Teaching Strategy: Jigsaw Collaboration

Teaching Strategies Catalogue

“Jigsaw”
Jigsaw is a teaching strategy that allows for a teacher to break up learning material, so students must reply on each other to learn the required information. For example, you present a lengthy article to your class and then put students into groups where they are assigned different sections. Once assigned their section, they are regrouped with students that share the same section. In their “like groups” they discuss and share their ideas about their section. After they have discussed and shared their section, they return to their original groups, where they piece together the article as a whole. This strategy allows for students to work together on learning the class material. One benefit to this strategy …show more content…
This is a great way to introduce students on the first day. The name game goes as follows; first students arrange chairs in a circle. They are then required to learn the names of the students sitting directly beside them (Left and Right). Once they have had a moment to talk with the people beside them and learn their names, the teacher calls on specific students. The students then tell the class the names of the people whom they just met. It is important to note the students are told beforehand that they will be called upon. Once a couple people are called upon, the teacher says switch. The students’ rearrange, so they are sitting beside new people. They are then required to learn the names of two people sitting beside them instead of just one. The game continues till everyone has learned each other names or enough names that is appropriate for the age level. This game is a great way to build a positive learning environment and allows for students to get to know each other. One negative implication to the name game is for students who may be shy. Although you are trying to break the ice and create a positive learning environment you need to be aware of the negative impacts it could create on specific …show more content…
It can occur in many different ways, such as, a group discussion, a class discussion or an online discussion. Environment is a key component for discussion to work effectively. A positive learning environment, in which students feel safe, will encourage students to partake in discussion. One useful way to use discussion is when presenting or reflecting on a topic. This is a great way for teachers to formatively assess students’ knowledge, and also assess students’ prior knowledge. When discussion is happening, I can analyze students understanding. If the students are have trouble discussing one topic, I may consider re visiting it in another class, or even correcting it on the spot. As per the introduction of a topic, I can observe students pre existing knowledge. Another benefit to discussion is it allows for students to actively participate in the classroom. Which I believe is essential to students learning. The problem with discussion is, not every student may feel comfortable presenting their thoughts or ideas to the class as a whole. I think that is why it would be important to incorporate other forms of discussion such as, online or smaller groups, where students may have more