Chapter 6: How to Use A Textbook

Who enjoys reading textbooks? Anyone? As a student, it is hard to find the motivation to read through a textbook. While reading through this chapter, a couple different strategies where mentioned that can be beneficial to reading a textbook. The strategy that stuck out the most to me was the jigsaw strategy. Jigsawing is a way to get every student involved with the reading without having to read every passage by themselves. When each student is assigned a certain portion of the reading, they are not only reading to broaden their own knowledge on the topic, but they are also reading to broaden other students understanding of the topic. Allowing the students to converse with others that read the same part of the text before breaking apart may bring about more ideas the students had not recognized initially which calls for a better presentation of the information when they split up into groups with students that did not read the same passage. To ensure the students are absorbing the information being given to them by other students, I will be sure to give them a worksheet where they have space to write down what they were learning, and the major points. After they have met with their groups, it might be beneficial to have a group member from each table share something they learned from another group member. This strategy may not be the best to be practiced in a math class, however, a science class would be practical for a strategy like jigsaw. Jigsaw might not only be a way to make reading a textbook fun, but it might also encourage students to actually get involved with the reading.
                              

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