When reviewing for tests, going over notes and content is essential and I really enjoyed playing different types of review games with my classes. Before playing, we went through our notebooks one topic at a time to make sure everyone had the notes or handouts needed. I usually posted a study guide about a week before to help them get organized. I also answered any questions and made sure everyone knew the topics on the test and clarified any content questions.
One of my go to review games was a ‘Blooket’ tournament. Using the “Battle Royal” game in teams mode (select 3 energy level) each team earned points by placing 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. Even though they played as a team, each person earned points individually while they were on that team for that round. This worked really well for my 6th and 7th graders to review science concepts.
Here is a sample of how to run the tournament:
Create your own questions, or choose questions made by others by doing a search under the discover tab and previewing the questions for accuracy and appropriate grade level for what you are covering. For example, if you are reviewing the orders of Insects, there are games already made by other teachers but some may be more advanced than others.
Sample scoring:
Game 1 – there are 6 teams of 4 students. At the end of the game, the first place team would earn 3 points per person, 2nd place 2 points per person, and 3rd place would earn 1 point per person.
Game 2 – using the same questions, the teams are randomly shuffled and new teams are formed. Each individual keeps the points they earned from the previous game. At the end of the game, use the same scoring rules for newly earned points.
Game 3 – using the same questions, or selecting a new set of questions, the teams are randomly shuffled and new teams are formed. And so on.
We continue until the end of the class, and the student (or students if a tie ) with the most points is determined the tournament winner. I had a small prize that I gave out to the winner and their name was on the board to show the tournament winners for each class.
Example of scoring: I kept a tally on the board, adding names each round and tick marks next to each name as they earned points. Alternating colors of Expo markers helps keep the points clearly marked for each round and that I added them next to the correct winners.
| Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Total | |
| Susie | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | |
| Bobby | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
| Jalen | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | |
| Emily | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | |
| Kassidy | 2 | 3 | 5 | ||
| Caroline | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | |
| Kegan | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Bryce | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | |
| Ava | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | |
| Jake | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | |
| Luke | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||
| Savanna | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
Benefits of playing in teams that are shuffled for each game:
- Each student has their own laptop and login.
- Students work as a team and answer the questions together.
- I have students move around the room and sit near their teammates for each game.
- The chances are higher that at least one person will know the answer to the questions and they can all answer together
- Shuffling teams each game keeps one team from dominating.
- Everyone has an opportunity to earn points.
- They are actively engaged by hearing the content and discussing it.
- using the same set of questions for 2-3 rounds helps with reinforcement
- having several sets of questions previewed and ready to go will make it more challenging
- Once teams are eliminated, they can still continue to answer questions individually to continue reviewing.
- Keeping it at 3 energy levels helps keep the game from running too long and shuffles teams more frequently.
- You can do the scoring in different ways. Sometimes I will rotate in different games to change it up and have them play individually to earn points.
Middle School Science Lessons 
Comments are welcome!