ESL Jigsaws

Just released!  

What could otherwise be a serious, individual or teacher-centred area of content-based ESL is transformed into lively, interactive lessons.

Excellent preparation for citizenship, Callan's New Canada Jigsaws features jigsaws on the territories and all the provinces of Canada, as well as one jigsaw on each of the following: Canada's major cities, history, government, social history, Aboriginals and the Chinese in Canada. Group exercises, which follow the jigsaws, include tic tac toe speaking games, dictation games, crosswords, cloze passages, group discussions, paragraph writing and other activities.

Students will learn basic geographical information, as well as the main facts about the people and industries of Canada's provinces and territories, in a fun communicative format. Content focuses primarily on information considered general knowledge by well-informed Canadians, as well as a few surprising facts. 

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Check out some pages from the book:

Each unit starts with a jigsaw and is followed by various group activities, except for the first jigsaw. In that unit, groups do the multiple choice questions about Canada first, break up and learn the jigsaw in different groups, and then regroup with their original group to correct their answers. Here are a some pages from the book:

The Social History Jigsaw takes a different look at the history of Canada. The following is not simply a grammar exercise, but questions directly related to the material in the jigsaw that can only be completed in consultation with other group members regarding their section of the jigsaw.

Many of the units include discussion exercises. While the questions directly relate to information learned in the jigsaw, many can be stand alone exercises for use with other materials, even if students have not completed the jigsaw. 

Here are some sample follow up activities for different units:

This BC exercise can only be completed with information from the jigsaw. Students are, therefore, forced to consult with group members for information they have not memorized. 

This PEI exercise likewise can only be completed with information from the jigsaw, making it necessary for students to consult with group members. 

The following two exercises are supplementary paragraph work. You cannot finish a unit on Newfoundland and Labrador without mentioning the beautiful icebergs that grace its coastline. 

After the book was finished, the thought was that no book on Canada could be complete without mentioning the world's largest and longest running multicultural festival! This paragraph making exercise about Folkorama in Winnipeg was added at the end and field testing classes loved it. 

One of the longest units in the book is the government unit. 

Don't worry Nova Scotia, the book did not miss out the Bluenose or Cape Breton's ceilidhs! And New Brunswick, yes the Acadians should feature MORE prominently in the study guide for Canadian citizenship. The book has three pages on Acadians. And yes of course the book includes Saskatchewan's thriving economy with its potash and uranium, Alberta's chinooks, PEI's Confederation Bridge, and a whole unit on Nunavut. Canada's Aboriginals have a prominent place, including information about residential schools, and the contributions of the Chinese were also not forgotten. If you love Canada, you're going to love it! And if you don't know anything about Canada, you might consider a train trip across the country after you finish. How privileged we are to live here!