It is that time of the year. State testing and end of year tests. As a teacher, we must review the previous content with students because they may not have seen it for months. Yet, how boring is reviewing by repetition and worksheets? Jess is preparing for state testing (the FIRST time her babies - 3rd graders) and Steph is preparing for her high school students to take the government EOC. Below is what we have done to prepare our students for the BIG tests, yet, with a twist of fun!
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Jess:
As state testing approached I wanted to review with the kids in a fun and calming way. I did not want to overload them with worksheets, especially because this is the first time they are being state tested. I did not want to worry or scare them more than they already were.
A few games I used as review were Pie in the Face (challenge edition) and Bean Boozled. We used Quizizz and Kahoot to review Math and ELA and the top three players received points for their team (which then winning team received points in Classcraft - that will be another post). The overall winner then was able to choose someone from another team to “battle” in either pie in your face or bean boozled. The winner of the battle then received extra points for their team. They loved this and it put an extra fun spin on the fun. They also could challenge me for extra points, let just say I am super competitive, so I never lose. ;)
Another thing I used is the flippity add on to google sheets. There are matching game templates, jeopardy templates, hangman, crossword puzzles and the list goes on. The kids LOVED reviewing this way and think I am a computer programmer now. Silly them! #thanksgoogle
The last thing I did before state testing, I know this isn’t a “game” yet it was a GAME CHANGER in my room for my students mindset before testing. First, I had the students write their worries down on a piece of paper and they were the only person to see their worries. They then went to the trash can one by one and tore their worries up and threw them in the trash.
Step two was then they wrote a note to themselves for the first day of testing. Their notes basically almost had me in tears they were so good! On the first day of testing I then laid their notes to themselves and a note I wrote to them. This took away the fear of the BIG test. #youaremorethanatestscore
Another thing I did was print out a game controller (apparently my game controller was old school - oops). Then the students wrote for each button of the controller a test taking strategy they were going to use on the test. This was because “We are in CONTROL of the test!”
Finally, I love me some #tlap. I received this idea at an #edcamp recently so I had to implement it. This box has been sitting there staring at the kids for almost two weeks. They are so intrigued and want to know what is inside. What is inside? Hmmm…. Find out May 3rd after lunch! #goalachieved
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Steph:
As a social studies teacher in the state of Missouri, this is the first year I have had to deal with state testing for my students - the 11th grade government EOC (for our district). Last semester, I returned from maternity leave and felt entirely too rushed (and new to the class/content) to get real creative with lesson planning, let alone reviews! This semester - it’s a whole new ball game!
Luckily, for me, I’ve got a colleague that is also a PIRATE and we have had some fun reviewing for the EOC with our students. Our testing isn’t until May 7-8, so I’ll be updating this post after this week’s games, as well.
The first game we developed (and the one my students played on Thursday) was a breakout (of sorts). In their teams, students had to complete a Google Form FULL of review questions from the whole semester! After each set of questions, students received one clue word that would make a sentence once they were done. After completing the google form, they had to figure out what the sentence meant to find the next clue. Some hints/activities in this breakout were content related, but not all! We felt that was a great way to even the playing field a little bit and make all team members feel valued and like contributing members. In the end, the hidden key to the reward was behind the “Supreme Law of the Land” - a must know by the end of this course!
The other 2 major review games I will be playing are scheduled for this upcoming week - Cosmic Bowling (shout out to The Engaging Station that got our creativity going) and an EOC Carnival! My colleague, Jessica G., played the cosmic bowling with her students last week - and I am using her pictures to show how awesome it was! Students answered questions 1 by 1 - a correct answer gave them the chance to bowl. The number of pins they knocked down correlated to the points their team earned during that bowl. Jessica G. (always making sure everyone is engaged) added a twist, as well! Students NOT up in the spotlight had to answer the question on whiteboards. If the original student answered incorrectly, a random student would be selected to steal the question if they were correct. This helped make the game even more interactive and made sure that all kids were paying attention the whole game - not just during their turn!
Last, but definitely not least - the EOC Carnival! Jessica G and I were talking about doing some fun games with our students and the next thing you know we’ve got a game station rotation happening that’s turned into a carnival! Both of our classes will be participating this next week - so, pictures will be added later! Each station (4 total) will review a different unit of study. Students will take turns being the ‘Gamemaster Jr’ and asking the questions/tallying points/etc.
Station 1 - Color Roll
Station 2 - Jenga
Station 3 - EOC Pong (an idea stolen from a student created game in the past!)
Station 4 - Pie in the Face (the credit goes to Jess for this idea)
If you are interested in the rules of each game - click here! I am pretty excited about this and cannot wait to transform my room tomorrow!
As a side note, I am planning to play the Cosmic Bowling with my freshman classes before their semester final exams - but that won’t be for another 3 weeks!
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Hopefully this has given you some ideas to implement into your classroom. If you have any other favorite ways to use review games, drop a comment below!
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