Category: Cooperative Learning

Tite: #15 Jigsaw

Time Needed: Varied
Room Arrangement: Groups of at least 4 students.
Materials: Depends on activity, usually a reading passage or other item to use for a discussion.
Process/Directions: Have students get into groups (if not already in this arrangement). Explain
that students in each group will read a different part of the text, for example, a page, a paragraph,
etc. The students should make sure they know what they have read and should even take notes.
Have the students take turns reading within each group. Explain that when they are done reading,
each group will report to the rest of the class on what they have read. Allow students enough
time to read and take notes. Call the students back together as a whole and call of the groups, in
order, to report on the main points of their page or section. Another way to use jigsaw is to have
a topic, split the topic into categories and assign the categories to each group (example: Studying
President Washington)
Example of when I would use this:
When reading a science periodical or article.
When reading a chapter of a social studies textbook.
Reading an opinion piece.
Reading a news article.
Studying an historical figure.
Studying the life cycle of a frog.
Source: (T. Sheldon, Personal Communication, April 2014)