Teaching for Learning
Lecture continues to be the most prevalent teaching mode in secondary and higher
education, despite overwhelming evidence that it produces the lowest degree of
retention for most learners.”
David Sousa, How the Brain Learns
The pyramid below shows the average percentage of retention of material after 24
hours when a particular teaching methodology is the one primarily used. Moving down
the pyramid, students become more involved in the learning process and retention
increases. The method at the bottom of the pyramid involves having the students teach
others or use the new learning immediately.
Increasing Cognitive Engagement: The 10:2 Theory
(Costa, 1981, Rowe, 1983, Long, Swain and Cummins, 1996)
Chunk-n- Chew
Every subject area has a vast amount of content; as a result, teachers make decisions every day what to teach
thoroughly, what to reference briefly, and what to skip completely—all within the framework of the curriculum.
Teachers feel pressure to “cover” material, so moving too quickly - at the detriment of students.
This strategy is designed to ensure that the materials that are taught are fully processed by our students so that
the information or skills we have chosen to teach are indeed learned. Chunk-n-Chew (also sometimes called
10/2) or Chunk-N-Task, can aid in increasing success.
This theory can help teachers organize their lessons (because of the “chunking”) and can help them keep a laserlike focus on what is being taught. More importantly, this strategy allows for differentiation of instruction and
breaks the mold of “read the book, answer the questions, and take the test.”
Purpose: to provide time for students to process information and to ensure that students are not inundated
with input from the teacher without being given appropriate time to process the information
Description: This strategy asks teachers to deliver input (often in 10 minute segments) and allow for meaningful
student processing (often in 2 minute segments) in order for them to internalize learning.
Procedure:
1. For any given lesson, teachers present important discipline-specific material in 10-12 minute brainfriendly “chunks.” The delivery of the lesson still needs to be as engaging and content-rich as possible.
Teachers must decide in advance the small “chunks” based on the skills or concepts to be taught.
2. As teachers deliver about 10 minutes of instruction/input, students are expected to listen and possibly
(if not probably) take notes.
3. Finally, prompted by the teacher, students are given time to “chew” the ”chunk” through a variety of
methods.
Keep in Mind: Time frames vary and should be adjusted according to student ability levels, the difficulty of
the concept being taught, and even the language abilities of the students. Please also note that this
strategy is highly touted in the world of ELL/ESL learners as being one of the best to help these students
process information. Once students become accustomed to “chunking and chewing,” they will anticipate
the processing time and let teachers know when they have reached their limit of input.
Variations:
 Some educators rename the theory 10:2/2.
10: Content delivered in a 10 minute chunk
2: Writing for 2 minutes to process by writing individually
2: Verbally processing with a partner or small group
 Some sources add a third dimension to this strategy so that is becomes “Chunk, Chew, and Check.”
The “check” phase asks students to show what they know and own the learning. In this stage,
students are asked to self-assess and reflect on what works best for them as learners
(metacognition again). Teachers check to see if students are “getting it,” and if they are not,
teachers them make decisions about instruction (revise delivery method, teach again, etc.).
The important question to ask for this strategy (and all others for that matter) is as follows: Does this
activity get my learners to a clear and rigorous learning target? These strategies must be more than cute
and fun; they must also be meaningful and effective.
Processing Time Ideas
Think-Pair-Share is a great strategy for students to process information. The following are a variety of
variations:
Think-Pair-Share (Listen) – When student are sharing ideas with their partner remind them to listen to their
partner’s ideas. When groups are asked to share, students share the idea of their partner – not their own.
Think-Pair-Square – Students share with two other students after they have completed Think-Pair-Share (4square).
Think-Pair-Pod-Share – A “Pod” is a sharing with a small group (a table group) – prior to sharing with the whole
group. Students first share with a partner. Then bring all thoughts together as a table (pod) prior to sharing out
with whole group.
Think-Write/Draw-Share – Students write or draw their own ideas before they pair up to discuss them with a
partner. This allows students to more fully develop their own ideas before sharing.
Think-Pair-Share (reading strategies) – During “think” part students are asked to think in terms of summarizing,
questioning, predicting, visualizing.
 Once students understand all four of these areas, groups can be asked to use a variety in a single “thinkpair-share”. (One (or more) groups summarize, one (or more) groups visualize, etc…)
Think-Pair-Share (various perspectives) – After posing a question, ask pairs to “think” in terms of a different
perspective.
 A character in a story, a career, a historical figure. Etc…
Formulate-Share-Listen-Create  Formulate your answer to the question individually.
 Share your answer with your partner.
 Listen carefully to your partner’s answer. Note similarities and differences in your answers.
 Create a new answer that incorporates the best of the ideas.
 Be prepared to present your answer if called upon.
Mix-Pair-Share –
 Students silently mix around the room. NO TALKING!
 Teacher calls “pair.”
 Students pair up with the person closest to them and shake hands.
 Students who haven’t found a partner raise their hand to find each other.
 Teacher asks a question and gives think time.
 Students share with their partner per teacher instructions.
Think-Tweet-Share – Students think of response and then generate a Tweet, or 140 character representation of
a Tweet.
 Rather than Twitter students could use Today’s Meet.
 The Today’s Meet back channel could be Tweeted out by teacher to include global sharing and
perspectives.
Think-Text-Share - If students are allowed to use cell phones in class, rather than verbally pairing their ideas
they could text each other. Then share with full group.
Think-Pair-Wordle -Share – Teacher poses a question such as what are all the words you can think of to describe
_____________. (character in book, historical figure, etc…). Students think individually, then share ideas with
partner to develop one Wordle between the two of them. Then share with group.
Think-Blog-Respond Student begins by thinking of blog post ideas
 Student creates his/her own post
 Reader responds
The post becomes the “pair” on a much larger scale. Another aspect of the “pair” is that a blog post is meant to
be read by another person. The author’s ideas are shared through the post. When the reader responds, this is
yet another venue for sharing understanding with the writer.
Ideas taken from https://learningisgrowing.wordpress.com/2012/03/21/think-pair-share-variations/
Additional Process Ideas:
 Students could draw a concept for two minutes (if the material lends itself to that kind of visual
representation) in a symbolic or metaphorical way and share their drawings. Since the time is brief,
students should do quick “Pictionary”-type drawings, not elaborate drawings with fine details.
 Students could compose a journal entry in a learning log or a reading log where they either restate what
they have just learned or connect it to previous learning.
 Students could be partnered and instructed to “teach” what they just learned to their partners. On the
next “chewing” session, the roles could be reversed.
 If students are in groups, they could go around the circle and make one statement from the notes they
just took on the new material.
 If students are working on computers, they could post a statement about their learning on the class
blog/website/wiki in a space already preset by the teacher. These digital notes then become a
permanent archive of learning and can be referenced by all class participants for review.
 If students have been sitting for a while, teachers could post in advance concept charts around the
room, give students sticky notes on which to write a statement of new learning, and then allow them to
get up and post their statements on the appropriate chart. Teachers could choose to review the sticky
notes aloud with the class in order to continue to reinforce the material.
 Teachers could provide students a graphic organizer with divided blocks or a web of some sort in which
students write their “chewings” at each pause. When the lesson was completely over, students should
have a completely filled out graphic organizer that reviews the lesson’s key points in “chunks.”
 If the new learning will be used to create a product later (like a piece of writing or a poster), students
could have be provided a note-taking framework to record ideas for their project from the material. The
“chewing” time would then be designed for students to select from the lesson the components they will
incorporate into their projects.
Some ideas taken from http://fvhs.wcpss.net/Current_forms_documents/Literacy%20Light/Literacy%20Light%203%20FVHS.pdf
References