Everything Old is New Again: Reviewing

A regular practice of mine has been review games. Games make reviewing fun. Competition encourages participation. The games I play in my classroom involve movement. They are active. The problem with all of the new game apps—as fun and engaging as they are—is that they require the students to sit still and click. I wanted to continue my old active style of reviewing, but with a Zoom twist.

One game that my students enjoy is a vocabulary review played in teams. The two teams compete by answering questions about the vocabulary words. These questions might have to do with definitions of the words. They might ask the students to put the correct word into a sentence with a blank. If a member of the team answers a question correctly, that person can take a shot for an extra point. When we were live, we tossed a tiny rubber chicken into a bucket. Now, since the students are not in my classroom, I ask the students to find an unbreakable object and a container. I give them 2 minutes to do so. Once everyone is equipped, we can begin the competition. The teams take turns answering questions. If a team member answers a question correctly, they aim their camera on the container and attempt the shot.

I keep score old-school-style with markers on my white board, so my laptop’s camera is pointed at the score board.

Now, my students ask to play "the game" even when there is nothing to review. So, occasionally, I host a game during Colt Time, our advisory-style period. Sometimes I use trivia from stories, poems, or books we have read together. I also use information we have reviewed before—parts of speech, vocabulary, grammar rules. Other times, I ask questions about our school. If my students are asking to play, it must be worth playing.