SPLAT! A Review Game

5th grade example 

I love this game. I LOVE THIS GAME. Last week my school hosted about 20 admin from around the district. They were there to take a look at the school and check on how instruction was going. I had about 10 extra adults in my room during this activity. They tried to ask my kids questions about what they were doing, but the kids completely ignored them- that’s how focused they were on their task and this game. Have I mentioned that I love this game?

My 5^th and 2^nd graders have a big summative assessment in December. The test covers everything a wide variety of concepts, and with about an hour of instruction a week my kids need a lot of review to be ready. We do all kids of review activities the second half of November and December, but this is my favorite one by far.

2nd Grade Example

The game itself is pretty simple. There is a piece of butcher paper with 16 bugs drawn on it, and inside the bugs are musical terms. (You could really put whatever you want in the bug, though. Notes, instruments, you name it!) Students sit one on each side of the paper and have some kind of swatter- fly swatters if you have them; soft mallets work too if you don’t feel like blowing $30 at the dollar store for fly swatters. I have a bunch of soft mallets that came with drums, so I use those. You ask a question, students have three seconds of think time to find the answer, and when you say, “SPLAT!” they splat the answer on the board.

I always take a bit of time to just play the game first, with questions I create and project on the board. Once kids have a hang of it, we up the rigor by giving students the opportunity to create the questions. Kids love this, by the way. The prospect of tricking their classmates with a wicked hard question is very appealing to them. I don’t just let them loose, though. I give them 3 questions stems to choose from. They all require knowing the definition of the word, and range from simple plugging in the definition to creating a word problem that includes the definition in some form. Kids self-differentiate which question stem to use, and create 2-4 questions depending on the grade level. I did myself a big favor when I made these by making four words very clear to each person. Kids will naturally choose from those words when they create their questions. It cuts down on the arguments over who gets what word. 

Here are the question templates I used with my kids.

The only con to this game is the time it takes to make it. I have four kids to each poster, so creating enough for classes of 28 can be a pain, but it is SO WORTH IT! Plus, it's a good excuse to bring work home and work while I watch Doctor Who or Gilmore Girls. The cats love this game, too! 

The best part of working from home: DVR!

I hope your kids love this game as much as Noodle Cat does!

Manipulative Monday: Review Cards

One of the battles I constantly fight as a music teacher is forgetfulness. When you see your kids only once or twice a week, it is a battle that will never stop. I don’t want to waste time going over already learned concepts every other second, so we regularly review the concepts already covered.

Every day with intermediate grades, I have two or three review questions on the board so students have a task to focus on as soon as they are in the room. We go over them very quickly, and this does help them to remember concepts. Sometimes, however, students more than one or two questions to make sure they stay on top of previously taught concepts. This is even more true with grades that are about to take summative semester tests. Partner review cards are a great way to help review and keep students engaged.

Can I tell you how much I love the dollar store? I LOVE IT A LOT. There are so many good things you can use as manipulatives, and for a lot less than official manipulatives online or at teacher stores. This summer, I found these beauties at Dollar Tree and stocked up, knowing they would come in handy. They come in packs of 24, so I picked up several of each to be ready for the larger classes.

The game is simple. Students have a card that is either a concept or a definition/example. Students get a card and silently move (I use a musical timer) to find the person who has the accompanying card. For first and second graders, I let them whisper to help students who may not be to the point of silently reading yet. Once students find their partner, they talk for a few moments to make sure they can justify why they think the two cards go together. We check a few groups as a class, and then the students have 10 seconds to trade cards with someone who was not their partner. This sets us up for another round.

Here is a second grade example.

I like this game because it gets kids up and moving, gives them a chance to talk with several partners, and really reinforces previously learned knowledge. I focus on getting students to justify why they chose the answer, really making them think about their reasoning. My school is also focusing on accountable talk, and this activity is a good opportunity for students to practice those skills. This is a great review for any definition-heavy subject as well. I've found this game much more effective than more traditional reviews with paper and pencil.

Have fun with this game, I hope your kiddos love it as much as mine do!