A Think/Pair/ Share is a instructional routine teachers can use to increase student discourse in the classroom. During a Think/Pair/Share students are posed with a question and then give time to think about the answer, time to pair (or discuss) the answer with a partner, and then given time to share out to the whole class. The Think/Pair/Share routine must be explicitly taught to students, practiced and reinforced in order to be effective.
Tips & Tricks
- Three Part Strategy: A key to a Think/Pair/Share is that there are three parts to the routine. To be most effective all parts should be stressed and utilized.
- Introducing the Strategy: When introducing the strategy start with something simple, yet interesting enough to result in multi-word answers. Asking students about their favorite pair of shoes can often elicit answers from every student.
- Complete Sentences: Students should be encouraged to use the question stem and give an explanation when answering a question. For example, if the question is, “What color is the house?” The answer should not be simply, “Brown.” The answer should be “The color of the house is brown. I know this because the author says on page 23, ‘the house is brown.'” Answering in complete sentences is key for students’ language acquisition. Students should be taught and reminded of how to use the question stem and give explanations for their answers.
- Assessment: Students should be provided with a rubric and criteria for success for this routine. They should be explicitly taught what behaviors need to occur during the routine and what their answers should sound like.
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