think pair share strategy.docx

7/28/2019 Think Pair Share Strategy.docx

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Think Pair Share Strategy

The think pair strategy worked in the following way. I divided the class in to two teams,

blue and green. I then had each blue team member pair up with a green team member. After that,

I announced a discussion topic: Which is the best game to play during break time? Each

student was allowed 1 minute to think of their own answer. At the lapse of 1 minute, I instructed

the paired students to discuss it together for 3 minutes, and exchange their thoughts and ideas

about the topic of discussion. At the end of 3 minutes, I randomly sampled 5 students to come

up-front and share their ideas about the topic with the class.

I was impressed by the quality of responses generated by the sample group. Not only were

they able to state which was the best game to play during break time, they were also able to give

reasons as to why they considered that to be the best game. When probed further, the sample

students were able to state reasons as to why they did not select a certain game. I was also

impressed by the simultaneous interaction that took place in class. It was motivating to see every

student actively engaged in purposeful speaking and listening.

Next time, I would do the following things differently. First, instead of letting the students

select their partners, I would select them for them based on their strengths and weaknesses.

Second, I would hold 3 discussion sessions before selecting a random sample to present. In this 3

discussion sessions, the students would be paired to different students, such that at the end of it,

each student would have been paired three times. Third, instead of employing just one question, I

would employ a series of questions each designed to lead them to a deeper level of thinking.


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Reflection Journal

In my class, I have two students, lets call them John and Mary, who have reading

problems. John has a problem with phonemic awareness and in word decoding and phonics;

while Mary has problems with fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.

To help diagnose their reading problems, I have employed the following strategies. When

John is asked to put together sounds to make a word, he experiences considerable difficulty. He

is also unable to correctly complete phoneme substitution activities. In addition, he has difficulty

with syllabication, rhyming and spelling new words by their sounds. Mary, on the other hand, is

unable to make connections among words in various texts. She also gets frustrated when reading

aloud because she is unable to read as fast as the other students. In addition, she is unable to

pause at breaks within sentences.

These strategies have been successful at diagnosing the reading problems in both students.

For John, I have identified the precise phoneme weaknesses that he is facing and thus have been

able to design developmentally appropriate activities to help him overcome the problem (Richek,

List & Lerner, 1983). I have also had him sort objects in pictures by the sound I am teaching at

that moment. I have him say the letter sound over and over again till it is reinforced. For Mary,

the strategy that has borne fruit is one involving her matching her voice to mine when reading

aloud (Richek, List & Lerner, 1983). I normally read a short passage and then have her

immediately read it back to me. We do this repeatedly till she gets it right. These strategies have

helped both John and Mary improve their reading skills, and in due time, they will be at par with

the other students.


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think pair share strategy.docx

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