When students verbalise their thinking, they clarify ideas. When they hear peers' thinking, they expand their own. Talk is how understanding deepens.
Think (1 minute): Pose a problem. "How would you work out 24 ÷ 4?" Students think silently.
Pair (2 minutes): Students turn to a partner and explain their thinking. "I think... because..."
Share (1 minute): Call on pairs to share with the class. "This pair used repeated subtraction."
Benefits: All students engage (not just hand-raisers), thinking is externalized, misconceptions surface.
Provide sentence starters so students know how to talk about maths:
- "I think the answer is ___ because ___"
- "I agree with ___ because ___"
- "I disagree because ___"
- "Another way to solve this is ___"
- "This is similar to ___ because ___"
Students stand in concentric circles facing a partner. Pose a question. Partners discuss for 30 seconds. Outer circle rotates. New partners discuss the same question. Quick, energetic, everyone talks.
Groups of 3-4 solve a problem together. One person records. Everyone contributes. You circulate, listen, ask: "How did you get that? Why does that work? What if...?"
"Is 12 ÷ 3 the same as 3 × 4? Defend your answer." Pairs or small groups argue. Forces deep thinking about relationships.
Divide the class into "expert groups," each learning one aspect of a concept. Then regroup so each new group has one expert. Experts teach each other. Everyone learns all parts.
Example: Fractions unit. Group A learns halves. Group B learns thirds. Group C learns quarters. Then regroup so each student teaches their expertise.
