Jigsaw Reading
1 of 4
A text like this one, in four
A jigsaw shares a long text out. Each group reads one section closely, then teaches it to a mixed group, so everyone gets the whole text for the reading of a quarter. Cut the text at its own headings, not by word count, so each part makes sense alone.
The handout
Does hot water dissolve sugar faster?
1 Aim and hypothesis: to find out whether hotter water dissolves sugar faster. We predict it will.
2 Variables: we change the water temperature and measure the time. We keep the sugar and the stirring the same.
3 Method: five beakers at different temperatures, one spoon of sugar each, stirred for one minute and timed.
4 Results and conclusions: the hotter the water, the faster the sugar dissolved. A table, a graph and an evaluation.
Lesson WeaverMake this in Go ReadYour jobChoose what you would do at each step. Every option is something tutors really do.
Level 3 Applied Science · planning · turn 1 of 5
The handout
Does hot water dissolve sugar faster?
1 Aim and hypothesis: to find out whether hotter water dissolves sugar faster. We predict it will.
2 Variables: we change the water temperature and measure the time. We keep the sugar and the stirring the same.
3 Method: five beakers at different temperatures, one spoon of sugar each, stirred for one minute and timed.
4 Results and conclusions: the hotter the water, the faster the sugar dissolved. A table, a graph and an evaluation.
Lesson WeaverMake this in Go Read
What is happeningThe write-up is four pages. You need four sections.
What do you do?
Pick one.
About 25 minutes (a suggestion): expert groups, mixed groups, and a quiz that needs everyone.
Why this works in your room
A long text gets read closely, by everyone, in one lesson.
For your learners: Each learner is the expert on one part and has to make it clear to others.
For you: The moves are planned, so the lesson goes on reading, not on organising.
Split by meaning
Before the lesson
At the text's own headings. Hardest section to the group most ready. Letters A to E on the sheets.
Expert groups
10 minutes
Read the section. Fill the sheet: 15, 10, 5 words, one line, one question.
Check, then move
2 minutes of those 10
Each group's one line to you first. All the A's to table 1.
Mixed groups
10 minutes
Each expert teaches their part. If one is absent, two tables pair up.
Optional: end with a quiz
5 minutes
Two questions that need all four sections. Mixed groups answer, then the room.
Elsewhere in Bradford ThreadWorks
Big 4Breakout rooms in Teams, for a jigsaw online.Open Big 4 (opens in a new tab)- Lesson WeaverGo Read writes a text in four sections for expert groups.Open Lesson Weaver (opens in a new tab)
Prompts to paste into Copilot
Two prompts to paste into Copilot. They are our own wording, not Big 4 training. Change what is in brackets, and leave out learners' names.
Split my text for a jigsaw
Here is a text for [level] [subject] learners. [paste the text]. Split it into four sections where its meaning changes, each making sense on its own. Say which section is hardest and why. Then write one question that can only be answered with information from all four sections.
A note grid for experts
For a jigsaw on [topic] with [level] [subject] learners, write a one-page note grid each expert fills in: their section in 15, 10 and 5 words, the most important thing from it, and one question to ask the mixed group.
Working together on purpose
The Education Endowment Foundation finds collaborative learning works best when the task is structured and each learner has a role they are responsible for, which is what an expert section gives them.
EEF Teaching and Learning Toolkit: collaborative learning approaches (opens in a new tab)Summarising is a reading strategy
Summarising what was read is one of the reading comprehension strategies the EEF Toolkit rates among the highest-impact, lowest-cost approaches.
EEF Teaching and Learning Toolkit: reading comprehension strategies (opens in a new tab)How sure is this?
Moderately. Jigsaw groups go back to Elliot Aronson's classroom work in the 1970s, and structured group work is well supported. Its success depends on the planning more than most strategies. The method here is from the college's CPD deck, Reading Across the Curriculum.
Aronson, The Jigsaw Classroom