Think Pair Share: An oldie, but a goodie

There are certain activities in the classroom I completely take for granted.  Think Pair Share probably tops the list along with K-W-Ls.  Who knew the Think Pair Share strategy (although, some of the literature calls the trio a "routine") was developed by Frank Lyman in 1981 in Maryland.  Yep, proud to be a Marylander.

With that said, if you are just getting into teaching/education or perhaps you came to Upcycled Education from another professional field, then the Think Pair Share strategy might be fresh and new to you.  Thus, let's review....

Think:  This first step in the trio encourages students to think independently about a question posed, a situation, an upcoming topic, etc.  Generally this step is done individually and often times, students write down their ideas.

Pair:  For this second step of the trio, students get together in pairs with another classmate.  Sometimes, I use ranges instead of pairs like "Alright....please get together with 1-2 other people."  That way no one feels left out or is scurrying for a partner. 

By the way, if you check back this coming week, I promise to have nifty ideas how to pair up students.....

Share:  In this final step of the trio, students share their thoughts with their partner(s).  This is an important part of the trio as students have a chance to broaden their perspective and obtain feedback from their peers.

If you think your students need training with sharing ideas and partner work, consider this post on SSLANT - a communication strategy - or T-charts.  I am an uber fan of both.

Now that I've blogged about Think Pair Share, I'm excited to use it again next week with my college students.  It's our first week of spring semester!

Did I tell you I dislike the first week of school?  I'll blog about that another day.

Jen

SSLANT

Over the summer I was stuck in the Indianapolis airport for several hours and treated myself to Malcolm Gladwell's book, Outliers.  About 36 hours later, I was done reading the book.  Yes, it was that good.  There are a million ideas I'd like to blog about after reading Outliers, but today I want to keep it simple.  After all, most of us educators just returned from a summer off;  we are in survival mode until we understand our students (and they understand us).

Use this easy acronym to help your students (and students with special needs) hone their communication skills during the first few weeks of school.  Gladwell includes it within an education discussion in Outliers, along with a ton of other interesting tidbits.  And by the way, I may like Gladwell's writing and ideas as much as I like Daniel Pink.  Shocking, no?

Ready to SSLANT?  When  communicating with others....

S      Smile
S    Sit up
L     Listen
A   Ask Questions
N    Nod when being spoken to
T   Track with your eyes

This would make a great poster hung on your classroom wall to remind students to SSLANT.  Of course, you have to train them how to SSLANT first, but you knew that.

SSLANTing,
Jen

PS - All of Gladwell's books are incredible (Outliers, The Tipping Point and Blink)