Reviewing with Jenga

Jenga is a game many people like, and so it' s the perfect activity to use for Review. 

The rules are of course the same, you just tape numbers on all the Jenga pieces corresponding to a question written either on the board or on a separate sheet of paper (for best results, write questions beforehand). You can use this to review any topic and, to add extra learning opportunity, if they answer incorrect, they will have to copy this question and answer on their notebooks for homework. 

Not much more to it :-) 

Give life to a short story

So, there's something kids really enjoy about having the liberty of being creative. Reading a story with pictures can be nice, don't get me wrong. But letting your imagination be its co-author takes reading to the next level. 

I searched for a couple of sites that had free short stories available and ran a cross this one I really liked ( http://www.short-story-time.com/halloween-spider.html ). I chose a particular one I thought my kids would love and let them get to it. They had to give life to the short story by drawing each scene. Here are my suggestions if you want to give it a try as well. 

1. Choose a relevant story

Whether it's a topic related to what they are seeing in class or something you think they would be interested in, take a moment to think about the most appropriate story for the group you have. Another idea is to choose one according to the season- summer, winter- or the celebrations in your country-Halloween, independence day, whatever comes to mind (and that has its corresponding short story, of course!)

2. Write the story for them and divide it into a couple of class periods

Writing the short story completely AND then drawing it might make them lose the joy or patience for the activity. If you want to practice listening skills, you can leave one page of the story blank, or a few blanks throughout the whole story for them to fill out. 

Dividing it into more than one class period also helps the activity stay interesting and you can squeeze prediction activities (For example, get them to write what they think will happen in the story, talk about it, or even act out in class)

3. Type it in the computer and print it out (if it's possible for you)

As you can see in the picture, I decided to write the whole short story. Initially, i thought it would save me time. But in reality, it made me lose more time than it would have made me spend in money. Just advice :-) 

4. Spark their creativity

Tell them to use their imagination. It might be obvious they have to use it, but something magical happens when they are reminded of it! 

5. Reward outstanding work and big effort

A few kind words can last a lifetime in a kid's heart. I know it because i had some great teachers who impacted my life with short but sincere comments. Kids really need love, and they give so much more when they feel your approval and desire to help them.

Review game

This game is great for review and, as most of my posts, works perfectly for kids as well as adults!

Draw the game on the board and bring the biggest die you can find around the house (the bigger, the better!). Tell your students to draw an animal, character or symbol to represent them in the game and then give them masking tape to stick it right on the take off spot.

 You can either ask them to help you find good questions for each slot (related to what they are learning in class) or make them yourself (depending on how much time you have and how much your students participate in class because the game itself already takes enough time). Make sure there are some that make it more exciting, like:

- Go back 3 spaces
- Go back to the beginning (my kids decided it would be fun to put this in the slot before the finish line)
- Miss a turn

They throw the die to see how many spots they will move and answer the question of the slot where they land.

In my case, I give them 2 opportunities to get it right (In cases Where you have that one student who falls behind a bit. After all, the point is to learn and have fun in the process! :) )

If their answer is incorrect, you can decide what you do. One option is that they have to move back 3 spaces or so. You can get creative with this :)