Quizzing

Quizzing plays a key role in a pupil’s experience of learning at Churchfields Junior School. As new material is presented in small steps within a lesson, pupils are given opportunities to practice and rehearse that content until it is mastered. Teachers ask pupils a large number of questions during lessons, in the form of quizzing, to assess their understanding, before moving on to new material.

To support the retention of knowledge taught and secure it into the long-term memory, pupils can engage in quizzing at home through a range of strategies. Research shows little and often is the best way to remember new material and to continue remembering it. Finding opportunities throughout the week to engage in some quick and effective quizzing will significantly help pupils improve their understanding of new vocabulary. We would thus like families to quiz children on the key knowledge that they have learned this year and in the past using the knowledge organisers.

Families are used to doing quizzing with children each week as part of their homework. In the homework sheet each week pupils are given mini-quizzes to complete. The questions can be used multiple times throughout the week and can become part of a regular quizzing routine at home, in addition to the activities below.

Question and Answer

Simply having another person test the pupils understanding of key terms, through asking questions is an effective way of developing their understanding of new knowledge and securing in the long term memory. A quick quiz during breakfast or on the way home from school, will help pupils remember key terminology they have been studying.

Flashcards

If in Year 5 and 6 have you child create their own flashcards at home with the key information, definitions and vocabulary on. If in Year 3 and 4 you may need to support your children in creating the flashcards and completing this quizzing technique. Flashcards are one way pupils can learn, rehearse and remember key vocabulary that is taught in lessons. By writing the definition on one side and the key term on the other, it allows pupils to test themselves independently or with an adult. Pupils could try and recall the definition of a word, or read the definition and recall the term it relates to. We encourage pupils to learn a definition, however they should not feel it has to be word for word, as long as the definition they give suitably explains the term on the other side.

Writing the Answer

Using the flashcards that were mentioned above, pupils can read the term and then write down a new definition of that word. By writing down a new definition they can compare it to the correct answer to assess their understanding of a word. In addition, by exploring a range of ways to explain a key term, it will demonstrate the expert understanding a pupil has about a particular topic.

Matching Pairs

Pupils can use their flashcards to playing matching pairs, in order to test their understanding of key vocabulary. This type of quizzing adds an extra competitive element to quizzing, as pupils can challenge their parents or siblings to see who can make the most pairs from the knowledge they are learning.

True or False

Playing true or false offers pupils the opportunities to check how well they understand the vocabulary they are studying. Particularly, when initially learning new vocabulary, pupils can focus too much on learning definitions off by heart. This activity really tests their overall understanding each term, as they have to state whether a definition is accurate. Asking pupils to then correct the misconception will improve their recall of that piece of knowledge.