The Supersized PhysEd Podcast
The Supersized Physed Podcast is dedicated to providing new ideas, activities and inspiration to our physical education field. Each week a new episode about various physed topics comes out, sometimes with a guest, sometimes it's just me!
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The Supersized PhysEd Podcast
The Jigsaw Classroom Method: Engaging Strategies for Physical Education
What's up PE Nation!
Get ready to unlock the secrets of the Jigsaw Classroom method and revolutionize your teaching approach! On this episode I uncover how this cooperative learning strategy can transform your classroom into a hub of engagement and interaction. Inspired by Kagan Learning and enriched by my experience with Dr. Ash Casey at the 2015 PE Institute, we discuss turning collaborative learning into a dynamic tag game even when the clock is against you. Discover my practical setup involving color-coded cards and stickers, and explore my ideas for refining this innovative approach to make every student an essential piece of the educational puzzle.
But that's not all—get ready to infuse creativity into your group activities. Whether it's having students reconstruct sentences with code words or organizing themselves by height or birth month, these exercises are designed to boost communication and teamwork. Add a splash of themed fun with target games and see the magic of cooperation and critical thinking unfold. This episode is your insider's guide to elevating the PE experience and nurturing the leaders of tomorrow. Be sure to check out my YouTube video of how I ran this unit for grades 2-5.
Take care,
Dave
Jigsaw video
Around the Horn Health and Physed with Dr. Ash Casey podcast
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Hello and welcome to the Supersize Phys Ed podcast. My name is Dave and today I want to talk about the Jigsaw Classroom. Yes, what is Jigsaw and how does it work and why is it so cool? Well, let's talk about it now. Here we go. All right, everybody, thank you for tuning in today. So the Jigsaw Classroom what is it where to come from and how do I use it and why is it so cool? So let's talk.
Speaker 1:First of all, the Jigsaw Classroom originally, as far as I know, came from Kagan and the Kagan Learning. If any of you have taken that before, it's like cooperative learning, basically with more engagement and interaction. That's a whole nother podcast, but Kagan is something we all had to take. Uh, when we first got to this um, where I'm at right now, like this district, is a very is very big on Kagan, or at least it was at the time and so everybody had to go through a five day class and again, that's a whole nother thing, but it's. It's basically cooperative learning, but I'd say even more engagement than just saying, hey, go, turn and talk and talk to your friend and there we go. So jigsaw learning is pretty cool. It basically forces everybody to be a part of the team and part of the action. So when I did the jigsaw method I guess in like in the media center with other teachers it was more about like I read section one and somebody else reads section two and somebody else reads section three, and we read it as a group, like we, all the ones read together. We kind of read together, talk about it, and then the twos are somewhere else reading the second paragraph and the threes and fours and so forth, and so that's how it starts. And then you go back to your home groups and all the ones talk about paragraph one and twos talk about paragraph two and that kind of thing, so that you're all important piece like you're, you're a piece of the puzzle that comes together to form the whole thing.
Speaker 1:So when I was at the 2015 PE Institute Ash Casey Dr Ash Casey, he's awesome. He was one of the keynote speakers and he also had a session on the jigsaw classroom in PE. It's basically using the jigsaw method but with PE, which is really cool and we had a lot of fun with it. So what he did was he had us each have a home group and an expert group. So our home group was one group and then our expert group was another group, like a number, and we'd have to put this sentence together. We'd go to our expert groups, our numbers, and he'd give us a phrase. And I'll never forget what he gave us.
Speaker 1:It was a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, but we didn't know that at the time. We just got like uh, and we had to go back to our group and put it in order and eventually that was the sentence. But we didn't know that was the sentence, but we didn't know that at the time. We had to put it all together as a team and if you didn't know it, you had to go back and ask your group, your expert group, what was that word? Again, and then we made a tag game out of it, which is really cool and I tried this before with my classes. But it takes a long time and we always run out of time because I only have 40 minutes and we had at the session we had like an hour. So in the tag game, like group one would be you know how to tag, and group two would be how to move and group three would be how to unfreeze yourself and group four would be. You know what are the boundaries Group? It's just all sorts of stuff. So you'd go back to your home groups and put it all together and then you'd see what worked and what didn't work, and you'll go back to your expert groups and change something. And it was really, really powerful, it was really cool and some of the ideas and things that teams came up with were awesome as well, but I always ran out of time doing it in class.
