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Gamification of testing and revision

Z-A: Word Association Quiz for starters/plenaries
Overview The Z-A quiz format involves revealing a series of words or phrases, letter by letter, in reverse alphabetical order. Students, organised into [...]
24th November 2018
Design personalised number plates as a revision exercise
Overview As a revision exercise, get students to design personalised number plates for historical characters they have studied. Accompany each one with a [...]
30th July 2018
Identifying “Plot holes in history” as a revision strategy
Overview During revision time, get students to review the course by challenging them to determine the most outlandish coincidences and unlikely events they [...]
27th March 2018
“Design the exam question from hell” for higher-order revision
Overview One of the best ways to prepare students for examinations is to get them to design their own questions using the established format of past exam [...]
29th November 2017
Making “Top Trumps” work in the classroom: use WORDS, not RATINGS
Overview Because “Top Trumps” is a simply game format to understand and play, this does not necessarily translate into an educationally [...]
8th October 2017
Triominoes Revision
Overview Here’s a great idea from Karen Knight (@KKNTeachLearn) that was shared to the #historyteacher hashtag on Twitter recently: Taking it further [...]
8th October 2017
Using “unlock the chest!” puzzles to develop out-of-class learning
Overview Obtain a date padlock (day / month / year), and set it to the exact date of a particular historical event. Use this to lock a chest, inside of [...]
18th September 2017
Turn a timeline into an interactive quiz for student revision
Overview In subjects like History it is important for students to have firm chronological understanding. To help them develop a solid grasp of the order in [...]
13th May 2017
Alphabet Challenge: know the topic from A-Z!
Overview Challenge students to produce a list of words from A-Z, each of which has something to do with the topic being consolidated or revised. If time is [...]
10th January 2017
How to help students design educational board games
4th January 2017
“Tell us something we don’t know!”: A quiz to develop deeper understanding
Overview For examination subjects, content is king. Without a secure bedrock of factual knowledge, analysis cannot be attempted and evaluation and [...]
9th December 2016
Add a ‘how certain are you?’ element to spice up factual tests
Overview To spice up factual tests, require students not merely to provide an answer, but to choose how many points to play for to reflect their [...]
16th October 2016
Arcade Game Generator: Create several revision quizzes with one set of questions
Overview The ClassTools Arcade Game Generator allows you to submit one set of questions and answers and then converts these into half a dozen revision [...]
17th July 2016
Gamification of Revision: Snooker and Battleships
7th May 2016
Generate a self-marking crossword for revision
I have recently programmed a brand-new online tool which allows teachers and students to create interactive crossword quizzes that can be embedded on your [...]
19th March 2016
Share all possible test questions in advance to encourage focused revision
Sharing a long list of possible questions with students in advance of a test in exam conditions is a simple way of ensuring their revision and reflection [...]
29th November 2015
Dice and Card Game Strategies for Revising Key Terms
To encourage students to revise key terminology more effectively, give them advance notice that their knowledge will be tested using one of the following [...]
27th April 2015
Create a Revision Quiz in the format of a ‘Pacman’ Game!
7th April 2015
Spot the Mistakes!
It is always an effective revision technique to provide students with model answers after they have completed an examination-style test (for example, a [...]
31st March 2015
“Who / Where / What Am I?” Revision Game
This is a great team quiz game that I often use during Year 11 and Year 13 revision sessions. Students have to design their own questions, think about the [...]
13th March 2015
“Only Connect!”
9th February 2015
“Guess Who?” as a meaningful revision game
“Guess Who?” as a meaningful revision game
7th February 2015

During revision time I start every lesson with a ‘Fling the Teacher’ quiz on the topic to be covered in that lesson.

Prior to the lesson, I warn students what the topic will be so they can revise.

At the start of the lesson, I outline the main task for the lesson so they know what to do as soon as they finish the quiz.

I then direct students to a ‘Fling the Teacher’ quiz on this topic.

Students have 10 minutes to complete the quiz.

Any student finishing within that time gets points into their ‘leaderboard’ (which is an Excel spreadsheet which builds up throughout the revision period) based on the amount of time left on the clock (I usually double the amount of minutes). They can then proceed to the main task outlined at the start of the lesson.

It’s a great way of encouraging students to do a bit of intensive revision prior to each lesson – especially if prizes are awarded in the final lesson before study leave starts!

Here’s a video of some of my students doing the ‘Fling the Teacher Leaderboard Challenge’ in Summer 2013 (Georgia, in the hotseat, was the overall winner at the end of the competition!)

Link

IB History Revision – Fling the Teacher Quizzes

IGCSE History Revision – Fling the Teacher Quizzes

Fling the Teacher Generator

“Leaderboard Challenge” for ‘Fling the Teacher’
2nd February 2015
Challenge Grid
A simple twist on a factual test. Colour code different questions in a grid by difficulty. Students choose which questions to answer in the time available [...]
1st February 2015
“Keyword Challenge” revision game
Overview: This is a simple game which is a great way of rounding off a unit and revising important dates, concepts and people. It is particularly effective [...]
31st January 2015