True, False, Fix: A Social Studies Review Game

Posted on March 27, 2017 by Stephanie's History Store

Well it took almost a full school year, but thanks to a professional development I went to, I found a review technique ALL of my 7th graders were on board with.

I call it “True, False, Fix.”

true false fix: a social studies review game

The PD person led us through a variety of strategies, and one was a review where there were 20 statements about the content from the lesson divided into pairs in 10 spots around the room. We each started at a pair of statements, read them, and put the one we thought was correct right side up and the incorrect one upside down. The person leading the PD, checked them, we moved to the next pair of statements, then the next, and we kept going and getting checked until we had done all 10 pairs. I thought it was a neat idea, but it had been designed for 4th graders so I put my own spin on it for my 7th graders.

As the schedule worked out, my girls had a test our 2nd day back from spring break, so I spent our first class getting them back in gear and reviewing. I figured I might as well try this new strategy because it’s getting close to the end of our year and I wanted to shake things up for the girls and do something different.

I typed up 16 statements related to the test material, some true and some false. I divided the girls into pairs and each pair got all 16 pieces of paper in a pile. They divided them into true and false and then I checked them. Once each pair’s true/false separations were correct, the girls took turns explaining why each was false and restated it so it was true (for example: Mexico won the Mexican-American War was corrected to America won the Mexican-American War). Afterwards, in their pairs, they wrote two true and two false statements related to the material that had not already been covered, swapped them with another pair, and they sorted and fixed them one more time.

We also played THIS review game afterwards with some of the larger topics from the semester just to make sure they hadn’t brain dumped *everything* over break, because their final exam is closer than they realize..

Do you have any new strategies or tips that other teachers would benefit from, especially as it gets close to the end of the year? I’d love to read about them in the comments 🙂

I Have, Who Has: Hits and Misses

Posted on January 15, 2017 by Stephanie's History Store

My goal this semester is to try a new strategy or technique once a unit in all of my classes. It’s a lofty goal but thanks to my teacher friends (some of whom have shared their ideas at the bottom of this post) and Pinterest I think I’ll be able to do it. The first one up was the review game, “I have, who has.” I always thought it was a little on the elementary side, but I also wanted to ease into this and start with something relatively easy to make (since my free time is pretty limited), so I figured I’d try it with my 6th graders first. If it went well I’d test it out on 7th grade, and if that went well I’d use it with my 8th graders too. What I found interesting was that regardless of the girls in each class, each grade level responded to this in mostly the same way.

new ideas to try in your social studies classroom

tips from social studies teachers on trying new strategies and keeping teaching fresh

One thing I did do for each set of review cards, was to add extension tasks so the girls have to apply what they learned, and not just match items up. Depending on the topic, the extension tasks include map work, timelines, historical dialogue, ranking systems, and more to really work with the material and make sure it’s fully grasped before moving on. So first I handed out all the cards, then the girls stood in a big circle in the middle of my room, and because most of them hadn’t played this before either I explained how it would work and how they’d know when it was their turn. Once we started they understood the concept pretty quickly.

the hits and misses of the review game I have who has in social studies

The good, the bad, and the in between of using I have, who has, as a review strategy in middle school social studies

The verdict:

—6th grade LOVED it! Since they’re a small group they each got 2 cards per so they had to stay focused a bit extra. I had them use it to review landforms our first day back after Christmas Break and it was such a hit that I started making sets for them to review the other topics we’ve studied and to have on hand for future topics.

—7th grade seemed to enjoy it, but their overall interest wasn’t held as long, so I think next time I’ll try one of three things: I’ll either give them 2 cards each like I did with 6th grade, or there will be some sort of motivation to pay attention (like 3 consecutive cards will be used as fill in the blanks on the test), or maybe they were just too stumped because I had also used it to review material from before Christmas Break so maybe if they’re not so frustrated in trying to remember the material they can have more fun with it next time.

—8th grade was totally not impressed. I got the feeling they thought it was too childish so I told them everything is a learning experience (especially when we do something for the first time), I would make a few changes, and they would give it one more shot. We’ll use it one more time to review the War of 1812 in a few weeks. If they still don’t like it then that’s fair, there are plenty of other review techniques out there I can use with them.

