Have you ever been shown how to revise for a test? Are you often set homework to revise for a test and been a little confused about what to do? Here we are going to share some hints and tips, alongside a simple revision method to make preparing for KS3 science tests easier.
Regularly you will be set homework that tells you to revise for an upcoming test. Some of us have no idea what that means, let alone where to start.
If you have a test to revise for we suggest you follow these six simple steps to help you focus and learn what you need too.
1 💡 Choose your topic to revise
You should have been told what your test is on, for example, it could be a review of the term’s work or a topic such as ‘Cells and Organisation’. If it is a large topic, pick one part (for example ‘Animal Cells’) to focus on.
2 💥 List the top five things you need to know
To do this, if you have a checklist, read through it and note down the top 5 things you need to know (these could be the ones you think you know the least about). If you haven’t got a checklist, look back at the titles of each of the lessons you had on the topic and use those as your topic list. The lessons will have covered what your teachers want you to know and what will appear in the test (remember they want you to succeed so pay attention to what they have suggested you do).
3 💡 Get Revising
Using a revision guide as well as your classwork write out the key points on this topic. Include any keywords and make sure you know what they mean. Revision can include making notes, highlighting notes, answering questions from your work or worksheets you haven’t completed and watching short video clips to explain ideas.
4. 💥 Manage your time
The Pomodoro Method suggests you only work in chunks of 25 minutes and then you take a 5 minute break. Do 3 or 4 lots of 25 minutes and then have a much longer break. We would recommend no more than 3 chunks of time for KS3 students. During the longer break you need to move, exercise or do something completely different, and go to a different room. We suggest two of your sessions are focussed on learning key parts of your topic.
5 💡 Test yourself
As part of one of you 25 minute sessions you need to check you understand what you have just revised. You may have a set of revision questions your teacher gave you or there are some in the revision guide you can use to test that you know the topic. If you find this hard ask someone else to quiz you on the topic.
6 💥 Identify your weak points (Your knowledge gaps)
Any questions you found hard or words you don’t understand you now need to revisit and learn again, maybe in a different way. This can be added to your plan for the next day. There are many different resources available to help you and they all approach it slightly differently. Sometimes watching a video of an explanation from someone else makes all the difference and breaks the revision up.
We hope this helps you to plan your revision for any upcoming tests. Don’t forget to check our other blogs for useful ideas.
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