Partner Cards Review Game

We had a snow day today. At the end of March. This is crazy. However, I've had a huge to-do list to prepare for review and I was able to get started on it today. That leads me to this post about one of my most favorite review activities: Partner Cards!

When I look for review games and activities my number one requirement is that all students are engaged. I just have a difficult time keeping everyone focused on the review if we have to wait for people to take turns and think of answers, etc.. 

The partner cards review game has been a go-to for me since I started teaching. Everyone is involved in review throughout the entire process and they get to talk...what 4th grader doesn't love to talk? It also gives the students a way to self-check so you are ensuring your precious time is spent reviewing the correct material! 

Here is a picture of what the template looks like. You can click the picture and download it to customize the cards with your questions.

Begin with a list of 20 questions you'd like students to review. Type the first 10 questions in the "A Questions" section and then fill in the answers to those questions in the corresponding numbered boxes under "A Answers". Do the same thing with the last 10 questions. 

Make some copies, cut them apart, and pair up your students. The kiddo with the "A Answers" paper goes first. He chooses a random question from the card and asks his partner. The partner is looking at the "A Answers" box and can use that as a word bank for answering the question. When the partner has an answer she says, "12. orange". The partner that asked the question then checks to make sure that 12 was the question number he asked. Then the question asking role switches over to the partner with "B Questions" and continues like above. 

Basically, the question and answer have the same number and when you get a matching set of numbers you have a correct answer. If a student answers incorrectly I always tell the asker to share the correct answer. 

It is important that the student asking the questions asks them out of order and also doesn't tell the question number. 

This game goes quickly, so I always have partners switch cards after they've asked all 10 questions on their own card. You can also make the game more challenging by folding back the answer box to hide it and just answering from memory instead of looking at the answer choices. 

I hope those directions were clear. When I reread them it sounds all complicated and trust me it is not. Make some cards, hold a family member hostage recruit a family member, and give this a try to see for yourself. 

What are some of your favorite review games?