Native American Jigsaw

This past week we have been working on an activity called Jigsaw. If you are thinking that sounds familiar to you then you are probably right. If you have ever completed a puzzle you have probably heard the word jigsaw. So how exactly does that relate to what we have been doing in class? Well,the purpose of this jigsaw activity was for the class to learn about Native Americans and the different tribes they have made an impact in history.

First, the class was split up into three base groups. Each member of the group was given a specific tribe to research. Then we were split into "expert groups" Our expert groups consisted of the people in the class that were assigned the same tribe. I was assigned the Dine' tribe so it was my responsibility to research and report to my group. After conducting research, we got back into our expert groups to share what we found. Once we all felt that we had sufficient information we taught or information to our classmates in our base groups. By each contributing our own research and information, we acted as individual pieces to the puzzle. Hence, the Jigsaw Activity.

I thought this activity was extremely useful and much more meaningful. Instead of having each student in the class research all of the different tribes, we were able to focus on one tribe and then communicate and collaborate to help each other become experts. I would definitely use this exercise in my classroom. Although it would probably need to be adjusted to be successful at the elementary level, I think it is a fun and exciting way for students to learn. It also promotes collaborations and allows the students to take part in their own learning.

The Artifact Bag

This week we had to create an artifact bag on a particular topic that could be used in a lesson designed to accommodate a particular standard. The topic that I chose was the United States Constitution. This period of history has always interested me because it is such a influential part of our nation's history and has helped to shape our society. Exploring social studies concepts through artifacts is a great way to captivate the student's attention and provides a hands-on experience that may help establish strong connections. 

The first thing that we had to do was choose an artifact to go along with our topic. The artifacts that I chose were a copy of the constitution, notes written by Thomas Jefferson, and a picture of the delegates signing the constitution. Next, we had to choose a children's picture book to supplement both our artifacts and the topic that we chose. The book that I found is called We the Kids by David Catrow. Catrow who is a political cartoonist wrote this book to help kids better understand the Preamble which is the opening to the United States Constitution. Using humorous illustrations, Catrow helps children understand and relate to the words of the preamble. 

After creating our artifact bags, we formed small groups to share what we had created. It was really fun and interesting to see everybody's artifacts and how they tied it all together. I think this was a great activity. I learned so much from researching my topic and I think this would be an excellent way for the student's to explore artifacts and their importance to particular eras in history. 

This week we have been working collaboratively to explore the world of banking. Our task was for each person in our group to explore a particular topic so that we would understand the ideas and concepts before beginning the unit. After exploring and learning about the ideas on our own, we shared what we learned with the rest of our group members. Our next task was to create a test that would assess how well the students understood the ideas and concepts of banking. 

This activity really forced us to think about what types of questions would be good for certain information. For example, some topics were very straightforward and were good for multiple choice questions. While others were good for the essay portion of the test because it was more open ended and required more explanation from the student to ensure understanding. I was glad that we were able to work collaboratively for this project because everyone contributed and helped to make this process easier. 

This assignment help me realize how much careful consideration needs to be done before creating an assessment tool such as a test. You need to consider the types of questions, how you are going to grade, and what accommodations might need to be put into place for students who are having difficulty.