Click around in the links below to read other strategies and ideas from other history teachers!

Are you trying something new this year in your classroom? Was it an unexpected hit or miss? I’d love to hear about how it went in the comments 🙂

An InLinkz Link-up

https://static.inlinkz.com/cs2.js

3 of my Favorite Ways to Review a History Unit

Posted on January 20, 2016 by Stephanie's History Store

3 of my favorite activities to review a unit

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I like to keep myself and my students on our toes by not getting into an activities rut. Today I’m sharing 3 of my favorite ways to review a topic. You can read about some of my other go-to “get students engaged” strategies and ideas HERE and HERE (both prior posts), and my post from last week on 3 of my favorite ways to introduce a unit HERE.

1. If there are 30 students in the class, I will print out 6 images from the unit. I cut the images into 5 puzzle piece type pieces and mix all 30 cut up puzzle pieces in a box/bag/hat. Each student picks out one puzzle piece without looking, and when all the puzzle pieces have been picked, the students walk around the room trying to find the other pieces to complete their image. Once each image has been put back together, the group has a few minutes to brainstorm what they know about the image, and how it played into the unit they just studied. They then present their image and its significance to the rest of the class.

2. Every few units I group the students up and have them make sample tests. I tell them that I will choose one or two questions from each review test to include in the actual test. When the tests are completed (it usually takes a whole class period), the students exchange their group’s test with another group and they attempt to answer the questions. The original groups then correct the tests and they all get turned in.

3. One of the other more popular review tactics I’ve used is to have students cast and outline a movie for a given a topic such as The War of the Roses. The students are grouped up and (as a sample) have to address:

a. who would be cast as the main characters in a movie about the topic
b. which historical events/people/themes would the plot focus on and why
c. which worldwide locations would you use to film the movie
d. would there be any unexpected plot twists; what and why
e. in what ways would the movie become more “Hollywood” than “History”
f. what kind of reviews would your movie get from critics and from the general public, what about from historians

I also love having my students make pamphlets because they can be so personalized, and a new favorite is Historical Hollywood Bus Tours! Do you have a go-to review activity? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

Here’s a BONUS activity, “True, False, Fix!”

5 Reasons to Review with List Group Label

Posted on January 5, 2016 by Stephanie's History Store

When I was introduced to list-group-label in my education classes, I mentally scoffed at it. I didn’t see the value in it, I thought it was painlessly simplistic, and that it couldn’t possibly offer any real value to students. Well, I officially take all that back. I’ve used it a few times every semester with my high schoolers and very recently with my middle schoolers.

There is a lot of flexibility to this strategy but the basic premise is that your students create a list of vocabulary terms related to the topic at hand (the Revolutionary War) or are given a list of terms, then they group up the words how they see fit (according to when during the Revolutionary War a term came up, or if it was a person/battle/document, etc), and lastly they label their lists with a term that summarizes the list, or connects each item in the list. Ideally some great discussion and material-connecting will come of this 🙂

I have a mix of 5th-10th graders in my classroom right now so I recently did a slightly modified version of list-group-label. I paired my kids up and gave them a list of the vocabulary terms we were going to review. They organized the words into lists that made sense to them and we discussed each pairs’ thought process. Then they grouped up the terms in a way that they saw them connect and we then discussed the groupings. I was pleasantly surprised that almost all the groupings were different (one group did theirs according to “degree of success” which I hadn’t even thought of myself!). Lastly they labeled their lists and we had a concluding discussion. Each time I use this strategy it makes students think outside the box a bit and they always surprise me with the variety of perspectives they produce for this activity. I have found over the years that I have 5 main reasons for using LGL as a review technique and why I think teachers in any content area should give it a try.

1. Vocabulary reinforcement–you and your students will be able to very clearly see if they know which terms are people/places/things/events/buildings/treaties/etc. If you have time, you can even have each pair say or write a quick identification for each term to show that they remember something correct about them. It’s one thing to know that Versailles and the Hagia Sophia are both buildings, but it’s a bit more to know where each is located and the purpose of each building, or to confirm if students remember the different significances between the Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of Midway.

