JIGSAW AND EXPERT GROUPS
The Jigsaw method is
the foundation upon which the the 21st century classroom and curriculum are
organized. Always have Expert Groups that Jigsaw and teach each other.
Research indicates that students retain 90% of what they have learned when they
teach others and use their learning immediately. See our page - What Causes
To use the Jigsaw
method, you simply divide your class into several groups of about 5 to 6
students each. Each of these groups is designated as an Expert Group.
Groups - each
expert group will have the responsibility to become experts on one aspect of
what the class is studying. For example, if your theme is the environment, your
expert groups could be: Land, Air, Water and Man's Impact on the Environment (I
had those groups one time for a fifth grade class because that's how the
excellent materials I found were organized, and it worked very well.)Or,
if your class is studying the media, your experts could be Television, Film,
Radio, and Print. Students will have access only to the materials/information
assigned to their group. In other words, the students in the Television expert
group will not have access to the materials being studied by the students in the
Film, Radio and Print groups. These experts must become knowledgeable enough on
their content to be able to teach it to the other students, and they must
prepare to do so.
Groups - a
Jigsaw Group is formed by at least one expert from each of the Expert Groups.
When they get together, each expert will then teach the others the topic on
which he is an expert. So, the Television Expert will teach about television to
the Film, Radio and Print experts. And so on.
I recommend that the
students build on a huge concept map for their theme as they teach each other.
This way, they have the added advantage of kinesthetic and visual learning, and
they are making the connections among the various aspects of the theme they are
studying. I usually give the students a piece of bulletin board paper about six
feet long, and let them use markers. Each time they meet and teach, they update
and expand their concept map.