Revision in your subject
14 lessons from subject specific revision resources
Hello Curriculum Thinkers,
Last week, we shared 5 lessons from whole school revision resources.
This week we’re sharing 14 lessons from subject specific revision resources.
We hope you find them useful.
If you’re on the look out for something else revision related, click here to post a question inside the community and we’ll do our best to find what you need.
14 lessons from subject specific revision resources
1. 🎨 Art
Give students what they need to revise at home not just at school.
The Art Department at Erdington Academy publishes a “Home-School Learning Collaboration” document for each year group. It outlines key knowledge they need to know and by when, which helps students plan their revision. It also provides helpful links giving them access to useful content. The document is shared with parents so they can help with revision too.
2. 💰Business
Use knowledge audits and multiple choice quizzes in forms to find gaps
There’s not much point revising what you already know, understand and remember. As Curriculum Leader of Business, Computing and Careers at John Taylor Free School, Laura Pollitt uses knowledge audits and multiple choice quizzes (build in MSForms), to help students find out where their gaps were.
3. 🖥️ Computing
Don’t reinvent the wheel - use existing schemes, tools and games
Creating resources takes a huge amount of time. So if you can avoid duplicating work, why would do it from scratch?
Jonathan Weir (Head of Department at Ellesmere Park High School) used an off the shelf curriculum and adapted it to his context and students. He then used a website that automatically turns Computing curriculum content into fun quizzing games.
4. 🎭 Drama
Plan a unit to teach students how to navigate the exam paper
Learning the content is one thing. Knowing how to demonstrate your understanding in an exam script is another.
Alexandra Chester (Head of Drama at Queen Elizabeth's School) has written and teaches a unit of work which helps students prepare for the exams by learning how to navigate the exam paper.
5. 📚English
Challenge student held myths and harness cognitive science to boost student learning
English teachers up and down the country shudder when they hear students say, “You can’t revise for English!”
Emma De Vito (English Teacher at Northampton School for Boys) uses everything she has learned about memory, forgetting, retrieval and metacognition to design revision strategies that prove to her students that in fact you CAN revise for English.
6. 🛠️ Design and technology
Give frameworks and associated resources to foster independent learning
The D&T Department at Belle Vue Girls Academy publishes at “C.A.P. Approach to Independent Learning” document. It provides a framework for students to consolidate, apply and prepare for learning. It also provide them with example activities to try at each stage of the framework.
7. 🌍 Geography
Support students with planning and writing exam answers
Blank sheets of paper can be intimidating to students. To help her students to revise Laura Tunley (Head of Geography at Tytherington School) teaches them how to answer exam style questions right from year 7.
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8. 🏰 History
Stack your revision strategies so you cover all bases.
No one revision strategy is a silver bullet. And students have their own preferences as to how they like to do it.
Dan Worker (Deputy Headteacher Teaching and Learning at St Mary's CE High School) uses 5 different strategies:
Revision lessons
Exam wrappers
Count up calendars
Retrieval quizzes
Revision homework
9. 🇫🇷 Languages
Translate the Science of learning into practice
As a teacher you are in the business of building brains. So it makes sense to know how it works. But more than that, put the evidence into practice.
Natasha Bermejo (Head of Languages at King's Academy Binfield) read the Science of Learning to ensure what she teaches sticks.
10. 🧮 Maths
Embed retrieval practice into teaching
In the aftermath of covid, students struggled to catch up on missed learning. Teachers needed to identify misconceptions, develop confidence and fluency and establish revision habits.
That’s exactly what Kate Bell (Lead Practitioner (Maths), Longsands Academy) did with the help of: weekly review sheets; teacher answer booklets; student tracking sheets; short, context-free questions; repeating threshold questions weekly and more.
11.🥇 PE
Build revision into your cycles of teaching (not just once you’ve finished the content)
Revision should not be an after thought. It should be built into cycles of teaching so that gaps are filled before it’s too late.
That’s what Sarah Bowen (Head of PE at Glenmoor and Winton Academies) does in her department. Easier said than done. Learn how she does it here.
12. 🕌 RE
Use low stake multiple choice quizzing
Revision can be daunting. So little and often is a winner.
Nikki McGee (Trust Lead for Religion and Philosophy at Inspiration Trust and Hethersett Academy) use low stakes, multiple choice quizzes in RE.
13. 🧬 Science
Teach students how to make flashcards
Students often don’t know how to revise. And they might not have resources at home either.
That’s why the Science Department at MEA Central put (form and curriculum) time aside to teach students how to make flash cards.
14. 🧠 Social Science
Focus some revision on exam technique
Just like other colleagues teach students how to navigate the exam and how to write exam style answers, Mark Schvetz (2i/c Religious Studies & PSHE, and Psychology teacher, Dorothy Stringer School) helps his students revise, helping them with their exam technique.
Sent with ❤️ from the Curriculum Thinkers Team at We Are In Beta