1/3, 1/3, 1/3 rule

1/3, 1/3, 1/3 Rule

Brittany Clayton

Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana

1/3, 1/3, 1/3 rule

When you become a teacher, one of the most important things you must remember is that

every child learns differently on different lessons. While one day Amy learns better doing math

with a partner, Jeff learns better working alone and Jamie learns better doing the assignment with

a group of people, this won’t always be the case. The next day during math class, Amy may do

better working alone, Jeff may do better with a group and Jamie may do better with a partner.

Knowing how the children in your class learn best and making lesson plans to accommodate this

is an important job of teachers.

The 1/3,1/3,1/3 rule is “a general guideline to follow when planning for instruction.”

(Englebright Fox & Schirrmacher, 2015) This guideline explains that when making lesson plans

you should plan for 1/3 of the activities to include everyone in the class, 1/3 of the activities to

include group work and 1/3 of the activities to include independent work. If you do this for your

lesson plans, every child will have the opportunity to learn the way that best fits them and it will

also teach them important things such as teamwork.

The first 1/3 of the lesson plan, including the whole class, is where the teacher will

explain the lesson to everyone and work together as a whole to finish the assignment. This step

by itself can be harmful to chi8ldren’s learning because this teaching style only works for a

certain amount of the class. If it is followed by one of the other steps, or both, it can be a great

beginning.

The second 1/3 of the lesson plan, group work, works best when there is a larger project

or when there are multiple things to do for an assignment. The upside of group work is the

children learn teamwork and are able to communicate with one another to finish the assignment.

The downside of focusing solely on this step is that some children aren’t able to work with other

children to finish certain things and this could make completing the assignment harder for them.
1/3, 1/3, 1/3 rule

The final 1/3 of the lesson plan, independent work, is best when the children are calm and

if the assignment involves reading. When a person is reading, silence in the room is necessary.

Allowing children to work in a place of their choosing I have noticed works best when doing this

because they feel that they had an option and that their opinion matters. The downside of this is

that some children can’t work alone very well and may become easily distracted and unfocused.

I would use the 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 rule whenever possible. If my class had a large packet to

finish to prepare themselves for the upcoming IREAD, this would be the perfect time to

implement it. I would begin by explaining to the entire class what the assignment is and what

needed to be completed by the end of the day. I would then do a few pages with them to better

explain the instructions and to answer any questions. Once I was finished and I believed

everyone understood, I would allow them to separate into equal groups and finish the first half of

the assignment in case any of them still needed extra help, while walking around answering

questions. Once they had enough time to work in groups, I would then allow them to pick a spot

in the classroom and work independently to make sure that they are able to do the assignments

and be prepared for their IREAD.

In conclusion, there is no perfect way to teach an entire class. If you switch things up and

try and focus on what is best for the whole child, their chances of succeeding will be much

higher. Using the 1/3, 1/3 1/3 rule is a great way for teachers to be able to teach everyone and to

make different options available to them.

1/3, 1/3, 1/3 rule

Englebright Fox, J., & Schirrmacher, R. (2015). Art & Creative Development For Young

Children (8th ed., p. 228). Cengage Learning.