Jigsaw activities are a great way to promote group work and discussion in your class and are very easy to set up.
With jigsaw reading, for example, divide your class into groups of 4/5 learners and then divide up the reading text between the individual learners of each group. Individual learners should then read their extract/part of the text silently to themselves and then try to summarise its content to the other members of the group. Once all group members have presented their texts in this way, the group should then try to decide on the order of the extracts and then check by reading the whole text. This is an excellent activity not only for encouraging learners to speak but to read for gist and summarise content.
Jigsaw texts can also be used to develop writing skills. Dividing a text up into blocks of meanings or physical blocks such as paragraphs or sentences, distributing them among individual learners and then inviting them to reconstruct the original will draw learners’ attention to those features of text organization and linking that are essential for successful writing.
Information-gaps underpin the success of these jigsaw activities. In information gap activities, the speaker is saying something that the listener does not already know but is of interest to him/her.
Whether a teacher is exploiting a text or a visual, information-gap activities can be conducted in a simple and effective way. A simple picture can be cut up and distributed between members of group or placed so that only certain learners can see it. Learners then describe what they see and their counterparts have to draw what is described – querying and asking for clarification as appropriate. Similarly, individual learners can be given different pictures from a series of pictures which tell a story. The learners then describe their pictures to one another and reconstruct the story.
Alternatively, learners can be set a jigsaw problem-solving task in which they are given a context, for example being shipwrecked on a desert island, and asked to say as individuals which five objects they would like to have with them e.g. a tent, a torch, some matches etc. Learners then present and justify their choices to each other before deciding which five objects the group would like to have them.
If teachers want their learners to become creative in the ways in which they use English and to develop communication strategies, then they must provide opportunities for interaction. Information gaps of which jigsaw tasks are a few are a simple and effective way of doing so.
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