Review, Review, Review!

For the next week or so, most of us will be in review mode. This post is all about review and strategies for how to do it in a fun yet educational way.

1. Students need a study guide. They need SOME kind of handout that tells them exactly what they will be required to know. Study guides can come in various forms. I usually break mine down into question format. (ie. 1. What is a simile? 2. What is a metaphor? 3. Explain the difference between a simile and a metaphor. 4. Explain why authors use descriptive language. etc) I put them in question form, because it gives students directions on what to write for each important term. Sometimes when you just give them a whole bunch of vocabulary terms and skills they get lost and just end up not working through it.

2. Teach students study skills.  Create a mini lesson that tackles study skills and effective strategies to learning and remembering material. For instance, a mini lesson could include instructions on how to make/use flash cards, How to effectively quiz a classmate, or how to best utilize their study guides.

3. Give students  timed mini quizzes (5-10 questions) and grade the quizzes with them. You shouldn't take these for an official grade. These are just for practice. This is also a really great opportunity for teacher modeling and teacher think alouds, so you can show kids how YOU think through and process questions to eliminate answers.

4. Kids LOVE review games. BEWARE: games bring out the crazy, so your framing and behavior management must be really strong. You also need to be strong in your consequences or what was supposed to be a fun game will quickly turn into the worst 30 minutes of your life.

 I'm going to give you a few options:

• Jeopardy: a solid classic. Kids love it. The majority know how to play it, so the instructions won't take as long. 
• This is a link to other popular gameshow powerpoint templates  that you just have to type the questions in. Review Game Templates (Jeopardy, Classroom Feud, Wheel of Riches, Millionaire, and Are You Smarter Than Your Teacher?) 
• Hot Seat: get kids into 4-6 rows (depending on class size). You will have pre-prepared questions on a powerpoint. You will need something for students to write on (mini dry erase boards are the best option but paper could work too.) When you project a question on the board, the student in the back of the row will write what they think is the answer and pass it forward. If the next person thinks the answer is correct, they will pass it forward to the next person. If they think the answer is wrong, they will pass it ALL THE WAY back to the back. The only person that can write answers on the board is the person in the "Hot Seat" (in the back). The first team or row to get the correct answer all the way to the front person in the row gets the point. After question has been answered correctly, students will rotate, so every student gets a chance in the Hot Seat. If one team is taking it away, you can also do the first 2 teams to get it correctly to the front. I like this game, because it holds every student accountable, instead of just that one kid on the team that knows all the answers. 
• Review Baseball: The class is broken up into two teams. The first team "up to bat" stands in a line at the front of the room. The "batter" is asked a review question. If they answer it correctly, they get to move to first base. If they answer it incorrectly, it is an OUT. Once team 1 gets 3 outs, the second team is up. Teams score points by getting team members all around the "bases" to home plate.