Jigsaw
Interpersonal
Interpersonal
The Jigsaw strategy takes a large amount of content to be presented and breaks it into manageable chunks by having students become experts in different elements of the content before sharing their knowledge with one another to build a complete understanding of the content. A Jigsaw lesson follows these steps.
The Jigsaw strategy leverages cooperative and collaborative learning, a well-documented approach to student learning that gets results. Cooperative learning not only leads to deeper understanding and mastery for students, it also provides opportunities for students to work on their interpersonal skills and build norms within their groups. Behavioral norms set by students are more likely to be adhered to as students have taken ownership of creating them.
Jigsaw relies heavily on structured research and benefits from graphic organizers to support experts as they look for pertinent information related to their topic. Consider using a tool like Google Drawings to create graphic organizer templates for students to use as they gather and record information. These organizers, when filled in, can be distributed electronically within teams so that all members have access to the information. An additional graphic organizer that synthesizes all of the information gathered by experts should be created to demonstrate how each expert’s content is related to the larger picture of the learning.