I used to DREAD review days. The challenge of trying to keep an entire class engaged and on task left me overwhelmed and exhausted. While most of my 4th graders didn’t need to review, others required serious remediation. I tried playing review games (who doesn’t love a good game of Jeopardy?), but only a handful of students were engaged and very few benefited. In the end, I never felt satisfied and knew there had to be a better way of utilizing these days.
Small Group Review
One day it dawned on me. What I needed to do was shift my focus from whole group review to small group review. This way, I could meet with the students who truly needed remediation separately from those who did not. But how could I know with certainty which students to reteach and what skills to focus on? I needed data, and I needed it fast. Boom Cards™ immediately came to mind.
Going Digital
If you haven’t tried a set of Boom Cards, pencil them into your next unit lesson plan. These digital task cards are such a time-saver and are easy to implement in class. They provide immediate feedback for students and will give you valuable data, including which problems students answer incorrectly and how long it takes them to complete the assignment. Below is a picture of the data analysis Boom Learning does for you.
On top of that, students LOVE them! They were a game-changer for me. Learn how to use Boom Cards in the classroom in my previous post!
Chapter Review Boom Cards
I created my first set of Chapter Review Boom Cards during Chapter 7 of Go Math: Add and Subtract Fractions. My students completed this review two days before the test. The data showed me exactly who was struggling and what concepts they were struggling with.
It was obvious they didn’t need more practice adding and subtracting fractions. Their struggle was with mixed numbers. Furthermore, the data showed me who did not require additional support from me. I was AH-MAZED! Planning for review days just got that much easier. I now knew exactly who to work with and what to work on.
I first met with students who needed remediation, and we only worked on mixed numbers. In addition, I provided enrichment activities for the others, including the next chapter’s pretest. How did I not think of this sooner? Immediately, I got to work on creating a set of Chapter 8 Review Boom Cards. Before I knew it, all 13 Chapter Reviews were finished!
Less is More
From here on out, I use the phrase “less is more” to plan out review days. I meet with fewer students and cover fewer topics but accomplish more. I could not achieve this without the data from my Chapter Review Boom Cards! Below is a preview of my review on Angles and Degrees, which aligns with Chapter 11 in Go Math.
All 13 Chapter Reviews contain 3-5 questions per lesson and use a variety of question types, such as drag-and-drop, multiple choice, multiple select, and fill-in-the-blank. Questions are organized from the first lesson to the last, making it easy to read and interpret data.
If you are short on time, assign them for homework! The immediate feedback will help you plan which skills to review in whole group and which to review in small groups. In addition, you can identify which lessons you need to focus on more throughout the unit.
Digital and Printable Versions
If you have limited access to technology, I also offer printable versions. Personally, I like to use both. For example, when looking through my data I’ll pull out task cards aligning with the questions most commonly missed. I can then use these cards to review with students and discuss why they missed the questions in the first place and/or what misconceptions they had. Why reinvent the wheel when it’s already been made?
If you struggle with review days, try my “less is more” approach. Use data from Boom Cards to prioritize and plan your small group activities. Click on the links below for more information regarding my 4th Grade Math Reviews!
Until next time,
Happy Teaching!
