Gifts Workshop
February 25, 2010
Cherry L. McCabe, J.D.
cmccabe@shastacollege.edu
Student Concept Summary or “Check point activity”
This is a modification of an active learning exercise called reading review. The goal is to get students to listen
more actively and to summarize the material in their own words. It is helpful for those days when you have a
concept or concepts which require some lecture or explanation and you want the students to stay mentally
present. The exercise has several benefits:
1. Students pay attention more when they know they will have to summarize the material.
2. Peer review makes them more likely to take the activity seriously. (They may be more interested in impressing
the cute student next to them than the instructor.)
3. By going over the material with several students, they get a chance to differentiate between an “okay – just
barely getting it” response and a thorough and complete response.
3. It is a creative way to take attendance.
Enter the class with your material and enough 3x5 cards for all students. Announce what you will be covering in
class and that, at the end of the class, they will summarize the main points on the card and review them with two
or more students in a group. The other students will review the student’s responses and determine if the answer
is sufficient to qualify as attendance for the day. If they didn’t get it, they have to supplement, correct or prepare
the response to the satisfaction of the other students. When it is deemed sufficient to show the student was
mentally as well as physically present, they turn the cards in for attendance. Have fun!
Gifts Workshop
February 25, 2010
Cherry L. McCabe, J.D.
cmccabe@shastacollege.edu
Student Concept Summary or “Check point activity”
This is a modification of an active learning exercise called reading review. The goal is to get students to listen
more actively and to summarize the material in their own words. It is helpful for those days when you have a
concept or concepts which require some lecture or explanation and you want the students to stay mentally
present. The exercise has several benefits:
1. Students pay attention more when they know they will have to summarize the material.
2. Peer review makes them more likely to take the activity seriously. (They may be more interested in impressing
the cute student next to them than the instructor.)
3. By going over the material with several students, they get a chance to differentiate between an “okay – just
barely getting it” response and a thorough and complete response.
3. It is a creative way to take attendance.
Enter the class with your material and enough 3x5 cards for all students. Announce what you will be covering in
class and that, at the end of the class, they will summarize the main points on the card and review them with two
or more students in a group. The other students will review the student’s responses and determine if the answer
is sufficient to qualify as attendance for the day. If they didn’t get it, they have to supplement, correct or prepare
the response to the satisfaction of the other students. When it is deemed sufficient to show the student was
mentally as well as physically present, they turn the cards in for attendance.
Have fun!