Using the Jigsaw Strategy to Practice Summarizing

The jigsaw strategy was my number one technique this past year for turning the chattiness of my class into purposeful, academic conversations.

If you've never used the jigsaw strategy, here's the typical process:

Step 1: Create groups of 4-6 students.
Step 2: Divide the material into 4-6 parts, and assign one student in each group to be responsible for a different part.
Step 3: Give students time read and analyze their assigned part independently.
Step 4: Put students who completed the same part together into an “expert group” to talk about it.
Step 5: Have students return to their original “jigsaw” groups and take turns sharing the parts they’ve become experts on.
Step 6: Have students complete a task or a quiz that relies on them having understood the material from the contributions of all their group members.

I use a fairly similar, but slightly different process. With 24 students in my class, I start with three students in a "focus group" (expert group) and then each of those students reports out to a "discussion group" (jigsaw group) made up of eight students. Having more "expert groups" allows me to break the text we are reading into smaller chunks. 

I make my groups of 3s on 8 sticky notes so I can be sure to balance talkative versus quiet, high level and lower level readers, etc. Then I number off the names on each sticky note to form my larger groups of 8, again paying close attention to the balance of the groups.

Here are the steps I followed with the objective of having students practice summarizing. It's a skill I practice over and over with my students and practicing it in combination with the jigsaw strategy does wonders for comprehension of challenging texts.

Step 1: After a whole class reading, divide the text into 8 chunks and assign each student a chunk
Step 2: Give students a set amount of time to reread their chunk and annotate it. I usually aim for three types of annotations. For this reading, students circled details about setting, underlined characters' names, and put a box around important events.
Step 3: Have students write a one sentence summary of their chunk on an index card.
Step 4: Students meet with the other students assigned the same chunk, share their one sentence summaries, and revise to come up with a "best summary sentence."
Step 5: Each small group divides and becomes part of a larger group. Each student in the group shares his/her revised sentence. The group puts the sentences in order and connects them with transitions to write a full summary of the text.

The biggest difference between my process and the typical one is that students have a concrete task to complete not just at the end of a jigsaw, but when they work independently and with their focus (expert) group. I find that it is critical for preparing students for the work that they will do with their discussion (jigsaw) group.

Mind Mapping: A Visual Summarizing Strategy

Mind mapping is a visual representation of ideas, a combination of words and images, that can be used with fiction or nonfiction texts. This strategy particularly appeals to visual learners as well as to ESL or special education students whose vocabulary may be more limited or for whom writing is a struggle.

How to Mind Map

Step 1: Use a blank piece of paper with a landscape orientation.

Step 2: Start in the center with an image that represents your topic.

Step 3: Draw a branch stemming out from the center for each of the main ideas connected to the topic. On each branch, write a word or phrase that captures that main idea. If possible, create an image to accompany each main idea and place that image at the end of each main branch.

Step 4: From each main branch, create as many smaller branches as needed to represent the details connected to that main idea. Again if possible, create an image to accompany each detail and place that image at the end of each smaller branch. Repeat this step as needed.

Step 5: Add additional images and color to your mind map. This makes the mind map more appealing to the eye and easier to remember.

Using Mind Maps with Nonfiction and Fiction Texts

When working with a nonfiction text, a mind map could be used to summarize main ideas and supporting details. It could also be used to synthesize information from multiple texts. Asking students to create a mind map rather than fill in a graphic organizer forces students to pull out key ideas (and create visual representations to accompany them) rather than just copying details and whole sentences. They have to process the information and organize it in a meaningful way rather than just regurgitate it.

When working with a fiction text, a mind map could be used to focus on the setting, characters, or central conflict. Students could add details to this mind map as the story or novel progresses.

I first tried out this strategy after a short reading about teenagers involved in gangs, a nonfiction connection to my unit on Monster by Walter Dean Myers. While some of my students had experiences with mind mapping, many had not so we reviewed the directions on this site and Googled some additional examples.

Recently, my students examined a text set about school start time. After reading and annotating three articles on the topic, students created a mind map of the information. Students started with the topic at the center and then created branches for the main arguments surrounding the issue of school start time. Stemming off of those branches were the reasons and evidence to support the arguments.

If it is your students' first time using mind maps, remind them throughout the activity to only use key words and phrases and incorporate images as much as possible. This forces students who haven't read the text closely the first time to return to the text.