Think, Pair, Share is a powerful strategy for developing thoughtful discussions and individual students into confident learners. Learn how to implement the system in your classroom.
Main, P (2022, May 22). Think, Pair, Share: a teachers guide. Retrieved from https://www.structural-learning.com/post/think-pair-share-a-teachers-guide
"Think-pair-share (TPS)" is an instructional method where learners work together and attempt to answer questions or solve problems on a given text. This strategy requires students to (1) think independently about a subject or answer a question; and (2) share their thoughts with classmates. Guidelines for discussions will be given.
It is based on the premise that discussing problems or challenges with a partner promotes involvement, collects attention and improves their comprehension of the reading material.
It is also known as the ‘turn and talk’. TPS is one way that teachers use to slow down the talking and give the students an opportunity to process their ideas before verbally responding.
According to Frank Lyman, TAS is an active-participation technique in which students are encouraged to participate even if they don't really care about the subject (Lyman, 1982; Marzano & Pickering, 2005).
Learners not only process the topic but practice their communication and problem-solving skills. Preparation is not complicated and the execution of the same has shown success by increasing student involvement as well as improving students' learning outcomes across learning settings. In this article, we will look at how this instructional strategy can challenge students academically as well as develop their discussion techniques.
As well as providing insights into student thinking, any activity that involves individual students articulating their ideas verbally enables children to rehearse what they are going to write. This Oracy technique can reduce any student anxiety about speaking publicly. An active-learning strategy like think, pair, share provides a wealth of benefits to individual students:
Some educators can be apprehensive about using dialogic teaching methods in the classroom, potentially, this might lead to the creation of chaotic learning environments that we all want to avoid. Utilising this simple strategy can be a lot easier than many teachers think. We encourage the adoption of talk guidelines in classrooms and professional learning opportunities for staff. So how can we start using this powerful strategy?
Observe and direct students as they work through the following:
T (Think): Teachers start by precisely asking using open-ended questions about the text.Students pause to reflect and recall what they know about a specific topic or.
P (Pair): Students are combined into pairs or a small group.
S (Share): Share a good opportunity for students to speak their thoughts to their partners. Teachers expand the "share" into a whole-class discussion through student engagement.
My students are not talking to each other, how do I get them to start talking and engage in the activity?
To keep the quiet students engaged, offer them some kind of reward (e.g., extra credit). You could also use an ice-breaking activity, tell them that these TPS questions could appear on the test, or show them how to answer them correctly.
Reviewing the techniques within the Starting Conversions Document would provide more information.
Discussion could go on for the entire class, how do we get back to the lecture?
It sounds like your students are well involved and that is something to celebrate. Sharing the structure of the questions and setting time limits for the conversations can be helpful. A quick, “one last point… this has been a useful conversation, and it relates directly to ___”
How could I use TPS as an assessment?
Encourage your students not to write down their answers during the THINK times but rather to think them through before writing them down during the PAIR times.
These can be considered lower-stakes if they're evaluated for completeness or something more substantial if they're evaluated in greater detail.
I feel like I want to do more with the PAIR time, is it appropriate for students to use their phones and computers to answer questions?
TPS depends on how simple or complex you care to make it. If you want students to be able to use resources to look up something online or even go to the library to work on something, just be sure this resource is necessary and beneficial for the learning objective to whole-Group discussions.
This is an excellent example of a blank template that you can use with your students
Student’s name _____________________________________ Date______________
Think-Pair-Share
Read the following question or problem:
Think
Individually, write down three thoughts you have about this question or problem:
Pair
During class discussions, debate your ideas with your partner. Put a check by any ideas, above, that your
Partner also wrote down. Then, write down the concepts you had but your partner did not have
Share
Evaluate all of your thoughts and circle the one you think is most significant. Choose amongst yourself the one to present
This idea with the whole class.
As you listen to the concepts of the whole group, write down three more ideas you that captivated you.
It doesn't matter if you're a second language learner, student of varying reading skills, a student with learning disability, or a younger learner.
When creating pairs, be sensitive to learners' needs including the learning environment.
(Attentional skills, language skills and reading skills). Allow students to decide for themselves who will share with the whole group.
As active - learning instructors, we must realize that we do not have to lecture in our classrooms all the time. To make the 60-minute class session interesting to the students as well as the presentation share sessions, you could structure your activities so that students are the ones owning their own learning and creating meaning altogether. Because of this, the way we use think-pair-share shifts from an opportunity for talk in the middle of a teacher-centric lesson to a discussion and processing strategy. You will notice how the students' oral communication skills are developing, how their reading skills are advancing and positive changes to their social skills.
