Think Ink Pair Share

Think-Ink-Pair-Share is similar to the cooperative learning strategy, Think-Pair-Share, but it includes the added dimension of writing to support the process of thinking. Students maintain a record of how they arrived at their understanding of the topic. Using wait time, students reflect on the information presented to them, record their responses, and then work with another student to discuss and revise what each has written. Once a final product/idea has emerged, students share with the entire group.

Implementation

1. Pair students who are compatible and typically use different styles of thinking so that they can bring out the best in each other.

2. Being selective about how often you use this strategy is important because students need to have a base of knowledge to feel confident writing their ideas to share with even one other student.

3. The greatest strength of this strategy is the use of writing to prompt thinking before they record their responses.

Classroom Management

1. THINK: After exposure to new information via class discussion, note-taking, research, or reading of assigned text, ask students to spend several minutes thinking about the presented information.
2. INK: Students expand on this new information based on some of the following characteristics:

· Examples from life

· Summaries of main ideas

· Pros and cons of the ideas

· Visual representations of the ideas

· Examples of how new information connects to other learning

· Describe how to teach it to someone else

1. PAIR: Meet with a partner and discuss the writing.

· Students review and revise their own writing based on ideas garnered from the PAIR collaboration.

1. SHARE: Select a venue to share revised, finalized ideas: whole class, small group, partners.

· Students share their final product and explain how they arrived at that conclusion.