The think, pair, share strategy is a cooperative learning technique that encourages individual participation and is applicable across all grade levels and class sizes. Students think through questions using three distinct steps:

1) THINK

Students think independently about the question that has been posed, forming ideas of their own.

2) PAIR

Students are grouped in pairs to discuss their thoughts. This step allows students to articulate their ideas and to consider those of others.

3) SHARE

Student pairs share their ideas with a larger group, such as the whole class. Often, students are more comfortable presenting ideas to a group with the support of a partner. In addition, students’ ideas have become more refined through this three-step process.