REVIEW STRATEGIES

Just give points: Divide the class into two (or more) teams and start asking questions. Call on
the first hand raised, and if s/he’s right, give his team a point. If s/he’s wrong, the other teams get
a chance to answer. Keep a tally on the board, and the team with the most points at the end wins.
Personal whiteboards: If you’re able to invest a little money, purchase mini whiteboards and dry
erase markers, enough for each student. You ask questions out loud, and the students write the
answers on their boards and hold them up. The first correct answer wins a point for their team.
This game wastes almost no time, and the kids love it.
Race at the board: Divide the class into two or three teams. One representative from each team
comes to the board. You ask a question or give a problem, and the first person to write the correct
answer on the board wins a point for his/her team. The catch: the students at the board only get
one try. If they all miss the question, you take the answer from the first person in the audience
who raises his hand. Be sure to keep this game moving to minimize wasted time from students
moving to and from the board.
Group work contest: Assign a set of questions or problems to be answered by the group in a
set amount of time. The group with the most correct answers wins. You’re really just adding a
contest to a regular assignment, but the students appreciate the twist, especially if it comes with
a prize such as bonus points, a homework pass, or candy.
Un-Wheel of Fortune: This is Wheel of Fortune without the wheel. Have a phrase for the students
to solve (preferably a key term or concept you are studying). Divide the class into two teams and
ask questions to each student, going back and forth between the teams. Tally points for each
team as follows: If the student answers correctly, give one point and allow him/her to choose a
letter. Award additional points for each time the letter appears. (For example, if Gavin
guesses E and there are 3 E‘s, he gets 4 points: 1 for the correct answer and 3 for the 3 E‘s.) The
student can then try to guess the puzzle. Award 5 points to the team that solves the puzzle.
Jeopardy: While you may think this game requires lots of pre-class prep work, it doesn’t have to.
Yes, you need to set up some type of game board, but other than that all you need to do is choose
categories based on the topics you want to review. When a student chooses “State capitals for
200” simply glance through your notes for an easier question. “Verbs for 2000”? Just ask a harder
question.
Around the World: This classic individual game still works so well! The first two students pair off against
each other. You ask a question, and whoever shouts the answer first wins. The winner stands and moves
to the next contestant. The goal is to move as many seats as possible before losing, at which point the
losing student sits in the seat of the person who bested him. The game ideally continues until one student
makes it “around the world” and gets all the way back to his own seat. Often, though, the game simply
ends when time is up, and the person who traveled the farthest wins.
Ping Pong – Divide students into two teams. Students work as a team to answer a review question.
Then, if they answer it correctly they get a chance to bounce a ball into one of three plastic cups to get
a prize for their team. Prizes can be a homework pass, free time, extra computer time, lunch in the
classroom, and so on.

References:
 https://teach4theheart.com/7-review-games-that-wont-waste-your-time/
 http://www.teachhub.com/fun-review-activities-classroom-games-do-now
 http://teachersnetwork.org/ntol/howto/science/games.htm
 REVIEW STRATEGIES

Family Feud – Divide students into two teams. One person from each team must go against one
another to answer a review question. If they get it right their team gets a point. To engage the other
students while they are playing, have the rest of the team write the answers to the questions in their
journals.
Bingo – Review bingo is another classroom favorite. To change it up a bit, use candy as the markers.
Have students program their bingo cards with their vocabulary words and pull questions randomly.
TRASH BALL
Trash Ball is a popular game in our high school. I think most of our departments use it. Divide your
class into two groups. Then you start asking your review questions. Within each group the students
are numbered so you might have students 1-12 in each group. So your first question goes to student
1 in group A. If the student gets the answer correct, the team gets one point. Then the student gets to
throw a huge paper ball (made of paper wadded up into a spherical shape) into a trash can. If the
student chooses to throw from across the room and makes it, the team gets 3 points; if the student
chooses to throw from 6 feet and makes it the team gets 1 point. So a correct answer has the potential
of earning 2-4 points total. Then the next team gets their chance, with student 1B. After that you return
to team A, student 2, and so on. Kids love this game because it combines learning academic concepts
with athletic prowess!!

BOUNCE BACK
Bounce Back is a game that my student teacher, Russ Deets, and I created one day in desperation,
when we decided that our students needed something new and exciting to do. Here is how it works:
We divided the class into two groups. The students organized their groups so that each student had a
number. Then we asked a question of the first student in group A. That student could answer for 5
points or he/she could bounce the question back to student 1 in group B. The student in Group B
(student 1) would either answer for 5 points or bounce it back to student 1 in group A. If student 1 got
it right they would get 10 points.

Then the challenge went to the 2nd student in each group – but group B got to start the next time. The
kids love the game because they get to take chances, trying to earn more points by “bouncing” the
questions back.

BLUFF
This is a great game that is also played by many departments in my school. Again the class is divided
into two groups. The teacher takes turns giving each group a question. When the teacher gives a
question to group A, all the students who think they know the answer stand up. Then, the students in
group B get to decide which of the students in group A should answer the question. If the selected
student can answer the question, that group gets as many points as the number of people who stood
up, but if the student cannot answer the question, then group B gets to answer (any student in that
group can answer) and group B will get the same number of points. The fun part of this game is that
student try and bluff the other team into thinking that they know the answer so they can push their
points up! The teacher then alternates the teams who get to answer the question first.

References:
 https://teach4theheart.com/7-review-games-that-wont-waste-your-time/
 http://www.teachhub.com/fun-review-activities-classroom-games-do-now
 http://teachersnetwork.org/ntol/howto/science/games.htm