Transitions
A typical class ranges from 40 to 80 minutes. Unfortunately, a student's attention span is nowhere near that long.
Research shows that students can pay attention for about 10 to 20 minutes - anything longer and they begin to zone out. Long lectures, discussions, or work periods with no breaks are therefore counter-productive.
This article provides a glimpse into some research on this topic - and it suggests the typical solution. Every fifteen to twenty minutes, you should include a short activity to break up the monotony and re-engage your students.
The change of pace helps the students re-focus, and the activity can be used to reinforce the topics that have already been discussed. The "Transition" methods described in this section are perfect for breaking up the pace of a lesson or introducing a new topic entirely.
Featured Method: Think-Pair-Share
A Think-Pair-Share activity is perfect for just such a transition. Give the students a prompt or problem to think about. After a minute or so to consider the problem, each student discusses their response with a partner.
The partners have two to three minutes to discuss the issue, followed by a whole class discussion. This can be a quick way to assess student understanding, and it can also get students thinking about a new topic.
Timing is important here - keep the pace moving and only allow a couple of minutes for each step. Otherwise your transition will take the entire period.
Read the full article: Introduce and Transition Your Lessons Well with a Think-Pair-Share
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