THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THINK PAIR SHARE TO INCREASE STUDENTS’ READING SKILL AT THE SEVENTH GRADE OF SMPN I PARANG IN THE ACADEMIC YEAR OF 2011/2012

Key Words: Think Pair Share Startegy, Reading Skill

English is an important language in the world. English is used as a means of communication among the countries. We know that English Language is one of International Languages that is used by people in the world. Reading is one of the important skills in English and it gives many benefits for us. By reading, the reader can get information directly.
Many students get difficulty to understand reading, because in reading, the students learn analyzing words, sentences, paragraphs and the new English term which are different from day by day.
In teaching reading, we can use strategies to increase students’ reading skill. One of that strategy is Think Pair Share. Think Pair Share Strategy is a teaching strategy as an interactive approach among students, teachers, and lesson materials.
The statement of problem of this research is how does the implementation of Think-Pair-Share increase student’s reading skill at the seventh grade of SMPN I Parang in the academic year of 2011/2012.
The subject of this research was the students of the seventh grade of SMPN I Parang in the academic year of 2011/2012 which consisted of 27 students. The research was started on April 2nd, 2012 until April 14th, 2012. This research was conducted in two cycles. The researcher used three research instruments. There are observation check list, questionnaire, and test.
Based on the result of this research, the implementation of Think Pair Share Strategy can improve students’ reading skill in SMPN I Parang. It was seen from the lowest score in cycle 1 is 62.5 became 77.5 in cycle 2. The questionnaire result showed that students enjoyed and became active during teaching learning process.
Finally, the researcher gives suggestion that English teachers can use Think Pair Share Strategy as alternative strategy in teaching reading