Don’t start Teaching without this!

Why it is important to review a lesson:

School is starting however are your students or children really prepared? Before you can embark on new lessons, subjects and teachings, reviewing the old stuff has advantages.

Many lessons depend on previous knowledge, therefore before you begin teaching make sure the children have the fundamentals to understand and follow what you will begin teaching. In addition, reviewing old lessons will help the brain to fire up and begin working after a long lazy summer.

Of course, it is best to review shortly after a lesson was taught, however that unfortunately does not always happen. Therefore, try to summarize and review previous lessons taught before delving into new material.

Best ways to Review last years lessons with your Child or Students:

1. Take a look at the work your child brought home before summer vacation, was there any summer homework? Any sheets that you can use as a review?
2. If you are a teacher reach out to your students’ previous teacher and ask for the last few worksheets the students received. Use those to kick-start your lesson and your students brains.

Once the lesson was taught let us take a look at a great ways to review the lesson:

 

Reviewing the lesson:

• K-W-L chart- this stands for what you Know, what you Want to know, and what you Learned. Before you begin the lesson, assess children on what they already know. Then ask the children what they would like to know and learn about the subject you are learning. After the lesson is complete let the children share what they learned throughout the lesson. I keep the chart handy and always refer back to it as the lesson proceeds. Once the lesson is complete I like to hang it up for reference.
• Book Review- books are a great way to review a lesson and help children remember what was taught through a story line. Many children remember stories more than they remember lessons. If you can find an appropriate book to cement the lesson that is a great addition. This works especially well for pre-schoool. Most of my lessons actually revolve around books. However for older grades you can find books too that would make the lesson all the clearer.
• Image Imagination- let the children draw an image in their minds eye with eyes closed as you review the lesson. This will help them retrieve information when they imagine the image they used to describe the lesson.
• Write it down- writing down the lesson is a great way to review it. For younger children you can use pictures.

Good luck on the reviewing, and remember reviewing is the first step to remembering!