Think, Pair, Share: a teachers guide

What is think, pair, share?

"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.

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Why Think-Pair-Share Should Be Encouraged

Think-pair-share is a powerful teaching strategy that promotes student engagement and helps students develop both thinking and communication skills. By encouraging students to verbalize their ideas, it not only provides insights into their thought processes but also allows them to rehearse and organize what they might later write down. This Oracy technique is particularly useful in reducing anxiety around public speaking, creating a safer and more supportive environment for students to express themselves. Here are some key reasons why think-pair-share is beneficial:

1. Encourages Independent Thinking
   Think-pair-share gives students the opportunity to think independently about how to approach a question before discussing their ideas with peers. This process helps students develop problem-solving skills and encourages them to reflect on their own understanding.
2. Fosters Classroom Discussion
   This strategy promotes responsive, student-led discussions, where everyone has a chance to contribute. By sharing ideas in pairs or small groups first, students build the confidence needed to participate in larger classroom discussions.
3. Develops Communication and Language Skills
   Sharing ideas with classmates helps students practice expressing their thoughts clearly and builds essential language skills. It encourages active listening and thoughtful dialogue, fostering a collaborative learning environment.
4. Enhances Comprehension of Key Concepts
   Think-pair-share helps students focus on central content ideas. By engaging in discussions with peers, they are more likely to understand and retain key concepts from the lesson or reading material.
5. Boosts Confidence and Collaboration
   This strategy builds student confidence by providing a structured way to share ideas, while also enhancing collaboration as students learn from one another. It transforms students from passive listeners into active participants in the learning process.

By integrating think-pair-share into lessons, teachers can create a more dynamic and inclusive classroom that supports both independent thinking and collaborative learning. This technique is also an effective way to give students a "brain break" and transition them from passive to active learning, ensuring they stay engaged and motivated throughout the lesson.

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Getting Started with Think, Pair, Share

Some educators may feel apprehensive about using dialogic teaching methods, fearing that it could lead to chaotic classroom management. However, think-pair-share is a straightforward strategy that is often much easier to implement than expected. By setting clear talk guidelines and providing professional learning opportunities for staff, teachers can effectively incorporate this method into their classrooms without creating disorder. Here's how to get started:

1. Think: Begin by posing open-ended questions about the topic or text to encourage deeper thinking. Give students time to pause, reflect, and recall what they already know. This moment of reflection helps them form a personal response to the question.
2. Pair: After the thinking phase, pair students together or place them in small groups. This collaboration helps students refine their thoughts through discussion, giving them the opportunity to clarify their understanding by talking with peers.
3. Share: In this final step, students share their ideas with their partner. Afterward, teachers can facilitate a whole-class discussion, expanding on individual contributions and deepening the overall class engagement.

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Applying Think-Pair-Share (TPS)

To effectively introduce think-pair-share, start by explaining the purpose to your students. Let them know why this strategy is helpful for their learning and acknowledge that some may feel hesitant to participate at first, but their confidence will grow with practice.

Next, pose an open-ended question and ask students to write down their initial thoughts. This can help students organize their ideas before discussing with their partner. After pairing, have students share their thought process and responses with one another, and encourage them to take notes from their partner's feedback.

As students get used to the routine, prompt them to rotate roles during discussions, ensuring each has a chance to share. Finally, ask students to report on their group's conclusions, highlighting any differences in thought processes or areas of consensus. This promotes accountability and helps students recognize the value of diverse perspectives within the group.

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Common Questions About Think, Pair, Share

My students are not talking to each other. How do I get them to start engaging in the activity?
For quieter students, it can be helpful to add an incentive, such as awarding points for participation. Icebreakers are another great way to warm students up to conversation. You can also motivate students by indicating that the think-pair-share questions could appear on an exam.

Demonstrating the activity and practicing with the class beforehand can set clear expectations. Reviewing techniques from the Starting Conversations document may also offer additional ideas to get students talking.

Discussion could go on for the entire class. How do I transition back to the lecture?
It’s great that your students are engaged in the discussion—this is something to celebrate! To refocus the class, set time limits and regulate the scope of the question. You can signal the end of the discussion with a quick phrase like, “One last point before we move on… this has been a great conversation, and it connects directly to ___.”

How could I use Think-Pair-Share as an assessment?
Think-pair-share can be a useful tool for both formative and summative assessments. Encourage students to turn in their responses from the Think time, or their group’s answer from the Pair phase, as written work. You could also ask for reflections after the Share portion. These can be low-stakes assessments graded for completion or more in-depth evaluations if you’re looking for detailed responses.

I want to do more with the Pair time. Is it appropriate for students to use phones or computers to answer questions?
Think-pair-share is flexible and can be as simple or as complex as you make it. If you feel it’s beneficial for students to use online resources or research tools during the Pair time, feel free to allow it. Just make sure that using technology is essential to the learning objective and that it enhances, rather than detracts from, the discussion.

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Example Template for Think-Pair-Share

This is a simple template you can use with your students to guide them through the think-pair-share process.

Think
Read the following question or problem:

Write down three thoughts you have about this question or problem:

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Pair
Discuss your ideas with your partner. Put a check next to any ideas that both of you mentioned. Then, write down any new ideas your partner had that you didn’t:

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Share
Review all your thoughts and circle the one you think is most important. As a group, choose one idea to present to the class.

As you listen to the class discussion, write down three more ideas that stood out to you:

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This template can help structure the think-pair-share process and ensure that students stay focused and engaged during each phase.

