Report #4
FIPP Activity Report
Funded by the Basic Skills Initiative
Name Matt Cheung
Date 12/5/09
FIPP Partner Jackie Freedman
Section #6232
Activity /Strategy Jigsaw
Category Classroom activities.
Briefly describe the activity/strategy.
1. Introduction Throughout the semester, I tried various jigsaw strategies. They
all involved students getting into small groups and then moving around the
room to talk to other students before returning to their home groups. The
students took the survey after they did a jigsaw regarding the construction of a
works cited page.
2. Set up & Supplies 1) Bibliographical information for works cited entries.
2) Works Cited reference sheets obtained from the library.
3. Directions : 1) Put students in groups of four. Each person in the group is
responsible for one type of works cited entry -- article, book, website, etc.
2) The students split off from the home groups and make groups with
people working on the same type of entry. Later, they will return to their original
groups to create a works cited page.
4. Conclusion I've taught this way before and it works much better than lecturing.
MLA works cited sheets are not the most exciting topic, so having the students
do something hands-on is must more engaging than listening to a teacher talk.
What worked well? In general, it worked well. In the past, I've had students create a
works cited sheet out of puzzle pieces that I arranged for them. I like that exercise too,
but MLA recently changed their rules which made my exercise out of date.
What would you change? I would give the winning group, the group that made the works
cited sheet the fastest, a prize. I've done that in the past, but this year I did not have any
candy with me. I saw the students were very engaged by the competitive nature of the
exercise, but also somewhat irritated by the tediousness of the task.
Would you use the activity/strategy again? Why or why not? Yes, absolutely. The students
were engaged and working together. I think they got the point and were excited about
winning. One complaint students had was that not all of the group members
participated. This happens in some of the jigsaws when some members don’t pull their
weight. If I could find a way to avoid that, I would.
Please describe any student learning outcomes/changes that you observed after the
implementation of the activity/strategy. On a departmental level, the construction of a
works cited sheet is very important. While it is not explicity stated in the course outline,
familiarity with MLA format is something the English department has stressed in its
department meetings. On an institutional level, this activity applies to number one
pertaining to course content knowledge and number three, communication, since the
students have to work together to complete their sheet.