Speaker 1:I will revisit that at some point, but I want to tell you what I did with my groups and how it worked out. So let me make this a boomer. Why not? Let's split this up a little bit. I'm going to tell you the. I'm going to give you five things I did with my groups and you know how it worked and what didn't work so well maybe, and how you can improve on it and how you can use it in your classroom or your PE space. So, number one let's talk about the setup. Here we go. Number one All right. So to set this up, I created these cards that are different color cards and they have different numbers on them as well.
Speaker 1:So, for instance, I'll have I had some like. I'll just start with white cards. I had white no cards and I labeled them one through eight and I did put stickers on them as well. Like it's just funny, like random stickers I got from the dollar store Like it was Woody from toy story and buzz, and then there'd be be cheeseburgers and tacos and birthday cakes and unicorns and rainbows and whatever, and I put them on different cards just randomly, and then I'd do that with pink and I'd do it with red note cards and blue and purple and green and, wow, I think I came up with about seven or eight different colors of note cards, which was pretty cool. I didn't think I had that many or they made that many. I made those cards. I made sure they were in marker with the numbers. So there's one through eight.
Speaker 1:I made this for two classes, because I used to have two classes all the time by myself and it's something I did before with this jigsaw classroom. But I only have one class at a time, which is awesome, and sometimes some split classes that come with it. But you're talking like 30 kids where I'm used to having like 55, 60 kids. So I had to make sure I made like 60, whatever, 64 cards. Like I think I did eight colors and eight numbers, but I don't need all those. So the setup is kind of the hardest part. As far as getting the cards together, then I laminated them, because the kids like to wrinkle them and rip them and whatever. So that was how I started it.
Speaker 1:Now for how I implemented it, let's go to number two. All right, this is the tricky part. This is the part that I always have trouble with, because there's not always an even number of kids or a perfect number of kids. So what I did this year is I was like well, wait a minute, I have about anywhere between 25 and 30 students per class, wow. So I decided to use six colors and up to five numbers, so that's 30. And what I had, it still didn't always work out. I didn't always get 30 students. I mean pretty rare actually. So what I would do is if we had 28, I would be the extra two.
Speaker 1:I just go to the groups and help them out real quick, or I would see if any kids from the split classes if I short two kids. I did this one time because I could tell some kids want to play my game and they didn't want to go in the heat. So I said, okay, do any of you guys, girls want to come to my group? And they raised their hands. Okay, come with me. So I made exactly 30 or exactly 25 or whatever you got. It's best to be exactly on the fives or the zeros or whatever your number is. That is the most logistically hard thing there is, because if you have, like a home group, a color group that doesn't have a five, then when they go back home to their color groups they don't have the answer to the question or the piece of the puzzle. So again, I would go be that number five.
Speaker 1:I've even had adults, like I had an adult that comes out with like a para, that comes out with one of my students in a wheelchair and I gave her a card as well. But I try to kind of match it up with her the student she's in charge of her. I gave her the same color or the same number or something. So I try to make the right numbers and, like I said, it's not always easy. Now, if I have too many or let's say I have 26 or 31, I might just have two kids share a card that want to be partners, and there's always kids that want to be partners. So I say, okay, this is your card, you're red one and you're both together with that group. So that's how I make things, even because if not, it throws things off. So again, number one was how you make the cards. Number two is how you logistically put kids in groups. All right, number three is the setup.
Speaker 1:So, to set up, I put out cones with numbers and colors and again, I posted this recently on my YouTube channel so you can always check that out and I'll put a link in the episode notes, the show notes, for how I did this. So I put out cones around the pavilion or your basketball court or whatever, and I have numbers on the cones, just those numbers I bought, just throw them right over the cones. I did numbers one through five, but I did six colors and I would put those small cones on top of the big cones and those would be the color groups and for the most part they matched the numbers Like it was. Like I think number one was actually number one was orange. So I put an orange little cone on top of it. The problem is and I remember this because I didn't I don't really have an orange or I didn't have an orange note card. It was kind of like yellowish, goldish, whatever. And I told the kids okay, that's orange for today. So I just that's how I remember it.
