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More Teacher Time Savers

© Irene Taylor

Here are a few more quick ideas to save time and get your students past the mid-winter slump!

Match Up

Here is a fun way for students to review material from recent lessons. Your students will love to play this group review game.

Prior to play, make sets of Question and Answer cards covering material you wish to have students review. Write questions and answers on separate cards, making one complete set for each group of 4 or 5 students. As students become accustomed to the types of questions and answers you include, you may wish to have them create some of the cards for future games.

To play:

1. Form groups of 4 or 5.

2. Give each group a set of Match Up cards. Have students deal each player 5 cards, and spread out the rest face down on the desk in front of them.

3. Instruct students to take turns asking each other for the "match" for one of the cards in their hands. A "match" consists of one question card, and the corresponding answer card. Have students ask for the correct matching cards as follows:

If a student is holding a question card (for example - "What is the capital of the United States?"), he must ask for the match by naming the corresponding answer ("Do you have a Washington, DC card?") in order to get the match. Conversely, a student holding an answer card must ask for the correct question card in order to get the match.

4. Students should accumulate "matches" in a pile to be counted at the end of the game.

5. If no match is found, the student must select a card from the face down cards. Play continues until all matches have been made.

6. The student who accumulated the most "matches" wins.

An alternative way to play is to form teams of two who play together opposite other teams of two. This allows for some collaboration on questions and answers.

Review Lottery

Here is a review activity that will give students an extra incentive to study and learn important material.

From time to time, conduct a review lottery as follows:
Begin by giving each student several small slips of paper. Have students write their names on each piece. Conduct a review of material from a recently studied lesson or unit by asking students review questions at random. Each time a student answers correctly, have him put one name slip into the "Lottery

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