Think > Pair > Share!
Verbally expressing and comparing thoughts and opinions.
Perfect for Any Lesson
Using Think, Pair Share, TPS, can be used in any classroom or lesson. Smaller group discussions help student get and share ideas while building comprehension, critical thinking and speaking skills. TPS give students a chance to form opinions, gain new understandings and contribute to whole class discussion more effectively. TPS can be used in small and medium-sized groups and can accommodate the needs of many within the same lesson. When grouped strategically, students of all ability levels can achieve higher processing skills.
For Your High Potential Students
Students who demonstrate a higher mastery of material in your lesson would benefit from TPS groups amongst themselves, because all students involved have a similar understanding of the material and they are more likely to build higher-ordered thinking when discussing among themselves. While it is sometimes difficult to scaffold a lesson for all ability levels, allowing higher potential students the opportunity to share with themselves, keeps them engaged, challenged and encouraged to think outside the box. Higher ability students can also benefit in "square pairs" in which there are two separate pairs that come together and share as a whole. These students are more likely to build connections between more students and they would be able to complete a larger TPS discussion. l Ideas generated inside the group of above -level students will bring new light to whole class discussion and encourage other students to begin thinking more critically of ideas in class.
For Students with Handicaps or Disabilities
TPS can also be scaffolded to make learning easier for struggling students. These groups should remain small and include the pairing of a lower-level student with an on grade level student so those who struggle can see how discussions should take place.
- Students who are visually handicapped can be helped by increasing the amount of verbal discussion taking place each lesson. They may struggle with writing or filling out worksheets, but discussion takes that handicap off the table and a student can learn and succeed without that handicap holding them back.
- Students with an intellectual disability or who struggle with maintaing verbal discussion can also benefit by TPS because they are given an opportunity to practice forming ideas, speaking and hearing proper English spoken back to them. An important aspect in helping these students is that they see properly modeled behavior and are able to mimic them frequently.
Square Shares are ideal for higher-ability students! They are able to delve deeper into material and remained challenged.
Brought to you by Alexis Papakostas :)
Smaller groups are perfect for students who need more time to process information and those who could benefit from verbal expression.