Origin Stories

Jason Manning , I hear you exactly about some possible downfalls of a jigsaw. Even though there is a great worksheet to fill in from the various group's stories, I have found that students just want to copy down answers, not necessarily engage in a discussion or verbal exchange of the stories.

One thing that I have done in response is to have groups read several of the stories before they choose the one they want to do. That way groups are more fully exposed to the other stories even if they don't interact with each text. Part of the group share is to explain why they chose the story they did. That makes students have to personally clue in on at least an overview of several stories instead of just hearing about the stories second-hand. 

This method is still not perfect, but I found that it did help with the comprehension of details. 

Does anyone have a favorite way they get students to learn and share about origin stories?

Jason Manning , I hear you exactly about some possible downfalls of a jigsaw. Even though there is a great worksheet to fill in from the various group's stories, I have found that students just want to copy down answers, not necessarily engage in a discussion or verbal exchange of the stories.

One thing that I have done in response is to have groups read several of the stories before they choose the one they want to do. That way groups are more fully exposed to the other stories even if they don't interact with each text. Part of the group share is to explain why they chose the story they did. That makes students have to personally clue in on at least an overview of several stories instead of just hearing about the stories second-hand. 

This method is still not perfect, but I found that it did help with the comprehension of details. 

Does anyone have a favorite way they get students to learn and share about origin stories?

Hi Donnetta, thank you for the feedback.  Can I take a deeper dive into your methodology?  Do your students read multiple stories in class before choosing or is it something that you assign for homework?

Sure thing

When I was in a traditional setting, I would put a few copies of different origin stories on student tables (I usually sat 3-4 at large square tables). They would pass the stories around and skim them until they each chose one.

Once students had the one they wanted, they would read and mark, and fill in their part of the question sheet. As soon as students were finished, they would begin sharing information from their chosen story, and others would fill in their respective sheets. If we ran out of time, I would allow a few minutes of sharing as part of another lesson in the next day or so.

In my current alternative setting, students work more independently. I post all of the stories in my Google Classroom. I ask students to survey four stories before they choose one or two stories to fill into a comparison sheet. Students will have previously read and responded to the Modern Scientific Origin Story, so they use this previous information to continue the comparisons. 

As I read over this, it sounds much more confusing than it really is. If I need to give more clarity on anything, just ask!