After you’ve taught a lesson, what do you do? You go back and review. But, do you ever feel like you run out of time to go back and really review? If you’re like most teachers, review can be a time-stealing nightmare even though you know it’s necessary. However, you can have meaningful review with math and literacy centers in your classroom.
Wait, Let’s Review! What are Centers?
Math and literacy centers are essentially “stations” in a classroom that your students go to in order to practice new and “old” material. At these centers, students do a variety of activities both independently as well as collaboratively. One of the best things about centers is they are a great environment for meaningful review. How so? I’m glad you asked.
1: Time Well Spent
Time is of the essence in all of education (I mean we barely have time to go to the bathroom) and review is kind of a wild card. Will it take ten minutes or all day? It can be hard to say. Therefore, if you want review to be meaningful, you have to have time well spent. When you use math and literacy centers to review, you have a specific framework that you are dealing with which means you know exactly how much time you are going to be using. In addition, your students know the center routines. This makes your review more meaningful because students are doing specific activities for an allotted amount of time that fits into their wheelhouse of retention. Plus, you have control over what you put in your centers so you know what they need to review most and can tailor activities to fit those needs.
2: Review in Math and Literacy Centers with Instant Feedback
In addition to using centers because they are timely, your students can get instant feedback in math and literacy centers. When you use math and literacy centers for review, your students are going to be most likely working in groups. This means someone is most likely going to know if something went wrong and will be able to correct their fellow classmates. In addition, if you use digital centers, students can get instant feedback that will help them see their mistakes right away.
3: Gamify Your Center Review Time
While instant gratification is amazing, sometimes you need a game to get the blood flowing again. When you are using spiral review, you can use a variety of games that you’ve played in the past. For example, you might play a round of Scoot or Squares Your Brain to get your students back to whatever it is you are trying to review. Often times we remember processes better when they are paired with a memory. Games in the classroom are excellent memories that stick with kids forever!
4: Math and Literacy Centers to Test Prep Rescue
Whether we love it or hate it, testing season is right around the corner and you need to review. You can get meaningful review in math and literacy centers while prepping your students for tests. When you test prep, you want to make sure you have specific objectives for your students at each center. It should never be a secret what you are expecting your students to do or what you are looking for. By using test prep material with clear instructions with purpose, you will see your students really soar.
Math and literacy centers are great for so many things. If you can incorporate meaningful review in math and literacy centers into your classroom, you will really see a big difference in your students’ mastery. Always remember the purpose of math and literacy centers is to review past material and to enrich new material. You can learn more about math and literacy centers and all the benefits of them by checking out Learning Centers Made Easy Master Class.
Until Next Time…
Keep being Educational Rock Stars
