How Does Think Pair Share Work?
This pair-sharing strategy can be extremely valuable to student learning if implemented effectively. It is mostly utilized during whole group instruction. When you are giving direct instruction, students are paired up so that they can process information throughout the lesson with each other. For example, if you have a 10-15 minutes lesson on parts of a plant and their functions, you may teach a chunk of information on the roots of a plant. Then, you stop and give students time to think-pair-share about a specific question or statement. You can begin practicing this strategy by having students share topics with low cognitive demand, such as their favorite food or what they did over the weekend. That way, once they are expected to meet the content demands of the lesson, they don’t have to also think about the think-pair-share expectations and routine.
Why is Think Pair Share Effective?
Think-pair-share is an effective strategy if it’s well structured. It gives students an opportunity to process and discuss content throughout a lesson, deepening their understanding. Research has shown that giving students these opportunities is linked to increasing literacy scores, especially for our English language learners. It increases engagement, builds communication and listening skills, and helps to create a more equitable and safe learning environment.
Steps to Implement The Pair Sharing Strategy Effectively
Create a clear start and stop signal.
The start signal is essentially your go word, or students’ cue to start talking. For example, you could say, “When I say ‘share’ you will turn to your partner and discuss the 4 parts of the plant.” In the past, I used the word share, however, now I’d use a high-level academic vocabulary word as the signal word related to our unit of study. This simply plugs in another opportunity for students to practice language. The stop signal brings students back from the discussion. Read more about how to implement high-level vocabulary with a start and stop signal on my blog here and get the free resource to further support you here.
Make it efficient.
Create a routine so students know who shares first and who shares second. You can do A/B partners or something more fun like PB&J, Avo&Toast, etc… This eliminates the decision-making for students so that they aren’t sitting there deciding who is going first or both silently waiting for the other to speak first. If it’s efficient, you can provide ample opportunities throughout your lesson for students to speak to each other. I would recommend more opportunities to discuss for shorter spurts of time.
Set a clear target.
Choose a specific question or statement you want the students to discuss. Instead of, “Turn and talk to your partner about what you learned” you can be more specific. For example, “When I say (insert your signal word) you will turn to your partner and discuss the function of the root as it relates to the plant.” Then, let them know who is sharing first.
Be conscious of processing time.
Research shows that students learn better when information is chunked and then they are given time to process it. The general rule is for every 10 minutes of instruction, you provide your students with 2 minutes of processing time. This could look like 1 minute of thinking on their own or writing before then turning to share with a partner for 1 minute. You can use this general rule to work for you and your students. For example, if you teach Kindergarten or 1st grade, you might give 5 minutes of instruction followed by 1 minute of processing time. Many times, we walk around to listen to the discussions and get sidetracked. The next thing we know it’s been 3 minutes and students are all off-topic. Keeping it at 30 seconds to 2 minutes helps solve this problem. If it helps, set a timer for yourself.
Support student language.
Provide students with sentence starters or frames. For example, you can say, “When I say (insert your signal word), you will turn to your partner and discuss the function of the root as it relates to a plant. You can start your sentence by saying, “The primary function of the root is…” or “The root helps the plant by…” These are on the board to help you if you forget.” If you have newcomers, or students new to the United States, who do not yet have proficiency in English, encourage them to process/speak in their native language. You may need to explicitly teach your students how to respond to a student speaking to them in their native language. For example, smiling and nodding even when they don’t speak the same language. If you need support with academic language for specific task types, check out my Accountable Talk Resource Cards.
What Does Think-Pair-Share Look Like and Sound Like in Action?
Content: Parts of a plant
Context: Students are sitting on the carpet in pairs. Each pair consists of peanut butter and jelly. The teacher is giving direct instruction on the parts of a plant and their functions using an anchor chart. After teaching one chunk on the roots of a plant and its function for 5 minutes, the teacher gives time for the students to process with each other. The students are already aware that their signal word for the day is ‘function’.
Teacher: “When I say the signal word you will turn to your partner and discuss the function of the root as it relates to a plant.” The teacher points to the board and shows students where they can find sentence starters to help them. “You can start your sentence with The primary function of the root is… or The root helps the plant by… Peanut Butter shares first, ‘function’.” The teacher sets a timer for 60 seconds and circulates, listening to students and supporting them with either language or content. After the timer goes off teacher brings back the students with the zero noise signal.
Helpful Articles and Resources to Further Support You
Articles & Blogs
- How to Use the Think-Pair-Share Activity in Your Classroom
- Think-Pair-Share
- Increase Student Interaction with “Think Pair Share” and “Circle Chats”
- Promote Academic Vocabulary With This Effective Classroom Management Strategy
Resources
- Implement Start/Stop Signal with High-Level Vocabulary (free resource)
- Give Students the language for discussion: Accountable Talk Resource Cards
I really hope that this information helps you effectively implement the pair-sharing strategy. Just remember to give yourself and your students time and space to get used to this new dynamic. If you have any questions or would like more information on anything, please leave a comment below! I love connecting with you as much as possible and providing you with continued support!
