ESL Article: The Jigsaw Classroom

Hello visitors, in this post I am going to write about a cooperative learning strategy: the jigsaw classroom. This technique  can be applied in large classes as well as in small ones.

-What is it?-
The jigsaw classroom is a technique, designed by Elliot Aronson, that enables each student of a 'home' group to specialize in one aspect of a topic.

-Advantages of the jigsaw classroom-
1) It helps to build reading comprehension.
2) It encourages a synergic learning
3) It develops listening, communication, and problem-solving skills.

-Steps to prepare a jigsaw activity-

1) Divide the group into teams (it is recommended to have the same amount of students in each group). Each group has a leader.

2) Give each group a topic of the lesson.

3) Ask students to read and comprehend their topic. And then, ask them to be ready to explain it.

4) Ask them to change to another team. One by one is going to be changed until each new team has members from the different topics.

5) Have students sharing their ideas on their topics while you revise the groups. When they finish, ask them to return to their original teams.

-Optional-

Give each team a quizz about all the topics or ask them orally for information.

-How to implement this technique?-

In this part, I will show you a video that exemplifies a jigsaw activity.

-Sources-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpF9t-mr098
http://www.jigsaw.org/steps.htm
http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/jigsaw/
http://www.k12academics.com/pedagogy/jigsaw-classroom