2. Pairs work–it is so important for students to have opportunities to work in pairs and in groups and it’s very easy for this to be done in pairs. In the real world people have to be able to cooperate and work with a variety of personalities. Having them work with a different student each week helps students practice working with different personalities, different academic capabilities, they practice cooperating, they exercise some flexibility, and possibly even exert some patience.

3. Form an opinion and defend it–I don’t tell my students how to group up the terms, so not only will they have to form an opinion for themselves on how to make connections and group up the terms, they have to defend it/explain it to the rest of the class. Being able to explain your thought process is a skill that should be addressed in all content areas, and this is a low pressure way to have kids do just that.

4. Make connections between different parts of the unit–we might not have spoken about Magellan and the Aztecs in the same class period, but could there be a connection between them? That’s up to the students to determine. Or, they might see a connection between Tuskegee Airmen and Navajo Code Talkers beyond both being soldiers from minority races during WW2 and they should be encouraged to make those connections.

5. Respect other people’s opinions and see that there’s more than 1 way to think–not every pair will group up the terms the same way, and that’s ok!!! It is so important for kids to learn (and practice) the art of respecting a different opinion, especially if it’s an opinion you disagree with. If the terms have been grouped up differently across the pairs, that’s a great discussion opportunity for students to hear, and respect, the thought process of their peers.

As a bonus reason for using this as a review strategy, you will see growth in your students as the year progresses. Students will think differently and defend their opinions differently based on the material and how they feel about it, and as students get more comfortable with this activity they begin thinking more deeply (especially for making connections between parts of the material). The deeper they think the more they can have organized debates in a controlled way for a longer period of time as they discuss their different thought processes.

If you’ve been on the fence about using list-group-label, go for it then let me know how it goes!!!

Using Pamphlets as a Review Activity

Posted on October 18, 2015 by Stephanie's History Store

Both my students and I look forward to pamphlet projects. I love that they can get creative and they love not writing essays.

student made pamphlets

First and foremost, students have to be concise in pamphlets. They only have so much space in which to present their information, and depending on the topic they might also have to fit in images and maps. So they have to decide what the most important, relevant, and compelling things are that they should say, and how to say it succinctly. Too many times my students ask me “how much should I write” and I always answer with “however much you need to say to make your point.” This is a great way for students to really practice picking the most important parts of a topic and defending their opinions concisely.

Secondly, and maybe this is just how I’ve chosen to do it, but students can explore a variety of points of view in pamphlets. History books can’t cover every point of view for each historical event, so I try to work it in whenever possible. When we do some types of pamphlets, the kids dedicate one flap to a different point of view than is represented in the main part of the pamphlet. Another way they work with multiple points of view is by grouping up and each makes 3-5 pamphlets, depending on how many points of view we have covered on the topic.

For example, with the New Deal, there were other solutions for recovery and reform proposed at the time than FDR’s New Deal. So in groups of 3, my students make 3 different pamphlets, one for each major plan proposed at the time (the New Deal, Share the Wealth, and EPIC), and then they make a 4th pamphlet for a recovery and reform plan of their own design (because they so frequently say things like, “why didn’t FDR just do a/b/c” or “why didn’t the someone think of x/y/z” so this is their chance to make their own solution/plan).

In each pamphlet they explain the program’s main points (how it will work, its benefits), how it differs from the other programs, and why it is the best one and should be supported by the public. For fun, they write a mini-autobiography on the back explaining how they have the authority to tell the public which plan they should support.

As I wrote this post, I thought of a pamphlet students can make to review the causes of World War 1 and you can find it HERE. I also recently made a pamphlet activity for the French Revolution (has one element in particular that students should have fun with), Revolutionary War (patriots vs loyalists), Civil War (to become an abolitionist or not), and World War 2 (help FDR make 4 big wartime decisions). You can also find one for the Industrial Revolution, War of 1812, European Imperialism, US Imperialism, the French and Indian War, the Mexican-American War, and the Spanish Civil War. If you try any of them out I hope your students enjoy them! Updated to add, I also made a generic template for students to create a pamphlet for any topic, you can find that one HERE.

Stephanie's History Store

History Teacher, Wife, Mom, Traveler, Foodie, Reader

Tag Archives: review activities