At the same time, Student #3 and #4 will talk over their ideas.)
 * Ask students to PAIR with their partner to discuss the topic or solution.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Finally, randomly call on a few students to SHARE their ideas with the class.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Teachers may also ask students to write or diagram their responses while doing the Think-Pair-Share activity. Think, Pair, Share helps students develop conceptual understanding of a topic, develop the ability to filter information and draw conclusions, and develop the ability to consider other points of view.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Uses for think, pair, share** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Note check, Vocabulary review, Quiz review, Reading check, Concept review, Lecture check, Outline, Discussion questions, Partner reading, Topic development, Agree/Disagree, Brainstorming, Simulations, Current events opinion, Conceding to the opposition, Summarize, Develop an opinion

Resources: http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/DE/PD/instr/strats/think/