601.2.08 human learning and development - Essay Example

The first step in our Jigsaw learning activity about saltwater marshes is to establish the Jigsaw group. This group is a heterogeneous grouping of students. Students of various reading levels, cultural backgrounds and sexes are mixed together in this group. This type of grouping helps children learn to value one another despite their differences and to efficiently learn the material (Aronson, 2008). For this activity, the students will be in Jigsaw groups of three. The next step is to assign each member of the Jigsaw group a part of the assignment.

One student will study tidal changes, another learns about plants and the last studies animals. Each student is given a reading assignment with the information they need and an outline organizer to help them record the most important information. On this sheet there will be a place to note the definitions relevant to their section. They are to define the term using context clues in the reading. This step is vital to the success of the final group project. Slavin suggests that students be randomly assigned to their topic (1994) but students must be given reading that is on their level in order to succeed.

I feel this step is a great place to differentiate instruction. For example, the student with the lowest reading ability in each Jigsaw group could be assigned to study animals. The reading and outline for these students can be differentiated according to their readiness to learn. This type of differentiation has been shown to improve student understanding of material (Tomlinson, 1999). Once students have become experts through their independent study of the assigned topic, they are ready to meet in the expert group.

In the expert group, students share their information with one another. This serves two purposes. First, the students can check to be sure the information they have recorded is accurate. Second, the students can practice how they will present their information to the other students in their Jigsaw group. This step is important because it results in uniform and accurate information being shared in each Jigsaw group. After this step, the original Jigsaw groups are gathered again. One by one, the students share their information with each other.

The two students listening take notes using an organizer that helps them listen and record the spoken information. Specifically, the organizer helps the students look for ways the information being presented can be integrated into their own information. This will help the students prepare to accomplish the final group goal of writing their five-fact paragraph. This step also requires the students to practice speaking and listening skills. Personal assessment for the activity can center on the worksheet compiled during independent study and conferencing in the expert group.

The student could be assessed on the quality of their definition attached to each key word, the depth of answers shared with the Jigsaw group and the quality of writing on the organizer outline. An alternative to assessing the study materials would be to give each student a brief quiz concerning the section they studied before convening the expert group. The group assessment would utilize the final draft of the five-fact paragraph. This would be a good group assessment because the previous individual assessment would ensure the group was getting good information from each expert member.

The group nature of integrating the facts from the different experts would require everyone to work together in a cooperative way. I like the idea of using the paragraph as the assessment tool for the group better than giving the students a test on all three sections discussed in the group. I feel that the formulation of a paragraph with five integrated facts requires a greater amount of cooperation than taking an individual test. I suppose that a follow-up quiz would be a good idea to see how much each individual in the group retained from the activity.

But I do not feel this would be the best measure of how well the group worked together to accomplish the objectives of the lesson.Works CitedAronson, E. (2008). Jigsaw classroom: Overview of the technique. Retrieved May 2, 2008 from http:/www.jigsaw.org/overview.htm/Slavin, R.E. (1994). A practical guide to cooperative learning. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Tomlinson, C.A. (1999). The differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.