Dear Ms. ELA Buffet, (lol- so cute!) There are so many middle school ELA standards to cover, and I don’t have time for test prep! How can I help my students practice and maintain skills? Thank you, Spiraling in ELA
-You, my dear, Spiraling in ELA, have proven that teachers are brilliant problem solvers! You already have your answer: spiral review. Spiraling instruction greatly reduces the amount of class time required for test preparation and review.
After all, sometimes, you teach a reading or writing skill, and your middle school kids run with it like Usain Bolt leading the PTA’s annual fun run.
Other times they forget how feet work, stumble over a shadow, and fall into a mud puddle.
Don’t worry! Just 5-10 minutes of daily spiral review will lead the way through the maze of standards so that you can complete the races triumphantly!
What is Spiral Review?
Spiral review, also known as spiral learning or spiral instruction, is a teaching method based on students repeatedly re-engaging with skills.
As a result, each time the student practices the skill work, their understanding improves. Therefore, spiral review allows students to understand the skills on a deeper level in the future.
Spiral review, also known as spiral learning or spiral instruction, is a teaching method based on students reviewing or re-engaging with content repeatedly.
As a result, each time a subject is revisited, the student’s understanding of the subject improves. Therefore, spiral review allows students to understand the content on a deeper level in the future.
What Are the Benefits?
The main benefit of spiral review is that it helps students retain information and master English standards. In addition, spiral review allows teachers to check for understanding and identify which standards students need more practice with.
Think about it this way. Every time a student revisits a topic or skill, they must recall it from memory. Working memory is like building muscle: the more we use it, the stronger it gets and the less likely we are to forget it. Teachers can help students remember information by practicing it repeatedly.
Finally, the most important benefit is that you will help your middle school students practice and maintain ELA skills without resorting to the dreaded “test prep.” With just a few minutes a day of practice, students will be more likely to remember information.
How Can I Use It In My Classroom?
Here are some tips for making spiral instruction work in your classroom:
1- To be successful, create purposeful review activities that can be completed within 5 or 10 minutes. Focus on one skill a day, based on topics that students have already been exposed to. They should be challenging enough to make kids think.
2- Help students by giving them access to anchor charts or academic vocabulary words.
3- Incorporate spiral learning into your daily routine. This could involve using review sheets as bellringers or warm-ups, exit tickets, early finisher work, or homework.
4- If you’re absent and have a substitute, have students do spiral review activities that are longer. If the skill is familiar to them, students will be more independent and self-directed.
5- Make it interesting, meaningful, and challenging. Anything too easy will be seen as the dreaded “busy work.”
6- Spend a couple of minutes reviewing the answers and having students self-assess their mastery of the skill.
What’s the Most Effective Way to Plan Spiral Review?
In my classroom, I use daily bell ringers that begin with a reading passage my kids read on Monday. For the rest of the week, all of the review is based on that passage.
It looks like this:
☑️ MONDAY – high-interest reading passage
✔️Reading Skills Covered: Central idea with supporting evidence.
☑️ TUESDAY-THURSDAY – rotating reading skills practice related to Monday’s passage
✔️Reading Skills: central idea; inferences; author’s craft; text evidence ;context clues; figurative language; plot elements; evaluating evidence; genre; text structure
☑️ FRIDAY – writing related to the passage
✔️ Writing Genres: summary; narrative; argument; informative; memoir
I prefer to use this skill of the day structure with my students because it’s not just random review activities with no connection. Since I’m disorganized by nature, I have to create structure to keep track of everything. As we review skills, I check them off on my master list. Now I know my students are reading a variety of genres and we’re addressing writing skills as well as reading skills.
You can find this resource here: Reading and Writing Skill of the Day Spiral Review Bell Ringers. Even better, click on the preview to try out a free week!
Regardless of how teachers choose to use spiral review in their classrooms, it is an effective tool that can help students successfully master ELA standards!
Stay delicious!