Happy Thursday, readers!
Today we will be examining an interesting strategy that works particularly well when students need to learn a large amount of information in a relatively short amount of time. This style is Jigsaw, or a “cooperative learning technique that reduces racial conflict among school children, promotes better learning, improves student motivation, and increases enjoyment of the learning experience” (“The Jigsaw Classroom,” 2016). This strategy essentially involves organizing students into groups and assigning each group a specific sub-topic. After the student groups have conducted research or completed their assignment on their sub-topic, each group can share what they have learned with the rest of the class. In this way, students are able to become experts on part of the information and then have the opportunity to learn a much more impressive scope of information from their peers.
According to Colosi and Zales (1988), Jigsaw cooperative learning techniques are valuable tools to use not only in Language Arts classrooms, but biology labs as well. They describe that the process encourages students to hone their social skills while seeking out support on laboratory procedures in order to transition from passive learners into active participants. This technique ties in very smoothly to the Kagan focus on positive interdependence. Students know that they are not only completing their group’s work in order to learn the material for themselves, but they are now responsible for helping their classmates to succeed by the information they present when they share out in front of other groups.
Among the many advantages of Jigsaw is how well the cooperative learning strategy lends itself to differentiating instruction in the classroom. Students can be grouped by the teacher on specific topics and provided with specific documents or reading/viewing tasks appropriate to their level. At the same time, they can be given challenging assignments through which support and scaffolded by other group members (Filkins, 2016). I have taken advantage of this through the use of Newsela articles. The original article I chose discussed the role of phone usage among teens and was over ten pages long. However, I divided the assignment into parts and categorically grouped my students together to analyze different passages. Utilizing Newsela’s feature to adjust the reading level of the passages, I was able to provide appropriate passages to each group based on their level of readiness.
Filkins (2016) also shares in his research some important information regarding the implementation of the Jigsaw cooperative learning strategy. An excellent way to introduce this technique is through teacher modeling. Teachers can showcase how the strategy works, provide a video that describes the process and value of the strategy for students, and initiate such questions as “How can I put these ideas into my own words?” or “What connections do I see between this material and things we’ve already learned in class?” A teacher might also hold a class discussion in which students share appropriate ways to collaborate with one another and address one another during group learning respectfully. After the process and purpose of jigsaw is made clear to students, the teacher can then provide a divided reading or lesson for student groups to cover.
During the jigsaw process, it is important for the teacher to remain circulating and active among the students. While the work and involvement should be among the individual student groups, the teacher must observe and support these groups “with guidance” that encourages this “deliberately arrange and carefully organized” (Colosi & Zales, 1998, p. 118) form of cooperative learning in the classroom. Students may need a helping hand, but responsibility should ultimately be put upon the students for finding solutions and preparing a clear presentation of information to provide to their peers. Including specific roles like Researcher, Transcriber, Supporter, Artist, etc. can be adjusted to your own teaching style and process. It is also important to remember to allow adequate time for both the research process and the student presentations themselves. Although successful jigsaw strategies can be incorporated into a single class period, allowing for at least two days can yield great results for overall student achievement.
I try to use the Jigsaw cooperative learning strategy at least once per unit (often once per month). I find that students really enjoy working with one another and find it a fun and interesting opportunity to become the “teachers” or “experts” on a particular subject. I also really like how I can remind students that their best work is expected because they are not simply giving me the information, but they are accountable for helping share the main ideas of their subtopic or reading passage with the rest of the class. This accountability can result in higher levels of student commitment and investment to the in-class assignment ("The Jigsaw Classroom," 2016). I personally have used this technique to good effect when introducing Shakespeare. Rather than simply create a long PowerPoint of biographical information, I instead offered handouts to each learning group on different aspects of the historical context at the time (such as Shakespeare’s life, the Globe Theater, English culture, etc.) I distributed a large sheet of paper to each group to write down the main ideas and prepare to present by the end of the class period. The students did a great job of summarizing key areas of the text and presenting, though we did run short on time, and one group was rushed in their presentation. Consequently, the only area in which I would like to improve next time is to have split the activity up into at least two days. Although we have long class periods at 85 minutes each, there was simply not enough time for students to read, discuss, research, and prepare their Shakespeare presentations in a single class period. Next time, I would have allowed students to complete their research and planning on the first day, and then proceed to present their work together the following class period. Overall, however, I found this one example of Jigsaw to be an exemplary strategy that promoted cooperative learning and a whole lot of fun for students.
Fellow teachers, I hope you found this post on Jigsaw to be helpful! How do you conduct Jigsaw in your classroom? What are your teaching experiences with it? Here are a couple of additional resources on this effective teaching technique for you to consider.
http://www.adlit.org/strategies/22371/
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/strategy/strategy036.shtml
I look forward to sharing a new addition to our Cooperative Strategies Teaching Blog soon! Please have a great week!
Sincerely,
Ryan
References
Colosi, J.C., & Zales, C.P. (1988). Jigsaw cooperative learning improves biology lab courses. Bioscience (48)2, 118-124.
Filkins, S. (2016). Strategy guide: Using the jigsaw cooperative learning technique. Retrieved August 4, 2016, from http://www.readwritethink.org/professional-development/strategy-guides/using-jigsaw-cooperative-learning-30599.html
The Jigsaw Classroom. (2016). Retrieved from http://jigsaw.org.
