Every few weeks, I like to review what I’ve gone over with my students so they remember what they learned. With my pre-GED class, I have students who are at various grade levels and I’ve found that if they don’t constantly review what they’ve learned, they will forget it.
To make the review a fun learning experience, I divide the students into two or three teams, depending on how many students are in class that day. Each team comes up with their own name and will win a point for each question answered correctly. The team with the most points will win. Each student takes a turn answering a question. If the student misses the question, another team will have the opportunity to answer it correctly.
Before the start of the game, I give each student an index card to write a question and answer on it for the game. Not only do I use the questions from the students, but I also will add my own questions into the mix.
The questions will deal with all of the subjects the students have been studying. Some questions include:
- What is the first thing you should do before you start writing an essay? (Answer: Make sure you understand what the question is asking.)
- What sentence contains a word spelled incorrectly:
- The student was anxxious for class.
- Bill read an incredibly hard report.
- Mary was excited for school to begin.
- Sean was ready to prepare for the football game.
- Solve various math equations. (Students will be given a math equation to solve in a set amount of time.)
- Use “its” and “it’s” correctly in two sentences. (Answer: Sentence 1. Anxious is spelled wrong.)
Overall, the game has been a hit with students. And as a result, many realized they needed more review or help in a particular subject. Some students also have gotten the reassurance and confidence they needed to move forward in a particular subject after doing well in the game. Also, with each question, students are learning how to answer it correctly, which might be something they didn’t know.
I’m looking forward to the next game in a few weeks.
Kathleen Collins, pre-GED teacher in Cuyahoga Falls