blue background with clipart of 4 teenagers talking and orange text reading "taking the think-pair-share teaching strategy to the next level"

If you are a veteran teacher, you are likely familiar with the think-pair-share strategy.  This version of the activity takes interaction to the next level by offering multiple opportunities to respond and increasing interaction with content and peers. The teacher only needs to create an interesting open-ended question and guide the students through the procedure outlined below.

Procedure

The activity begins with a thoughtful prompt being posed by the teacher. Be sure to choose an open-ended prompt that leaves room for student thoughts, ideas, and opinions.  

Sample Prompts: 

  • What is your favorite book of all-time?  Why?
  • Make a personal connection to the main idea in the story that we just read.
  • Describe your proudest moment as a student.
  • If you were going to publish a biography, what historical figure would you write about?  Why?
  • The most difficult concept to learn in math class was…
  • One question that I have about our solar system is…

Think-Pair-Share

yellow lightbulb clipart with the word think at the bottom

The first step for students is to THINK.  Be sure to provide plenty of time for students to quietly process and consider potential responses to the prompt.  If you would like to add an action-oriented element to the task, you might ask students to represent ideas on individual white boards.

clipart of a blue person and a pink person with the word pair at the bottom

Next, students will need to leave their seats and PAIR up with a classmate.  You can keep it simple and allow students to choose their own partners or you can add a stipulation such as finding a partner who is wearing a similar pair of shoes. 

clipart of a blue person and a pink person, each with a blank speech bubble, and the word pair at the bottom

It is now time for students to SHARE their ideas with partners.  You will want to give 3-5 minutes for the partners to share their ideas.  Adjust the allotted time based on student age and the complexity of the prompt.  Tell the class that it is important for each person to listen closely to their partner’s story, as they will need to use that information later in the activity.  You might even encourage students to take notes on their whiteboards.  This is a great time for you to circulate and listen in on various conversations, giving affirmation or redirection as needed.  

This is where a typical Think-Pair-Share activity might end.  

Increase student engagement and interaction with

Think-Pair-Share-Pair-Share

clipart of 4 people, colored blue, pink, green, and orange; with the word pair at the bottom

You will now direct each twosome to PAIR up with another duo, forming groups of 4 students. 

clipart of 4 peg people, each with a speech bubble and the word share at the bottom

Within each foursome, students will now have 1 minute each to SHARE their partner’s story/idea with the new group.  To keep the activity moving along, you might tell your class that the tallest person in each group will go first and then proceed in clockwise order.   Once again, the teacher should circulate amongst groups to encourage and praise great discussion.  

Educational Benefits of this Activity:

  • The collaborative nature of this activity will keep students engaged throughout.
  • By providing plenty of quiet time to think about a response, every student will have a fair chance to come up with a high-quality contribution.
  • The focus on conversation reduces or eliminates writing, which can be a barrier for some learners.  
  • Over the course of this activity, students will be given a variety of opportunities to interact.
  • The second sharing phase can typically be completed in a relatively short amount of time.  When students share their partner’s story, they are more likely to be concise than when sharing their own story.
  • Listening and summarizing peers’ stories are wonderful skills to practice.

I hope that you will give some thought to trying out this enhanced version of the traditional Think-Pair-Share activity. Your students are sure to benefit from so many opportunities to interact during the lesson. Happy teaching!

Featured Resources 

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Keep your whole class engaged:

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Meaningful & engaging assessments:

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