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Applying think, pair, share across subjects

• Language Arts - During class discussions, use "thinking-pair-sharing" (TPS) to help students discuss specific characters in books they're currently studying. For example, if the class is reading Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, try think-pair-share to respond to questions such as, "Should Juliet have gone ahead to love Romeo?’’ Either way, explain your answer.
• Math-Try think-pair-share for math problems with more than one correct answer, such as logic, estimation and patterns, this strategy can also be used when students are deciding how to tackle a math problem.
• Social Studies- Startup a think-pair-share discussion by asking a broad question on social skills relevant to a new subject of study, such as, "What do you already know about the world war 1?" As students get into more complex topics, you might ask questions such as, "Would you have agreed to be a 'stop' on the Underground railway? Why or why not?"
• Science - Use think pair discuss to help students develop a hypothesis and discuss their analysis of a class experiment. For instance, before conducting an experimental study on density, students may be asked to employ the think-pair-­shares approach when choosing which objects will sink in a basin of water.

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Instructional guidance when using TPS

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:

1. They’re scared their idea might not be ‘right’
2. They imagine they may have not had the time to process their ideas.
3. They haven’t read the text they are discussing.

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Opportunities for Think, Pair, Share

Standard-Issue Think-Pair-Share
This traditional approach often starts with a prompt, like a bullet list, journal entry, or an open-ended question. Sometimes, simply giving students time to think is enough. After students have processed the question individually, they pair up with a partner to discuss their thoughts. This method provides a quick exchange of insights before sharing with the whole class or a smaller group. Asking students to write down their thoughts can offer deeper insight into their thinking and help foster more meaningful class discussions. It's important to note that this strategy encourages more student participation and allows those who need additional processing time to engage comfortably.

Think-Pair-Share Strategy Ideas

Here are some variations of the standard think-pair-share approach to add variety and engage students differently:

1. Snowball TPS
   In this version, students start by thinking individually and pairing with a classmate. However, instead of moving straight to whole-group sharing, two pairs of students team up for an extended discussion. Then, groups of four join with other groups, continuing to expand until the entire class is involved in one big group discussion. This method allows for more gradual integration of ideas.
2. TPS Homework Edition
   Students complete the "think" portion as homework, focusing on a specific text, topic, or question. The next day, they come to class ready to pair and share their thoughts. This allows students to arrive prepared, making discussions more focused and productive from the outset. It also provides an opportunity to check for understanding right at the beginning of the class.
3. Padlet Pair Share
   In this digital version, students create individual posts on Padlet to document their initial thoughts. During the paired discussion, they explore trends and patterns in the responses and draw conclusions. The class then debriefs together to process the collective insights, facilitating deeper learning.
4. Flipgrid Pair Share
   Have students record their individual responses on Flipgrid, then watch and respond to their classmates' videos for conceptual understanding. Alternatively, students can pair up, discuss two related concepts, and record their conversation. Afterwards, they watch other paired conversations and engage with the material through reflection and responses.
5. Randomize Partners
   To ensure that students interact with a variety of peers, consider randomizing pairings. You can do this by using a partner wheel, handing out playing cards at the door, or calling out creative groupings (e.g., black vs. red cards, odds vs. evens, similar clothing). This randomization prevents cliques and promotes a balanced academic environment where everyone gets a chance to work with different classmates.

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Concluding thoughts about Think, Pair, Share

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.

Here are five key studies exploring the Think-Pair-Share strategy and its efficacy in classroom settings:

1. Apriyanti, D., & Ayu, M. (2020). Think-Pair-Share: Engaging Students in Speaking Activities in Classroom.

Summary: This study highlights how the Think-Pair-Share (TPS) strategy promotes active participation in speaking activities among secondary students. The results show that students engaged more in discussions, enhancing their communication skills and confidence through structured pair and group activities.

2. Hernando, M. J., Reponte-Sereño, R. R., Cuevas, G. C., & Pacaldo, J. M. (2023). Think-Pair-Share: A Strategy for Effective Student-Engaged Literature Classes.

Summary: In this study, the Think-Pair-Share strategy was implemented in literature classes, improving students' writing performance. The TPS approach enabled students to develop cognitive and metacognitive skills, leading to higher post-test scores compared to traditional methods.

3. Shih, Y. C., & Reynolds, B. (2015). Teaching Adolescents EFL by Integrating Think-Pair-Share and Reading Strategy Instruction.

Summary: This research explores the integration of Think-Pair-Share with reading strategy instruction in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms. The strategy improved motivation and reading comprehension among adolescent students, emphasizing TPS as an effective tool in foreign language teaching.

4. Kothiyal, A., Murthy, S., & Iyer, S. V. (2014). Think-Pair-Share in a Large CS1 Class: Does Learning Really Happen?

Summary: This study evaluates the efficacy of Think-Pair-Share in a large computer science class. Findings indicate that students who engaged in TPS performed significantly better on post-tests, and reported improved conceptual understanding compared to those who only experienced traditional lectures.

5. Mundelsee, L., & Jurkowski, S. (2021). Think and Pair Before Share: Effects of Collaboration on Students' In-Class Participation.

Summary: This study analyzes the effects of Think-Pair-Share on student participation, especially in shy students. Results show that TPS increased participation and reduced anxiety, fostering a more inclusive classroom environment by promoting collaboration and reflective thinking.

These studies highlight the effectiveness of Think-Pair-Share as a classroom strategy to engage students, improve learning outcomes, and foster collaborative learning environments.