Jigsaw A Social Interactive Model for Teaching

Each piece of the puzzle is needed in order to create the whole picture

Definition A cooperative learning strategy that enables each student of a “home” group to specialize in one aspect of a learning unit It helps students create their own learning.

Description Teachers arrange students in groups. Each group member is assigned a different piece of information. Group members then join with members of other groups assigned the same piece of information, and research and/or share ideas about the information. S Students return to their original groups to try to "piece together" a clear picture of the topic at hand

JIGSAW Strategy Guidelines: Step 1 Identify a range of materials related to significant topics addressed in the lesson. Consider the students who will be involved in this exercise, and if necessary, try to identify selections of varying text difficulty and sophistication.

Step 2 Organize the class into cooperative groups of 4 to 6 people, with the group size corresponding to the number of selections to be assigned. Each group member receives the task of reading one of the targeted selections.

Step 3 Next, students read their selections independently. If the materials are photocopied, encourage students to underline important information they will need to share with their group.

Step 4 All of the students who read the same selections now meet together as a new group to compare notes and discuss concepts and information they feel are most important. This second group also creates a summary of key points, a concept map, a graphic outline, or highlighted notes which will then be photocopied and handed to members of the original group when each person goes back to present what should be learned from this particular material.

Step 5 The final piece to the Jigsaw activity involves a return meeting of the original group. During this time, individual group members share in turn the pertinent information related to each selection. The rest of the group is accountable for learning this new information, which will be assessed during the evaluation of this unit of study.

JIGSAW Strategy Phases: Involves Implementation Students are divided into working groups (4-5 per group) with general instructions. Packets are distributed to the group; group members each take one part of the packet.

Phase 1 Each member studies their individual part of the packet – the instructor needs to consider an appropriate amount of time for this initial work phase.

Phase 2 Each member discusses/teaches their specific information to other group members.

Phase 3 Group members complete the task.

Adaptations There are limitless ways of adapting the jigsaw structure Give students subtopics to research in the library Have the “home” group write a report or give a class presentation on the overall topic Use outlines or study guides of what each subtopic should cover and have students become experts on the material

Assessment by the Teacher students' degree of mastery of all the material Reward the groups whose members all reach the preset criterion of excellence or give bonus points on their individual scores if this criteria is met

Assessment by the Student how well their group did in the jigsaw active listening checking each other for understanding encouraging each other set goals for further interaction

Teaching Tips Prepare…know what you want the students to learn Use open ended questions Think through the management of the activity Be sure there is something for each member of the group to do and it is meaningful Don’t give up the first time you try Circulate, listen to the groups, and give a lot of support It can be used with other teaching strategies It works even if only used for an hour per day

Examples: Social Studies: The life of Eleanor Roosevelt (1) Her childhood (2) Her family life with Franklin and their children (3) Her life after Franklin contracted polio (4) Her work in the White House as First Lady (5) Her life and work after Franklin’s death

Reading/ Language Arts: Fairy Tales Students divide into 5 equal groups; each group gets one fairy tale to read and must collect the following information: Who are the characters in the story? Where does the story take place? What are the major events of the story? Are there any magical or supernatural events? If so, what are they? Break students into Jigsaw groups; one person from each fairy tale assembles a new group; each student is given 3 minutes to tell their new group what the fairy tale they read was about; the Jigsaw groups must create a poster and give a presentation addressing these two points: What do all five stories have in common? Using what you found in common, write your own definition for a fairy tale.

Helpful Sites lhttp://olc.spsd.sk.ca/DE/PD/coop/page4.htm l world.com/a_curr/curr324.shtml