Speaker 1:I remember number one was orange and then the sixth cone, it was red, but it did not have a number because it has to be six colors. It doesn't have to be, but sometimes it's perfect. If you have like 35, 36 kids, you can have six colors, six numbers. But I just have you know I figured about 30 kids so I would make five numbers, six colors. So that's the most logistically difficult part of it. But that's how I set it up and I spread them out a little bit so they couldn't hear each other when I was doing like code words and things like that, because we don't want that to happen. So that is a setup and that is number three. All right. Number four let's start talking about the games. So let's talk about the code word games first for number four.
Speaker 1:So in this, in these games or this, whatever section of the I guess, the beginning of them learning, I will first have them go to their color groups and I'll say this is your color group or your home group. Then I'll have them go to their number groups and there's always some kids that are having trouble with it. So you know, we got to help them out with that. Or have the kids raise their hand Okay, where's number fours again? And they'll have to go join them. So we have to make sure they know their colors and in their number groups and some groups are the same, like if you're number one, if you have number one in the orange card, you just stay there the whole time. Or two in the, whatever I think it was, I don't know, it was blue card. Okay, so they would stay there. Actually it was yellow, but now I think of it. All right, so now I'll give them a code word. I'll have them go to their expert groups.
Speaker 1:So I made a sentence. I said okay. I went to number one, I said your code word is P-E and I said you know, just whisper that, just everybody know it. And then I went to number two. I said your code word is is, and they're like, oh, like, really, that's my code word is is. And then I went to number three and I said the, and again they're like, really. So P-E was one, is is two, the is three, best is four and class was five. That's what it was. P is the best class, okay, so then they have to go back to. I had to think about that for a second. So if there's six groups, I just add the word like ever, p is the best class ever kind of thing. You can make whatever sentence you want.
Speaker 1:So when they want to go back to their groups, I tell them they have to put it in order the exact way. So some kids will come up and be like well, the best class is PE, and I'll say no, that's not right. Or they'll be like the best class is PE, like no. But then some will be like, look at it, right, pe is the best class, like in order has to be exactly that One goes first, then two, then three, then four, then five, and that's what it should be. So it's surprising the little kids I do this with second, third, fourth and fifth. The younger ones definitely struggle with that. Sometimes, putting it all together, remembering it, remember to go for who was first, who was second, who was third, that thing. So you definitely have to slow down a little bit and you'll see who gets it right and who doesn't right away and what groups are working really well together and what groups are not, like right away.
Speaker 1:So then I'll give them another round of code words and it could be another sentence, or, if they're a little bit older, I'll give them a secret just thing and they have to put it all together and figure out what am I talking about. I give them clues. So what I did was I gave them all target game clues. I went to number one I said you're archery, and number two are darts, and number three is beanbag toss, and number four is like aiming, and number five is focus, something like that. Or you can say bowling or golf or whatever is a target game. And then they'd go back to their group and put it all together and most of the groups got it. They're like oh, these are all target games. It took them a while but it was something I've been working on with them. I've been working on these game categories with them and strategies and talking a little bit. So they should know that. Second, so they should know that Second grade I didn't do that with. I did it with third, fourth and fifth. So I didn't do that game with second grade.
Speaker 1:But those are some of the games you could do in the beginning with the code words, and that could be anything. It could be clues to anything. It just gets them talking, gets them working together. And I did have a few kids go. I don't remember my word. It's like, well, you got to go back. Then. It's always the kids don't listen. Anyway, they do that. I'm being serious. I'm like I told you the word you were supposed to talk about in your group, but then go now, go find some of those in your group and ask them the word.
Speaker 1:There's always somebody that slows the group down, unfortunately, like that. You just got to work with it. Have them do the best they can. If they're causing problems, have them set out for a minute or two, and that hurts the group. But that's just, that's the way it is.
Speaker 1:So, anyways, that is number four. All right. Number five are games where they line up in a certain order. Now again, you don't have to do any of these, or you can do some of these. So what I did was this I had them start by lining up. It's real simple line up in your I think I kept them in expert groups. It doesn't matter at this point. Um, these are just if they're, if they also put the jigsaw together. I just gave them challenges at the end. So one is, and you could still do this in a different way. Um, one was line up by height, and that was pretty simple, although some groups did struggle with that. So two was was line up by birthday, like whoever's first in the year January, february, you know, near the beginning, and then obviously December at the end.
Speaker 1:I did have a group. It was funny, they they did it a different way. I didn't realize this. They're like we got it, we got it. I'm like, okay, so tell me. And I had them go around and tell me their birthdays and the one girl was like I don't know, august, and then it went to like February. And then I'm like, why is she there? Like well, she's older than us, she was born in whatever year it was, and the rest of us are born in this year. I'm like, oh, okay, well, I guess it makes sense. So again, different ways of thinking, different ways, that's okay. And they got it right the way they were doing it. So that was cool.
