Review Activities

What are
they?

Review activities include a wide range of things from games based on the content of the chapter to flash cards to graphic organizers. Some are better for reviewing certain kinds of information than others. Among the things you should consider is whether you learn best by reading and writing or by talking and manipulating things. If it's the latter, then you will want to find a study partner or a group of people to study with. You may wish to divide the information between you and ask each one to create a review activity for it. (Send out a request for a study partner on e-mail addressed to wreading@listserv.cc.va.us.)

Why do them?

We learn best when we manipulate information rather than rereading it or trying to memorize it. We also learn best when we group information into categories or chunks of meaning and focus on one chunk at a time.

The notetaking strategies you've used to this point require you to take the chapter apart in pieces. These strategies should help you bring it back together in chunks of meaning. By doing so, you'll be preparing to answer essay questions that will ask you to do the same thing.

How do you do them?

You begin by thinking of the logical relationship of one piece of information to another in the category of information you're considering. Examples follow.

Category of Info	Strategy	Example
Sequence of events	Timeline	Sequence of New Deal acts
Imp. people & acts	Flash cards	Important individuals in the New Deal
Imp. terms & definitions	Flash cards	Names of New Deal acts
Portions of a whole	Pie chart	# of unemployed Americans put to work by each New Deal programs
Compare and contrast	Chart	New Deal Legislation during 1st Hundred Days and 2nd Hundred Days : name of law, beneficiaries, nature of program, cost.
Cause and effect	Flow chart	Series of events that led to FDR's creation of Bank Holiday
Recurring series of events	Cycle chart	New Deal law; Court ruling; FDR response