Choose an instructional strategy from this chapter and answer the following questions. You DO NOT need to respond to colleagues for this chapter.
1. What are the key components of the strategy?
2. How would you need to adjust your planning in order to use the strategy with fidelity?
3. What are some other questions or factors you need to consider as you plan to implement this strategy for the purpose of differentiation? Chapter 8
1. There are several key components of Jigsaw:
(1) The teacher introduces students to a topic or idea the Jigsaw groups will study.
(2) Students meet in home base groups where they look at the directions and materials for the task.
(3) Groups work in teams to learn about the topic assigned to them. Each group should have about the same number of students.
(4) The overall task should have as many parts as there are students in the group. Each person in the group is assigned a part.
(5) Students divide into "expert groups" or "study groups". They research their topic or question. Members of this group discuss what they have each learned and share it with each other.
(6) Students in the expert groups return to their home base groups and share what they have learned with the home base group.
(7) The teacher often leads a whole group discussion to bring together all of the important information and ideas.
(8) Differentiation is possible with reading levels and assigned topics.
2. I am very familiar with this strategy. I have used it in the past, but I also had a course at NDSU that was done entirely with this strategy! I have to be honest. I hated it! The reason I disliked it was because I was in the same group for the whole 10 week quarter, and I had two people in my group that were not very competent. They came back to the home base group and did not have their assignments done well, so the group did not have the information needed. I felt my work suffered because of them. That bothered me because I wanted to do well and others were preventing me from doing that. I would have rather done the entire task myself. However, I would never use it that way. I would always have different groups each time I used the strategy, but I think there will always be students like me who feel some group members are not doing a good job.
Social studies would be perfect for this strategy. That is the subject I used it for in the past. There are tasks that I have had students do on their own in the past that I could easily now use this strategy with. I do not think the time required to complete the task would be much longer than if the students completed it on their own. Before Thanksgiving I have the students do some small group work, and some whole group reading and discussion on the experience of the Pilgrims. It also involves several videos. I have always felt the content was good, but I have struggled with the presentation of the material. I really feel this mini unit would be a great opportunity for me to try Jigsaw again!
3. I think one of the most important tasks for a teacher using this strategy is the formation of the groups. A lot of thought would be needed to make the groups. My college teachers did not have the advantage of knowing everyone in the class. They put us into random groups. I would form the home base groups with all ability levels, but I would have my expert group members at the same level. Some expert groups would have easier tasks then others. Although the tasks would be easier, students would still need to do individual work. There could be a problem with some groups finishing their "part" before other groups that have a more time-consuming and difficult "part". There could also be a problem just like I had in my college course. If one group member does not bring back the necessary information, the home base group is affected. I think I would make sure that does not happen. My college class had many students, but there were several instructors. However, they were still not aware when group members were not doing their "part" well.
