One of the biggest frustrations teachers experience is this: You teach a concept in October, your students do well on the test, and you move on. Then April rolls around… and it’s like they’ve never seen the concept before. (I’m talking about YOU, Significant Figures!)If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. This happens because students forget content that they don’t revisit regularly. When learning is concentrated in one unit and never practiced again, it’s easy for information to fade from memory. That’s why spiral review is one of the most powerful strategies you can build into your classroom.
What is spiral review?
Spiral review is taking intentional time to review old content by cycling it through your current content multiple times. It is usually the things that your students already understand but may need a refresher on. You don’t want these things to become things that your students will need to be retaught. Spiral review is typically student centered. The biggest benefit of spiral reviews is that bringing up this material up again and again helps to force the content into long term memory. You can get a free copy of my list of spiral review strategies here. It’s a great thing to keep at your desk as you write your lesson plans.
Why Spiral Review Works
When students revisit information after time has passed, they have to actively retrieve that knowledge from their brain. Just the EFFORT of that strengthens memory. Those concepts have an easier time sticking around long term. You really want this happening every day in chemistry class considering its cumulative nature. Here’s the nuts and bolts:
- It helps with retention. Students are less likely to forget concepts taught early in the year
- It helps to build connections between chemistry topics. Ideas start to connect with ease.
- Reduces cramming. Both in your in-class year end review, as well as students working on their own. Talk about a confidence boost.
- Identify learning gaps sooner. You can catch misconceptions and misunderstandings before they snowball into something crazy.
It Doesn’t Have to Take the Place of Regular Review
I LOVE review activities. I think they are great, and certainly a useful way to spend class time. (There are many administrators that will tell you that spiral is an alternative to review days. “It saves time.” Phooey.) You can do one or the other, or you can do both. I think both is best. The problem with doing only traditional review days is that they often turn into teachers simply reteaching weeks, or even months of material ina cram session the day before the test. It’s stressful for everybody, and it’s not super effective.
If you are implementing spiral review in your chemistry class, students are revisting the old content a bit each day. PLUS they can get the massive content dump right before a test. But with that spiral added in, the review day is a lot more effective. That’s truly where learning gaps are filled and connections are made!
My Favorite Spiral Review Strategies:
- Incorporate old questions into new content. This is usually happening on publisher made materials, but make sure to do it on things that you create for your students as well.
- Do Now or morning work is a great time to review some old content as you grapple with current content. I plan to piece together a year’s worth of chemistry bell ringers at some point for TPT! They will be spiral review focused!
- Early finishers: any activities that your students do when they have extra time is a great opportunity to revisit old content.
- Sub Plans: absolutely leave review work with your substitute. Then you don’t have to worry about the kids or the sub having any type of confusion with the content.
- Task cards: Old sets of task cards can be used again and again – reuse them! This is also a great way to use up the last 10 minutes of class when your lesson finishes a little quicker than you expected.
- Unit Review or Station Review: any old activities, games, or stations that you use can be reused. This works especially well with content that is built on past material. Chemistry example: Lewis structures and chemical bonding
- Turn & Teach: I learned this method from Whole Brain Teaching and I love it. Student A turns to Student B and teaches them what they know. They take turns. Give them a prompt that should be “review” in nature.
- Choice boards: A few of the activities can be old content, and some can be new. Choice boards are not my favorite. They feel like a lot of work. But if they work for you, integrate some old content!
- Use of games: I love reusing an old review game, and so do my students! The more games the better. Here’s a blog post on ways to turn a boring worksheet into something more fun. “Games” doesn’t have to be a scary word for teachers.
- Projects where the rubric focuses on both old and new skills as a way to test the new and keep the old fresh. I’m not really a “project teacher.” But if this is in your wheelhouse, then absolutely, go for it!
Again, don’t forget you can get a printable version of this list to keep at your teacher desk as you plan your lessons.
A Better Way to Prepare for Final Exams
One of the biggest advantages of spiral review is what happens at the end of your school year. Instead of cramming in review sessions to your calendar, and your students scrambling to form study groups, there is a sense of calm. Your students have been practicing all year long. That means when final exam review starts, it feels very focused. That’s especially true if you give a practice final exam, or have been using my test score tracker all year long. Students can dial in on the few topics that are still a bit shaky for them instead of relearning all of chemistry in just 10 days.
By revisiting concepts throughout the year, your students learn more, retain more, connect concepts, and feel more prepared for exams. And most importantly, you can get away from the “teach, cram, test, forget” cycle and move toward deep understanding of chemistry.
