Jigsaw Sharing: Get Your Students Talking Productively

Teachers, have you ever had trouble with your students failing to complete longer reading assignments?  For example, let's say you assigned four articles  that discuss modern adaptations of Shakespeare's work, and the articles are a total of thirty pages.  Most teachers are probably well aware that not all students are going to read every article all the way through.  This is the perfect time for teachers to use jigsaw sharing. 

Jigsaw sharing splits large chunks of reading among students, giving small portions to a group of students.  In other words, not everyone is responsible for all of the assigned reading.  Each student groups masters their content, then teaches it to the rest of the class.  Here's how it works.

How To Do Jigsaw Sharing

Step 1: Create "Expert Groups" and "Home Groups"

• "Expert Groups"- Teachers will assign each "expert group" one portion of the required reading (you can make this fit whatever you are assigning: one of multiple articles, subsections of a long article, a group of chapters, etc.).  Students in each "expert group" will only be responsible for doing their assigned reading.
• "Home Groups"- "Home Groups" are comprised of students from each "expert group".

Step 2: The Activity

• "Expert Groups" will meet.  Participants from each expert group will come together for a focused discussion to clarify what they read, check for understanding, ask each other questions and raise implications.  
• Experts will return to their "home groups".  Students will then return to their "home groups" and share what they learned.  Students should be taking notes on content that is not their own, and therefore be responsible for understanding the major ideas from all of the readings by the end of the activity.
• Debrief as a class.  When it seems like students have finished discussing the reading material, the teacher can transition into a whole class discussion.  During this time, teachers can reiterate major points, check for understanding, and discuss any questions students still may have.