Some Revision ideas from Ang:
Make a poster of the key ideas. Pin it on the back of the toilet door or on the ceiling above your bed.
Act out the process you are learning
Visualise the process you are learning
Associate words with pictures in your head to trigger memories.
Make up chants to remember key facts
THis is my favourite I get the kids in Y13 Chem to pronouce with a yorkshire accent "ANO CPR". Translated = I know CPR. This basically stands for "Anode, Negative, Oxidation and Cathode Positive Reduction" By making them giggle they remember it forever!
More exam skills information from Lorraine O’Carroll:
Exam skills
Other revision ideas:
Students (even Y13) love Bingo and it is a good way for them to learn terms for your topics/ subject.
I use bus stop/ post box activities to engage students with revision. The idea is that there are a number of stations/ stops/ boxes around the room with activities/ questions for small groups to work on. Groups move around the stations and then finish at the station that they started at. They can then summarise the information added by each group and share with the class. Better instructions.
Paired reviews also work well. Students take turns reviewing with a partner what they have learned from a reading, a video, a class presentation, or a discussion. Instructions.
Revision ideas from Geoff Petty http://www.geoffpetty.com/:
Headings. Give students information with no headings or subheadings, but with space for these. Students read the information and decide on headings which summarise the information in the form of a statement.
Decisions-Decisions
Students, working in pairs are given a text or watch a video etc, along with:
‘Summary cards’ which purport to summarise key points from the text, some of which are true and some of which are false: e.g.
• The left ventricle feeds the lung
• Heart rate is measured in beats per minute, and if you are very fit your heart rate will probably be lower than average.
‘Consequences cards’ which state consequences of the facts given in the text. These consequences are not actually stated in the text itself. Again some are true and some false E.g.
• If you blocked the left ventricle no blood would get to the head
• Furring of the arteries would usually raise blood pressure.
The pairs of students must decide which cards are correct, and what is wrong with the incorrect ones. This is a greatly enjoyed activity with the atmosphere of a game.
Using group roles to maximise participation
Role card descriptors:
Teacher.
“Your role is to study the aspect or a section of the materials that the teacher gives you, and to explain this to the other students in your group/pair. You will be the only student in your group/pair to study your particular aspect of the topic, so make sure you understand it well and practice how to explain it! You can ask the teacher for help if you get stuck.”
Checker:
“The teacher will choose students at random from your group to report back on what your group has learned and decided. The teacher may ask questions of more than one student from your group. They may also set a quiz or test on the material. Your role is to check that all the students in your group understand your group’s findings, and can report it to the rest of the class clearly. Do this by preparing and asking questions of your group. You are allowed a full (five?) minutes to do this. If one of your group can’t answer the teacher’s questions - guess whose fault this will be!”
Scribe:
“Your role is to summarises the key points that your group is making, check that the whole group agrees with them, and then write them down. You may also be expected to explain your group’s findings to the rest of the class. There is much more to being a Scribe than just writing!”
Questioner.
“Your role is to ‘skim’ the resources and then decide on important questions that the resources should answer. For example “Who supported Cromwell and why?” The aim is to focus the group’s attention on the key points. You then give your questions to the group for it (including you!) to answer.
You can add to, or change your questions as you get more familiar with the materials.
You may also ask supportive and clarifying questions to help the group complete its task(s)”.
Vocabulary chief:
“There is some technical vocabulary in this material. Your role is to research and explain the meaning of all the technical terms. You could devise a ‘glossary’ for your group if you think this would help. You will need to run a quiz with your group to check everyone can explain each technical term.”
Leader:
“Your role is to lead and manage your group in a democratic way, to ensure that the group completes all its tasks in the time available. You can give other students in your group specific roles if you think this helps. You will need to share out the resources in a way that helps the group to work with maximum effectiveness.”
These roles work best if the teacher makes sure that s/he will test every student’s learning after the activity. This can be done during feedback or with a quiz or test warned of in advance. If they know that any member of their group might be asked questions on the material, they will work with their Checker to ensure that all members understand all the points.
You can spice this up (at some risk!) by saying that any student who gets one question wrong, will automatically get the next question and so on until they get one right. The risk of course is that you put humiliating pressure on a weak student, but if you have some easy questions up your sleeve this can be avoided if you judge it necessary.
The roles of questioner and checker etc help to show students good practice in reading text. Do point this out to students. For example, good readers formulate important questions that the text might answer; ask themselves ‘do I understand this?’ and ‘is this important?’ as they read. They also check they know the vocabulary and summarise key points etc. Hence the roles are not arbitary or purely managerial, but model good study practice.
Students can be given ‘role cards’ with all the roles described until they get used to it. Roles can rotate from lesson to lesson.
Useful combinations of roles for your groups: (Try to give every student in the group a role)
1. Two or more Teachers
2. A Scribe and a Checker
3. Two or more Teachers and a Checker (who is not also a teacher)
4. Two or more Teachers and a Checker and a Leader
5. Two or more Teachers, a Vocabulary chief and a Checker who checks material other than the vocabulary
6. A Leader who is also a Questioner, a Scribe and a Checker.
7. A Leader, a Questioner, a Scribe and a Checker.
8. etc! (Miss out the Checker at your own peril!)
