Friday, January 11, 2013
Semester Finals
My students have a math final next week which we started preparing for this past Wednesday. So far we've completed stations, had review packets as homework, done practice problems in class, looked at lists of topics on the final, etc. I've struggled to come up with an awesome way to review for a final. It seems like I always do "same old, same old." Does anyone have a great idea for reviewing for such a large test? I know the students must feel overwhelmed that there are so many concepts on one test, and I'm definitely feeling it too. It's quite daunting to have to review an entire semester's worth of material in one week!
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Not an overwhelmingly great idea but in the past I have had kids create their own "review quiz" and then have a classmate take it. This promotes review in two ways: them creating the quiz and then taking someone elses. Might be a different way to review.
ReplyDeleteIf you're using certain terminology on the test that you want to review, one fun review game is "Vocabulary Vegas." There are two teams and you give a team a certain term (or the definition and they have to come up with the term it goes to). Without consulting, they stand up if they "know it." You call on one person on the team and if he or she gets it right, the team gets a point for each person that stood up. It's "Vegas" because they could bluff. If someone stands and he or she doesn't know the term, you might not call on that person. If you call on someone and he or she gets it wrong, the team doesn't earn points (some people play it where you do negative points).. I've had students keep a list of terms as we play, too, so they know which ones they had trouble with during the game.
ReplyDeleteI know we are taking finals right now--sorry I didn't get to this before--but I find that sometimes directly teaching struggling learners is the best way to go. For some kids, it is best--those high achievers--to challenge them. For struggling students, sometimes giving them more direct teaching and demonstrating directly first, before "challenging" them--is better.
ReplyDeleteI also try and review right before the test--especially with 2 full days of final exams to get through--they will forget, and to take a few minutes and directly review will really pay off!
My colleague Kelly Williams is awesome at this. I have seen her turn paper bags into fun review crafts/activities, and just today I have several students come in and show me there fortune teller fold ups they are using to help review for a quiz. They have terms on the outside and definitions on the inside. I like her review crafts because they are purposeful and hands on. I have yet to ask her where she finds these ideas, but I have a feeling Pinterest is a great place to start.
ReplyDeleteI'm a little late responsing to this, but still thought it could be valuable. I found this idea a couple of years ago and have used it a few times each year to review for tests especially in math.
ReplyDeleteBaseball: I borrow bases from PE. I have cards labeled with ?, OUT, HOMERUN on them. I shuffled the deck and pick a card. If it's a ? card, I ask the student a question. If he/she gets it right they go to first base. If they pick another card, they get a homerun or an out. If they get home, they score a point. Three outs and we switch teams. If a question is answered incorrectly, it is an out. No strikes.
To make sure all students are participating, I have all students on both teams answering the questions (either on paper or whiteboards).