This week Mrs. Carlan and Mrs. Hicks' first grade students read One Classroom, Many Cultures. This fictional text is set in “Mr. Tucker’s” first grade classroom that contains many different types of young people who have unique personal characteristics and customs.
To wrap up their work with this text, students of Mrs. Carlan and Mrs. Hicks participated in an AVID Jigsaw activity wherein they worked collaboratively in small groups to become experts on one student/culture found in the text. Student groups used specific text evidence to complete a graphic organizer to present their ideas to the rest of the class. Their shared findings revealed similarities and differences amongst the students/cultures from the text.
Together, students were able to make the connection that “While every student in Mr. Tucker's class has a family from a different culture, together they make a wonderful class."
AVID’s JIGSAW Instructional Strategy involves “breaking down course material into parts, assigning these sections to small groups or individuals, and then bringing everyone back together to share their knowledge. Students become experts in their specific segment and then collaborate to assemble the full picture. The jigsaw classroom strategy not only encourages in-depth comprehension of the material but also nurtures essential teamwork, communication, and problem-solving skills.” –TheResilientEducator.com
