Think-Pair-Share

“Think-Pair-Share” is a pedagogical strategy that aims to ensure that every student has the opportunity to engage with course material, rather than relying solely on volunteers. This activity invites students to think independently, discuss their ideas with a peer, and then share their insights with the larger group. It encourages participation from all students, supports diverse learners, and can be adapted for classes of any size or discipline.

“Think-Pair-Share” Activity

  • Think: Pose a focused question, problem, or prompt related to your lesson. Give students 1-2 minutes to write their responses individually. This might be a way to have students recall what was discussed in the last class, gather their thoughts on a reading they did for class, or anticipate the new material of the day’s lesson.
  • Pair: Ask students to turn to a neighbor and discuss their responses for 2-3 minutes.
  • Share: Invite pairs to share highlights from their discussion with the larger class, either by volunteering or through a systematic process (such as calling on groups).  

A “think-pair-share” activity can give students time to formulate ideas before sharing with a large group, and works well as an opening activity, as a transitional exercise between topics, or as a way to pick up the energy in the room if students seem disengaged. You can also add to or refine the prompts, scaffolding from simpler to more complex as the activity progresses.

“Think, Pair, Share” Framework

“Think, Pair, Share,” can also be used as a framework for lesson planning. In addition to thinking about think-pair-share as one stand-alone activity, these concepts can be used to map different modalities of student engagement over the course of a lesson:

  • Am I giving students the opportunity to individually recall, wrestle with, or reflect on course concepts?
  • Am I encouraging students to engage with each other, providing space to practice formulating and refining their thoughts out loud, and giving them opportunities to build relationships by sharing their individual perspectives?
  • Am I providing opportunities for the whole class to discuss their thoughts or debate different positions on a topic?