I have a love-hate relationship with test review days. In a perfect teaching world, they wouldn’t be necessary. But, even on my best days, I don’t teach in that world! So, review days are part of the norm. My real beef with them, though, was that I felt I was doing so much work compared to my students. Until I started utilizing stations…
Station review means that students are active and in charge of their learning. No more teacher-focused review days! Students get to move around, collaborate, and get one-on-one time with the teacher. Everybody wins!
It can mean a little more to plan, but that is totally up to you and which stations you choose. I like to use questions and activities from the unit, so most of the time the tedious work has already been done. Depending on time and how much content needs to be reviewed, I like to have 5-7 stations. Too few and students may get bored at a station. Too many and students feel rushed or get lost in what they are supposed to be doing at each station.
There are so many different activities that can be used for stations and it usually comes down to teacher preference + time you’re willing to spend preparing. But, I’ve got some favorites and I’m sharing my top six test review ideas that work!
ERROR ANALYSIS
Write and solve problems on the board or on large paper, making at least one mistake per problem. Have students analyze the problem, spot the mistake, and explain on post-its that they post in a specific location near each problem.
TASK CARDS
Students work through as many task cards as possible. For review days, I like to have an answer key available for students to check their work.
For more ideas on how to use task cards for learning, here is a post I wrote all about task cards.
I also have task cards for 7th-grade math and Geometry already done for you! Check them out here!
CHEAT SHEET STATION
On large poster paper, write the main concepts for the unit at the top. Students then create a collaborative cheat sheet of everything they think is important to know about that topic. Discuss as a whole class at the end as a final review.
MULTIPLE-CHOICE PRACTICE QUESTIONS
Think previous quiz or old test questions in a multiple-choice format. Have students answer them on a Google Form so that you have data on any gaps before the assessment.
VOCABULARY REVIEW
I like to have students match vocabulary words to their definitions and/or images or examples using flash cards. Students time themselves and match the cards over and over, trying to beat their time!
ASK THE TEACHER
Small group time with the teacher where students can ask questions about anything from the stations or the unit. I like to also have out my data from formative assessments and quizzes so I can work on known weak spots.
As you prepare your students for unit tests and final exams, consider trying out stations for your review day! And if you have any questions on how to implement them in your classroom, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below. I’d love to help troubleshoot and share what I’ve learned!
