Every September I watched the same thing happen. A room full of kids who had spent the summer forgetting almost everything, sitting in front of me while I tried to launch straight into new material like their brains had just been sitting in a drawer waiting for me to open it back up.
It never worked. Not once.
The year I learned this the hard way
One September I had a group that had covered a fairly advanced unit the year before. I assumed, because it was written in the curriculum that they had learned it, that they actually remembered it. I opened straight into the next level of material on day one.
Blank faces. Not confused exactly, just gone. The knowledge that was supposedly there the previous June had simply evaporated over ten weeks of summer.
I backed up, spent fifteen minutes reviewing what we had supposedly already covered, and watched the whole room click back into place. Fifteen minutes. That is all it took to turn blank faces into ready ones.
School is starting, but are your students, or your own children, really prepared? Before you can move into new lessons, new subjects, new teachings, reviewing the old stuff has real advantages, ones I learned the hard way that year.
Why reviewing matters more than it seems
Many lessons depend on previous knowledge. Before you begin teaching something new, whether you are a parent helping at home or a teacher in front of a class, make sure the fundamentals are still there to build on.
Reviewing also does something physical. It helps the brain fire back up after a long lazy summer, the same way a bit of movement wakes the body up before it is asked to do anything demanding.
It is best to review a lesson shortly after it was taught, while it is still fresh. That does not always happen, life gets busy and summer arrives before you know it. So the next best thing is to summarize and review what was covered before diving into anything new, whether that is picking back up in September or restarting after any break.
Before you begin, gather what you already have
You do not need to build a review lesson from scratch. Chances are the material already exists somewhere.
- Look through the work your child brought home before summer vacation. Was there any summer homework? Any old worksheets you can use as a review?
- If you are a teacher, reach out to your students’ previous teacher and ask for the last few worksheets or assessments the students received. Use those to kick-start the lesson and get the students’ brains moving again.
- Do not aim for comprehensive. Aim for a spark. You are trying to wake up what is already there, not reteach the whole unit.
The K-W-L chart, the one I use most
Of every review method I know, this is the one I reach for the most, in the classroom and at home both. K-W-L stands for what you Know, what you Want to know, and what you Learned.
Before you begin the lesson, ask the children what they already know about the subject. Write it down. Then ask what they would like to know or learn. Write that down too. Once the lesson is complete, come back and let them share what they actually learned.
I keep the chart handy on the wall and refer back to it as the lesson proceeds, not just at the beginning and end. Once the lesson is complete I like to hang the finished chart up somewhere visible. Kids will point to it days later and tell you something they remembered, unprompted, because it is right there in front of them.
What I love about this method is that it does double duty. It reviews old knowledge and previews new material in the same five minutes, which is exactly the kind of quick win that helps get kids excited to learn before you have even started the new lesson.
Books and stories carry a lesson further than facts do
Books are a great way to review a lesson and help children remember what was taught through a storyline. Many children remember stories more than they remember lessons on their own. If you can find an appropriate book that echoes the lesson, that is a wonderful addition.
This works especially well for preschool age children. Most of my own lessons actually revolve around a book from the start. For older grades you can find chapter books or even short articles that make the lesson just as clear.
Two more ways that cost you almost nothing
Image imagination. Let the children draw an image in their mind’s eye, eyes closed, as you review the lesson out loud. This helps them retrieve the information later, since the picture they built often comes back before the facts do, and the facts follow right behind it.
Write it down. Writing down the lesson is a great way to review it, since the physical act of writing reinforces memory differently than just listening does. For younger children who are not writing yet, pictures work just as well. Ask them to draw what they remember and then tell you about their drawing.
You will not get through every method, and that is fine
Pick one, not all of them, and use it consistently rather than perfectly. The goal is a quick wake up call for the brain, not a second full lesson.
Consistency over time is what actually cements material, not any single perfect review session. A five minute K-W-L chart every Monday morning will do more over a school year than one elaborate review unit crammed in once.
Good luck with the reviewing, and remember, reviewing is the first step to remembering.
Quick recap:
- New material sticks better when old material is reviewed first, even briefly
- You likely already have review material sitting in old worksheets or notebooks, no need to start from scratch
- K-W-L charts, book review, image imagination, and writing it down all work. Pick the one that fits your five minutes
- Consistency with one simple method beats one elaborate review done once 💚