Today we will be examining an interesting strategy that works particularly well when students need to learn a large amount of information in a relatively short amount of time. This style is Jigsaw, or a “cooperative learning technique that reduces racial conflict among school children, promotes better learning, improves student motivation, and increases enjoyment of the learning experience” (“The Jigsaw Classroom,” 2016). This strategy essentially involves organizing students into groups and assigning each group a specific sub-topic. After the student groups have conducted research or completed their assignment on their sub-topic, each group can share what they have learned with the rest of the class. In this way, students are able to become experts on part of the information and then have the opportunity to learn a much more impressive scope of information from their peers.
According to Colosi and Zales (1988), Jigsaw cooperative learning techniques are valuable tools to use not only in Language Arts classrooms, but biology labs as well. They describe that the process encourages students to hone their social skills while seeking out support on laboratory procedures in order to transition from passive learners into active participants. This technique ties in very smoothly to the Kagan focus on positive interdependence. Students know that they are not only completing their group’s work in order to learn the material for themselves, but they are now responsible for helping their classmates to succeed by the information they present when they share out in front of other groups.
Among the many advantages of Jigsaw is how well the cooperative learning strategy lends itself to differentiating instruction in the classroom. Students can be grouped by the teacher on specific topics and provided with specific documents or reading/viewing tasks appropriate to their level. At the same time, they can be given challenging assignments through which support and scaffolded by other group members (Filkins, 2016). I have taken advantage of this through the use of Newsela articles. The original article I chose discussed the role of phone usage among teens and was over ten pages long. However, I divided the assignment into parts and categorically grouped my students together to analyze different passages. Utilizing Newsela’s feature to adjust the reading level of the passages, I was able to provide appropriate passages to each group based on their level of readiness.
Filkins (2016) also shares in his research some important information regarding the implementation of the Jigsaw cooperative learning strategy. An excellent way to introduce this technique is through teacher modeling. Teachers can showcase how the strategy works, provide a video that describes the process and value of the strategy for students, and initiate such questions as “How can I put these ideas into my own words?” or “What connections do I see between this material and things we’ve already learned in class?” A teacher might also hold a class discussion in which students share appropriate ways to collaborate with one another and address one another during group learning respectfully. After the process and purpose of jigsaw is made clear to students, the teacher can then provide a divided reading or lesson for student groups to cover.
During the jigsaw process, it is important for the teacher to remain circulating and active among the students. While the work and involvement should be among the individual student groups, the teacher must observe and support these groups “with guidance” that encourages this “deliberately arrange and carefully organized” (Colosi & Zales, 1998, p. 118) form of cooperative learning in the classroom. Students may need a helping hand, but responsibility should ultimately be put upon the students for finding solutions and preparing a clear presentation of information to provide to their peers. Including specific roles like Researcher, Transcriber, Supporter, Artist, etc. can be adjusted to your own teaching style and process. It is also important to remember to allow adequate time for both the research process and the student presentations themselves. Although successful jigsaw strategies can be incorporated into a single class period, allowing for at least two days can yield great results for overall student achievement.
I try to use the Jigsaw cooperative learning strategy at least once per unit (often once per month). I find that students really enjoy working with one another and find it a fun and interesting opportunity to become the “teachers” or “experts” on a particular subject. I also really like how I can remind students that their best work is expected because they are not simply giving me the information, but they are accountable for helping share the main ideas of their subtopic or reading passage with the rest of the class. This accountability can result in higher levels of student commitment and investment to the in-class assignment ("The Jigsaw Classroom," 2016). I personally have used this technique to good effect when introducing Shakespeare. Rather than simply create a long PowerPoint of biographical information, I instead offered handouts to each learning group on different aspects of the historical context at the time (such as Shakespeare’s life, the Globe Theater, English culture, etc.) I distributed a large sheet of paper to each group to write down the main ideas and prepare to present by the end of the class period. The students did a great job of summarizing key areas of the text and presenting, though we did run short on time, and one group was rushed in their presentation. Consequently, the only area in which I would like to improve next time is to have split the activity up into at least two days. Although we have long class periods at 85 minutes each, there was simply not enough time for students to read, discuss, research, and prepare their Shakespeare presentations in a single class period. Next time, I would have allowed students to complete their research and planning on the first day, and then proceed to present their work together the following class period. Overall, however, I found this one example of Jigsaw to be an exemplary strategy that promoted cooperative learning and a whole lot of fun for students.
Fellow teachers, I hope you found this post on Jigsaw to be helpful! How do you conduct Jigsaw in your classroom? What are your teaching experiences with it? Here are a couple of additional resources on this effective teaching technique for you to consider.
http://www.adlit.org/strategies/22371/
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/strategy/strategy036.shtml
I look forward to sharing a new addition to our Cooperative Strategies Teaching Blog soon! Please have a great week!
Sincerely,
Ryan
References
Colosi, J.C., & Zales, C.P. (1988). Jigsaw cooperative learning improves biology lab courses. Bioscience (48)2, 118-124.
Filkins, S. (2016). Strategy guide: Using the jigsaw cooperative learning technique. Retrieved August 4, 2016, from http://www.readwritethink.org/professional-development/strategy-guides/using-jigsaw-cooperative-learning-30599.html
The Jigsaw Classroom. (2016). Retrieved from http://jigsaw.org.