Each week my Superintendent post a 21st Century Learning “Tip of the Week”. The tip is sent to all employees, school board members, and local governing body officials. The weekly tip is a great reminder of how classrooms of today need to be structured to meet our students needs. Below is the tip for this week.
21st Century Learning Tip of the Week:
- Think/Pair/Share:
- Think-Pair-Share is a cooperative discussion strategy. It gets its name from the three stages of student action, with emphasis on what students are to be DOING at each of those stages.
- How Does It Work?
- Think-Pair-Share is a cooperative discussion strategy. It gets its name from the three stages of student action, with emphasis on what students are to be DOING at each of those stages.
1) Think: The teacher provokes students’ thinking with a question, prompt, or observation. The students should take a few moments just to THINK about the question.2) Pair: Using designated partners, nearby neighbors, or a deskmate, students PAIR up to talk about the answer each came up with. They compare their mental or written notes and identify the answers they think are best, most convincing, or most unique.
3) Share: After students talk in pairs for a few moments, the teacher calls for pairs to SHARE their thinking with the rest of the class. This can be accomplished by going around in round-robin fashion, calling on each pair; or taking answers as they are called out. Often, the teacher or a designated helper will record these responses.
- Watch a video from High Tech High on Think/Pair/Share: http://learningvideos.hightechhigh.org/video/83/Structures%3A+Think-Pair-Share
Teachers: Check out TeacherDirect at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/teacher_direct. TeacherDirect is a tool designed for classroom teachers in order to provide a more direct line of communication. At this site teachers can find links to instructional resources, grant opportunities, and professional development opportunities.
Hey Chip,
I’m fond of think-pair-share as a pedagogical strategy, but I’m curious as to what makes this a “21st Century Learning” tip? Was this not possible in prior centuries?
I have to agree with, Jon. I used think-pair-share back in the “bad old days” of the 20th century. It would be interesting to think about ways that technology might support this pedagogy with students thinking in a blog, pairing in a wiki and sharing via twitter?