Piecing together information through Jigsaw

As a class, we took part in a Jigsaw method of learning. The Jigsaw method involves students breaking up into groups, called their home or base groups. Each member of the base group is assigned a topic, in our case it was a different Native American Tribe. Then, everyone in the class that is assigned the same topic forms another group. These new groups are called your expert groups. So, I met with four of my other classmates and this was our expert group. Together, we each researched about our Native American Tribe, which was the Muscogee Tribe. We each took a different element of the tribe to research. In our PowerPoint I personally researched the history of the Muscogee Tribe and the important people associated with tribe. We continued researching until we all essentially became "experts" on our tribe. After we declared ourselves experts, we returned to our home/base groups. Then, we each taught our classmates about our Native American Tribe through the use of some form of technology. My expert group and I chose to use a PowerPoint. 

The Jigsaw method requires all group members to contribute to the process and we each become dependent on each other. After we all finished our projects and teaching each other we were able to piece together all the information from each member to learn about all the Native American Tribes. So, in the end we were all educated and all the pieces of information we learned fit together just like a jigsaw puzzle!

This is an excellent method that I would definitely utilize in my classroom one day. This teaches students how to effectively work in groups and collaborate as well as giving them the chance to experience being both the student and the teacher! This method shows the importance of communication skills and responsibility. With younger students it would be practical to assign roles within the groups. This is a great form of cooperative learning that gives students the chance to stray away from the traditional learning styles in the classroom like a direct method. I think that students of all ages would benefit and thoroughly enjoy this activity. I am very glad that I got the chance to take part and experience it!