Remediation in Social Studies is always tricky!
We have so much content to cover and so little time for review.
With a few tried and true strategies and activities, remediation in social studies can be fun for students and painless for the teacher.
First things first. Standardized tests stink.
Now that that is out of the way. Reviewing for them is critical. Formative assessments throughout the year are helpful, but getting the data needed to drive your review is the key.
Data drives remediation! Use your data to be smart about remediation. If a large percentage of students missed a standard on your last test, a whole class activity will work. However, if three or four students missed a standard, station activities might be the way to go.
Either way, use that data to determine what activities/strategies will be best for your classes.
My top 8 activities for remediation are . . .
- Matching card reviews. I’m telling you . . . these are magic. With this quick matching activity, you can tell immediately where students are struggling. When I see what they need help with, I can do a quick reteach on that concept. I’m saving time because I can target my review. Once you prep these, you can use them year after year.
2. Play Dough vocabulary – Pick the vocabulary your students are struggling on and ask them to create a play dough scene describing it. If you do this whole class, I have students go around and guess the terms. This is great to do the day before a break!
3. Give a Clue Game – My all time favorite review activity. How to play? Students pair up. One faces the screen and the other has their back to the screen. You display 6 terms related to a concept. The student facing the screen describes each term trying to get their partner to guess it. Finally, they switch places. I LOVE this activity because if you listen closely, you can tell what you need to reteach!
4. Important Documents Review – Let’s be real. Key documents can be tough for students to remember. This sorting activity allows students to connect the dots and review in a hands-on way! The early American history version can be found here.
5. White board races – I love to target key missed standards with a quick whiteboard game. Sometimes I do this in pairs or small groups, but if I am focusing on remediation, I want this to be done individually. I put images or questions up on my screen and have students answer on their small white boards.
7. Cause and effect review – One of the biggest “bang for the buck” review activities I do is a cause and effect hands-on review. I do this as a part of station reviews and I always sit with my struggling students with this activity. I’m able to “reteach” as we match and it always helps students make connections!
8. Bell Ringers – I’ll be honest, I am not a huge fan of bell work. I don’t want to grade it! What I AM a fan of is taking the first 3-4 minutes of class and asking targeted review questions. I usually take the top 5 missed questions on their recent test (again, use your data) to ask as bell ringers. Quick reteaching for the win!
However you chose to remediate, be intentional about it. Jump on over to Instagram (@activehistory) and let me know how you remediate!
Thank you for this blog post! I am always trying to come up with more hands-on ways to review the history concepts I teach. I use Blooket in my classroom, but would love some non-computer based ideas too. I can’t wait to try some of these remediation activities in my classroom!
Great to hear! Let me know how it goes!