Sometime you may notice that students are reluctant to share out in an entire class setting, usually it is because of student anxiety as a result of:
This approach will be paired with a quick bullet list, journaling or question to ask the group. Other times, just thinking is enough. After personal processing has been completed, the teacher will challenge students to pair up with a partner to discuss their individual thinking.
This is usually just a quick exchange of insights into student thinking before a share out with the whole class or small table group, but it’s helpful to also have the partners write down a thought to share with the class. This can be the best insight into students, a stimulating question, something to show the result of their partnership. It’s also significant to note that this strategy gradually folds in more expressions and ideas so that prompt for student participation and thinking is supported. This is also a great way to distinguish students who may need more processing time because all students can profit from this strategy.
Here are some ways that you might digress from the standard version of think pair share, in no particular order. Some add variety in terms of who a student choice may be. Others add diversity in terms of the structure of what’s ahead.
In this technique, students begin with individual concepts, then pair with a classmate to discuss. Here’s where the difference begins. Instead of hopping right from partner to full group sharing, try having two pairs of student’s team up for an extended pairing. Then, groups of four to group of eight, until students become one big group for sharing of ideas.
Instead of completing the think pair share activity in class, it may be useful to have students do their thinking for homework (about a specific text, topic, and/or question) so that they’re prepared to pair (discussion prep) and share (actual discussion) to start class the next day. The first thing to do when they come back is to check for an understanding of the Common goal of TPS.
For individual thinking, students will create individual Padlet posts. Then, for the paired discussion, students will look for trends and patterns in the responses so that they can draw conclusions. Then, the class can debrief and process together.
Have students record individual responses in this option then watch and respond to other students for conceptual understanding or have students think individually, then pair-share two related concepts with a partner to record a Flip grid conversation before watching and responding to other paired conversations.
To warrant that students have a variety of partners to talk with, you may want to randomize student groupings using a partner wheel or by giving students each a playing card when they walk into the room. This ensures a good academic environment that is non-partial. You can call out groupings this way: black vs. red, odds and even together, similar clothes, etc.
No matter the level of experience we have as teachers, or how many students we might have taught, bodies of evidence conclude that the think-pair-share method is an excellent way to introduce subjects, increase understanding, facilitate discussion and show how it relates to a subject. This widely used teaching technique encourages students to come up with their own ideas and then share and present them. It has been known to increase skills such as critical thinking, listening, and presentation as additional evidence that TPS is indeed a beneficial assessment tool.
"Think-pair-share (TPS)" is an instructional method where learners work together and attempt to answer questions or solve problems on a given text. This strategy requires students to (1) think independently about a subject or answer a question; and (2) share their thoughts with classmates. Guidelines for discussions will be given.
It is based on the premise that discussing problems or challenges with a partner promotes involvement, collects attention and improves their comprehension of the reading material.
It is also known as the ‘turn and talk’. TPS is one way that teachers use to slow down the talking and give the students an opportunity to process their ideas before verbally responding.
According to Frank Lyman, TAS is an active-participation technique in which students are encouraged to participate even if they don't really care about the subject (Lyman, 1982; Marzano & Pickering, 2005).
Learners not only process the topic but practice their communication and problem-solving skills. Preparation is not complicated and the execution of the same has shown success by increasing student involvement as well as improving students' learning outcomes across learning settings. In this article, we will look at how this instructional strategy can challenge students academically as well as develop their discussion techniques.
As well as providing insights into student thinking, any activity that involves individual students articulating their ideas verbally enables children to rehearse what they are going to write. This Oracy technique can reduce any student anxiety about speaking publicly. An active-learning strategy like think, pair, share provides a wealth of benefits to individual students:
Some educators can be apprehensive about using dialogic teaching methods in the classroom, potentially, this might lead to the creation of chaotic learning environments that we all want to avoid. Utilising this simple strategy can be a lot easier than many teachers think. We encourage the adoption of talk guidelines in classrooms and professional learning opportunities for staff. So how can we start using this powerful strategy?
Observe and direct students as they work through the following:
T (Think): Teachers start by precisely asking using open-ended questions about the text.Students pause to reflect and recall what they know about a specific topic or.
P (Pair): Students are combined into pairs or a small group.
S (Share): Share a good opportunity for students to speak their thoughts to their partners. Teachers expand the "share" into a whole-class discussion through student engagement.
My students are not talking to each other, how do I get them to start talking and engage in the activity?
To keep the quiet students engaged, offer them some kind of reward (e.g., extra credit). You could also use an ice-breaking activity, tell them that these TPS questions could appear on the test, or show them how to answer them correctly.
