Jigsaw Vocabulary
vocabularyspeakingaccuracycommunicationmainsmall-groupmedium prep20-30 min
The class is divided into expert groups, each studying one subset of target vocabulary. Experts meet, master their words, then return to mixed home groups where each expert teaches their words to the rest. Every word reaches every student via peer teaching.
Procedure
- Split vocabulary into 4 sets of 5 words each (20 words total).
- Form home groups of 4. Within each home group, each student is assigned one set (expert role).
- Expert groups form: all Set 1 experts in one group, all Set 2 in another, etc.
- Expert groups work together (15 min): they look up, discuss, and make sure every member of their expert group can teach their 5 words.
- Return to home groups. Each expert teaches their 5 words to the other 3 home-group members (3 min each = 12 min).
- Quiz: teacher tests on all 20 words. Each home group's score depends on all members' knowledge.
Why It Works
- Distributed learning with accountability: every student must both learn and teach.
- Peer teaching deepens: teaching 5 words lodges them more than learning 20.
- Interdependent success: the home group can't do well unless all experts have done their job.
- Reduces cognitive overload: 5 words mastered deeply > 20 encountered shallowly.
Good Vocabulary Sets
Divide by:
| Split | Example |
|---|---|
| Semantic field | Vocabulary about time, about work, about relationships, about feelings |
| Part of speech | Nouns / Verbs / Adjectives / Adverbs |
| Difficulty | Familiar words with new meanings / New words / Idiomatic expressions / Academic collocations |
| Unit topic subdivision | Various sub-themes of a single unit |
Variations
- Expert-pair jigsaw: pairs become experts on 3 words. Faster.
- Two-cycle jigsaw: after round 1, swap home groups so different learners teach the same set — vocabulary retained through multiple teaching cycles.
- Visual jigsaw: experts produce a poster for their set; home groups read the posters.
- Test-teach-test jigsaw: diagnose which vocabulary the class doesn't know; only those become the jigsaw sets.
Tips
- Expert groups need enough time. Rushed experts teach shallowly.
- Hold experts accountable: if the home group fails the quiz, the experts failed to teach.
- Teacher circulates during both expert and home phases, catching mis-teaching.
- Post-activity integration: use all 20 words in a subsequent task (writing, discussion).
Source
Aronson, E. (1978) The Jigsaw Classroom. Sage. Applied widely in content-area teaching; adopted for vocabulary in ELT. Kagan (1994) cooperative learning structures.