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This teacher explains Jigsaw so well and simply. This lesson plan is so versatile and can connect a variety of ideas as students corroborate away from their "family" group and then come back to that "family" with new information.

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I was like a kid on Christmas Eve last Tuesday! I could not get through Science fast enough with my first class!! I love trying creative, out-of-the-box strategies ( spoiler-like my new favorite the jigsaw) with my students. Put that together with American History, and my enthusiasm was of epic proportions! If this is your first post of mine, I am a 5th grade teacher in suburban Atlanta. My grade level is departmentalized and I teach Science and Social Studies. I have a VERY strong preference towards one of those;).

We are finishing up World War I, and the students had a test Friday. I wanted to make sure I built in some time for reviewing since we covered quite a bit of content. So, I've been wanting to try out a strategy called " Jigsaw " all year since learning about it in my Gifted Endorsement course. After the great 5th Grade Blab Show discussion recently about student-led classrooms, I decided I had to try it out last week as the perfect review for one of my classes! Well, number one my students were SO into the activity, it stretched out 3 days. They LOVED it! So don't plan on one 45 minute block like I originally did!

The Jigsaw Method is a baby step into student-directed learning. It works best as a review strategy at first since you are just facilitating instruction. It's highly effective with gifted learners since it fosters collaboration and creativity! Students break into groups, which in essence are a complete puzzle. Then each "piece of the puzzle" meets with pieces of other "puzzles" to discuss ways to present the assigned content back to the original puzzle!

Step 1

I'm assuming you have tables or groups in your class. If not, cluster your kids into 5 groups. Label each "home group" with A, B, C, D, E. I referred to them as family groups. Then I explained that each kid was going to leave their family and visit a new country called 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5. And then they will come back to their family and teach them what they learned!

Step 2

Within each group, assign a kid to be number 1 and then have them count off to 5. Or if you want to live dangerously let them count off themselves. I gave them a label with their number to use to mark their work space and their topic card.

Step 3

Off into their Learning Group Land, students collaborate to create an interesting way to present the content to their family. WOW!! I had props, posters, skits, poems, songs, speeches, and a reenactment of The Treaty of Versailles!! Remind them they will be the ONLY one from the Learning Group presenting to their family. One of my groups planned an elaborate skit and I had to redirect them to make sure it was a one man show instead! Then we came up with the puppet idea. I had a bazillion coffee stirrers left over from ages ago! Perfect for sticks!

Step 4

The students came back to their Home Group and taught the rest of their family the content. They did such an outstanding job!! I captured them in action on Periscope!! Each kiddo recorded what their other Home Group members shared in the WWI graphic organizer! Then they stuck it in their Interactive Notebook as yet another set of notes!

Modification Idea

I adjusted this activity for one of my classes by making it more teacher directed. I assigned a table group one of the same topics I gave my other class and let them present their content to the whole class. This kept them more on task. My higher learners were engaged and could have planned their presentations for about 3 more days than the original 3 I gave them!

Jigsaws Beyond Social Studies

I decided to create a generic version of this as well so it can be used with any subject! Even math;). Expect to walk your kiddos step by step through it the first time. I included some very specific directions with my Jigsaw products. I plan to use these as standardized test review so I am going to create them for all the content I cover. It even works for science. I took a topic that the students just needed to know the basics of and created a jigsaw. Here is how I used it for Science.

You can find the WWI version and several under SS-themed Jigsaw in my new custom category appropriately called Jigsaw Review Sheets. It made me pretty nervous to try something so different but I'm glad I did! My students were raving and I really enjoyed seeing them in a different light! Who knew I had some budding Oscar winners??

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Using the Jigsaw Method in Social Studies

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This post outlines how I used the Jigsaw Method in Social Studies to review World War I with 5th graders and offers modification ideas for all learners.

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Students could use the ozobots to create an explorer map. As students learn about the many early explorers, I can split students into groups and have them read about their explorer and then draw a map of the world (roughly). Then they can track where the explorer went using the ozobots. I was able to witness a lesson taught using them for a Utah History lesson and I was amazed at how interactive and fun they are for kids to use! Students that can get up and play and be creative (ozobots let you create a path with variations...i.e. the bot will spin, the bot will go backward, etc.) There are special markers and codes you make with the markers that tell the bots what to do. This is a great activity to connect students to technology as well as use their creativity and implement their own personal ideas into their assignment.

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https://teachinghistory.org/sites/default/files/SAC-Documents.pdf

The documents above present each side of the argument and the handout below poses the question "Was Lincoln a Racist?"
Students can actively debate this using the sources provided  and with the questions in the handout.
Having students debate, connects them to each other as well as topics that are currently being debated in the world. Racism is a big issue topic right now, so having a safe environment for students to debate their thoughts on someone from history is a great way to discuss difficult things that are controversial.

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This teacher offers an incredible example of Inquiry based learning  and the main question she poses is "why do I exist?" and "who am I?" These overarching questions are posed to the students as they dive into deeper into the sources they are answering this question for. For example: a book they are reading, they will read it with the question in mind, "why does this person exist?" The student are actively engaged. I really like how the teacher arranged the tables as well as how she sat down with them (putting her at their level). She facilitated the discussion, but she isn't lecturing.
Through discussion and exploration, the students are able to reach conclusions on their own merits and interpretations. I

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STUDENTS AT THE CENTER: Inquiry-Based Learning at Pittsfield Middle High School

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To engage students in history, I would have students get into groups of 2-3. I would hand out a scenario each group that would contain a violation of one of the rights listed in the Bill of Rights. The students would be instructed to investigate within the Bill of Rights to answer these questions: What is the issue? How is this a violation of their rights? What right does it specifically violate? Explain how this person should proceed. Students would then go to the Bill of Rights as well as any other approved source to look for answers on their scenario. Students would be able to present the information in any format they would like (video, google slides, text, audio, etc.)