Speaker 1:So the other way, the other games are lined up by, like hair length, or lined up by, you know, whatever you want, just have them lined up in a different way. I would start easy, though, like with, again, height, that's a pretty simple one, things like that. So, but, um, I try to be um, like with my girl in um, I have again, I have a girl in a wheelchair in this one group. I didn't want to line up by height, so I just did birthdays or you know kind of thing. So I, you know, definitely try to be sensitive to certain, um I don't know, certain individuals or certain things. Be you know, just be aware of that. So, yeah, that's, you know, the lineup portion of our show. And that is number five. All right, let's go two more. We're going to go.
Speaker 1:Number six is just random stuff, random games, and what I mean by that is you could just make up your own stuff. So I had them build hula castles and they had to get two people through, or sorry, two builders and four people through. Now, just because I've done this before, I don't say that the whole team has to go through, because there are some larger students that might not be able to make it through. Again, I have a student in a wheelchair, that's okay. Just they can become the builders and the other students have to crawl through. So and it just depends, you can modify that. But yeah, they have to build it, make it through, work together, that kind of thing.
Speaker 1:If they make it, then okay, then do it again and switch builders kind of thing, or switch something up right or transport the loops. You can also have them pass the loop around in a circle, like lock hands or lock wrists. They got to pass it around without you know, without uh letting it go and get all the way around. You could also do something where they do like a human knot, really anything with a hoop, and or you can add the ball, like in my last podcast I went group juggling or magic 11, all sorts of things that were my last podcast. So anything with a hoop you could do, or dice, or anything. So that's like the group part of the game. As far as well, they're all group parts of the game. But as far as team challenges, something like that where they have to build something, maybe cup stacks, anything like that you can add to the challenges. And that is number six.
Speaker 1:All right, let me give you one more, and it's the sticker group, because I really haven't talked about the stickers yet. So this one I only did a couple times. We didn't have a lot of time and I did this more with the younger students, so they would have to find their sticker partner and because I only grabbed a certain amount of cards, I did try to make sure there's some matches. But there might not be some, so they had to walk around and this gets them talking and moving and sharing. They had to find their sticker partner. Again, it was like Toy Story, woody or Buzz or Taco or something, or a koala bear. There was different things and they had to find their sticker matches.
Speaker 1:Now, sometimes there was like three in a group. They end up forming or two. Or sometimes students didn't have it, and that's my fault, that's because I was just putting random stickers on. But if they didn't have it and that's my fault, that's because I was putting random stickers on. But if they didn't have a match they would find us. I'd say, okay, if you don't have a match, come to the spot and more often than not they would find a match. Oh, you have pizza and I have pizza, so we are a match. So they would find their match. Sit down and I give them a question or something, or just talk, give them something they can just talk about. And, again, it's just getting kids talking, getting kids knowing each other and getting kids just learning about each other, and I think that should help in the future, like if they know somebody, they're less likely to yell at them for dropping a ball or for doing something or whatever. It's just being kind and that's what we're working on today and every day, obviously, but this jigsaw classroom really helps.
Speaker 1:So now it is time for your cowbell tip of the day. All right, so your tip of the day is to check out, if you want to try it, my YouTube channel. I'll put a link in the episode notes of the video I put out with this jigsaw classroom. You can also check out Dr Ash Casey. He is awesome and he is so good at this. He's way better than me. It's who I learned it from, so check him out. Check out the video I put out. It's who I learned it from, so check him out. Check out the video I put out again in the show notes. And, yeah, take a look and hopefully you enjoy that. And if you have any questions, reach out to me and I'll help you in any way I can, but definitely if you need help putting the cards together or anything like that. So give it a try, though. It's really cool and it's great for the students, and that is your Cowbell tip of the day.
Speaker 1:Thank you everyone for tuning in. I really do appreciate it. As always. Go to supersizefizheadcom for more information or to join our newsletter, please do so. I like to put out some really cool content and some fun things as well that you could apply to your PE program, so definitely check that out. That is in the show notes as well and, with that PE nation, have a great day, week, weekend. Whenever you listen to this, you guys and girls are awesome. Let's keep pushing our profession forward. Thank you, bye.
