JIGSAW Troubleshooting

What if you have an uneven number? Have students move into round 1 (color) groups as usual because the uneven number will not affect this grouping. However, when students move into round 2 (number) groups, you will have some leftover students. Have those leftover students see you and then disperse those students into groups as you see fit. Example: If you have 27 students and you need five color groups, there will be three color groups with five numbers and two color groups with six numbers; therefore, when students move into number groups, there will be two leftover students. Have those two students see you when moving to round two and assign those students to a group in which you think they are most needed. Round 1 (Color Groups) Blue- #s 1-5 Red- #s 1-5 Orange- #s 1-5 Yellow- #s 1-6 Purple- #s 1-6 Round 2 (Number Groups) #1 (blue, red, orange, yellow, purple) #2 (blue, red, orange, yellow, purple) #3 (blue, red, orange, yellow, purple) #4 (blue, red, orange, yellow, purple) #5 (blue, red, orange, yellow, purple) #6 (yellow, purple) These are the two leftovers,
so these two students will be assigned to one of the other number groups. Once you do this, two groups will have two yellow members and two purple members.

What if the groups are too big? You can divide students into smaller groups based on numbers. For instance, if you have 8 in each group, but you would rather have four, simply have 1-4 of each color meet as a group, and 5-8 of each color meet as a group. Blue 1-4 Blue 5-8 Red 1-4 Red 5-8 Orange1-4 Orange 5-8 Yellow 1-4 Yellow 5-8 Purple 1-4 Purple 5-8

Now, you have more groups, but there are only four per group. Have them move to number groups as usual. When they move to number groups, you will still only have 5 per group. What if things are not working out the way I planned? If you notice that something is not working, brainstorm a solution. Take a time out to talk to the class as a whole. Try not to make any major changes, and do not change things too often.