Impact of Structured Review (Effective Year-Round Review Strategies for Students)

The end of the year always brings up an important topic:

What is the best way to organize and provide student review strategies?

However, if we only review at the end of the year, we have missed an opportunity to improve student outcomes. At its most effective, review is meant to be provided year-round and not merely as a “boot camp” come April or May. Review schedules in highly effective schools start after the first month of school.

While there are many factors to consider when planning for a Structured Review, such as its frequency and content, it is most impactful when teachers strategically revisit vital concepts, skills, and terms students must master. Depending on when the assessment is to be given, a review schedule may plan for essential information to be revisited after an hour, a day, or monthly. You can learn more at our free webinar.

Along with the schedule, the process for planning a review is vital. Lindsey Hampton shares how one teacher plans and implements a “Structured Review.”

“I recently observed a student-led groupwork review activity in a 5th-grade classroom at Andrews Elementary School in Cherokee County, NC. Below is the teacher’s process of facilitating discussion and thinking while squarely placing the ownership of learning on the students.”

Step 1: Plan questions for each Learning Goal being reviewed that are aligned correctly to the Level of Learning or Reading Comprehension Strategy targeted.

Step 2: Plan for how every student will be accountable for reviewing the Learning Goal. This may include a graphic organizer, writing, and/or consensus-building among group members.

Step 3: Post visible supports such as Anchor Charts for students to refer to when they encounter difficulty.

Step 4: Use a metric tracking system to track students’ progress. Point values may be awarded to students based on accurate responses.

Step 5: Provide opportunities for students to extend their learning by creating their own word problems from the same standard or from previously learned and reviewed essential information.