Activities For Reviewing Content

Review activities help students participate and become interactive with learning. With these activities teachers can ensure better understanding of content while making learning more interesting.

Reviewing content periodically after a lesson is important. Teachers can summarize information and emphasize key points during a review. Reviewing content provides students with an opportunity to ask questions, recollect information and strengthen their understanding.

As important as reviewing content is to the teaching-learning process, the review activities or strategies used also make a difference. Incorporating the ‘right’ review activity helps to facilitate student interest and student engagement, resulting in a direct and positive impact on student learning.

The following are three simple and effective activities used to review content during a lesson:

1. Carousel Brainstorming Method:

The Carousel Brainstorming Method is an interactive strategy that incorporates movement within the classroom. Students are placed into different groups with specific colors. Teachers will also have to set up various ‘stations’ in different areas of the classroom, each with a recording sheet and colored pens. The recording sheet will consist of a review question pertaining to the content taught and a space to record answers. Each station can have different questions to provide a comprehensive review of the content.

Student groups are instructed to start at one station and rotate around, traveling to each station in an organized manner. They are instructed to read the question, brainstorm and record their answers and then move on to the next station. At the second station, the groups are to read the previous groups’ answers and add any new information. Groups are specifically instructed not to repeat any ideas or thoughts. Each student group is given 3-5 minutes at each station and a bell is sounded to indicate the progression to the next station.

When every group has visited every station, a final bell is sounded and each student group is given a few minutes to consolidate the information written on their current recording sheet. A representative from each group can then present this summarized information to the class.

2. 3-2-1 Strategy:

The 3-2-1 Strategy can be conducted as an individual, small group or whole class activity. It is very simple and requires students to review the content by identifying 3 key points from the content, 2 ideas which they felt were controversial, not clear or that they disagreed with and 1 question they have pertaining to the topic.

Once every student or group has finished their 3-2-1 points the teacher can record the information on the board and address any questions or make any clarifications needed.

3. Word Splash Activity

The Word Splash Activity encourages students to get involved with the review process. The students are asked to say aloud words or phrases that they feel are vital to the lesson that was taught. As each student says a word the teacher can write the words on the board to keep record. The next step is to give each student a random word from the board and instruct them to write one sentence relating that word to the topic at hand. This activity helps students to recollect information and form connections while learning and participating.

Thus incorporating these quick and easy reviewing activities provides students with an interactive and meaningful method for reviewing and learning the content taught in class.

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