Reviewing the techniques within the Starting Conversions Document would provide more information.
Discussion could go on for the entire class, how do we get back to the lecture?
It sounds like your students are well involved and that is something to celebrate. Sharing the structure of the questions and setting time limits for the conversations can be helpful. A quick, “one last point… this has been a useful conversation, and it relates directly to ___”
How could I use TPS as an assessment?
Encourage your students not to write down their answers during the THINK times but rather to think them through before writing them down during the PAIR times.
These can be considered lower-stakes if they're evaluated for completeness or something more substantial if they're evaluated in greater detail.
I feel like I want to do more with the PAIR time, is it appropriate for students to use their phones and computers to answer questions?
TPS depends on how simple or complex you care to make it. If you want students to be able to use resources to look up something online or even go to the library to work on something, just be sure this resource is necessary and beneficial for the learning objective to whole-Group discussions.
This is an excellent example of a blank template that you can use with your students
Student’s name _____________________________________ Date______________
Think-Pair-Share
Read the following question or problem:
Think
Individually, write down three thoughts you have about this question or problem:
Pair
During class discussions, debate your ideas with your partner. Put a check by any ideas, above, that your
Partner also wrote down. Then, write down the concepts you had but your partner did not have
Share
Evaluate all of your thoughts and circle the one you think is most significant. Choose amongst yourself the one to present
This idea with the whole class.
As you listen to the concepts of the whole group, write down three more ideas you that captivated you.
It doesn't matter if you're a second language learner, student of varying reading skills, a student with learning disability, or a younger learner.
When creating pairs, be sensitive to learners' needs including the learning environment.
(Attentional skills, language skills and reading skills). Allow students to decide for themselves who will share with the whole group.
As active - learning instructors, we must realize that we do not have to lecture in our classrooms all the time. To make the 60-minute class session interesting to the students as well as the presentation share sessions, you could structure your activities so that students are the ones owning their own learning and creating meaning altogether. Because of this, the way we use think-pair-share shifts from an opportunity for talk in the middle of a teacher-centric lesson to a discussion and processing strategy. You will notice how the students' oral communication skills are developing, how their reading skills are advancing and positive changes to their social skills.
Sometime you may notice that students are reluctant to share out in an entire class setting, usually it is because of student anxiety as a result of:
This approach will be paired with a quick bullet list, journaling or question to ask the group. Other times, just thinking is enough. After personal processing has been completed, the teacher will challenge students to pair up with a partner to discuss their individual thinking.
This is usually just a quick exchange of insights into student thinking before a share out with the whole class or small table group, but it’s helpful to also have the partners write down a thought to share with the class. This can be the best insight into students, a stimulating question, something to show the result of their partnership. It’s also significant to note that this strategy gradually folds in more expressions and ideas so that prompt for student participation and thinking is supported. This is also a great way to distinguish students who may need more processing time because all students can profit from this strategy.
Here are some ways that you might digress from the standard version of think pair share, in no particular order. Some add variety in terms of who a student choice may be. Others add diversity in terms of the structure of what’s ahead.
In this technique, students begin with individual concepts, then pair with a classmate to discuss. Here’s where the difference begins. Instead of hopping right from partner to full group sharing, try having two pairs of student’s team up for an extended pairing. Then, groups of four to group of eight, until students become one big group for sharing of ideas.
Instead of completing the think pair share activity in class, it may be useful to have students do their thinking for homework (about a specific text, topic, and/or question) so that they’re prepared to pair (discussion prep) and share (actual discussion) to start class the next day. The first thing to do when they come back is to check for an understanding of the Common goal of TPS.
For individual thinking, students will create individual Padlet posts. Then, for the paired discussion, students will look for trends and patterns in the responses so that they can draw conclusions. Then, the class can debrief and process together.
Have students record individual responses in this option then watch and respond to other students for conceptual understanding or have students think individually, then pair-share two related concepts with a partner to record a Flip grid conversation before watching and responding to other paired conversations.
To warrant that students have a variety of partners to talk with, you may want to randomize student groupings using a partner wheel or by giving students each a playing card when they walk into the room. This ensures a good academic environment that is non-partial. You can call out groupings this way: black vs. red, odds and even together, similar clothes, etc.
No matter the level of experience we have as teachers, or how many students we might have taught, bodies of evidence conclude that the think-pair-share method is an excellent way to introduce subjects, increase understanding, facilitate discussion and show how it relates to a subject. This widely used teaching technique encourages students to come up with their own ideas and then share and present them. It has been known to increase skills such as critical thinking, listening, and presentation as additional evidence that TPS is indeed a beneficial assessment tool.
