How I Use Jigsaw

For my first post I would love to share one of my favorite cooperative learning strategies I use in my classroom, Jigsaw. The jigsaw strategy is such an easy way to get everyone involved in the class discussion without having to speak in front of the class. As a child I was very shy. Speaking in front of the class was my biggest fear and it took away from my learning. If I knew I had to speak in front of the class that’s all I thought about the whole time instead of learning what I needed to be learning. This is why I love cooperative learning strategies that get the student up, moving, and teaching each other. Keep in mind I teach 1st grade so I have to modify it to fit the needs of my students as you have to do with everything you do as a teacher. My students don’t read lengthy articles and teach each other about what they learned while reading. Instead we do this strategy more with math. 

I give each “expert” group a different problem to solve with a certain strategy to use. I give them all individual time to solve the problem and then I allow them to get back with their expert groups and check with each other to make sure they got the answer correct and used the strategy they correct way. After this they divide up into groups with 1 person from each expert group in the group. They all go around the table explaining/teaching how they solved their problem.