It’s basically the middle of March with the AP test only 2 months away! YIKES! I am beginning to think REVIEW! Since this will only be the second year that I am teaching the comprehensive course, as I had the course assigned in 2019 and 2020—Pandemic years; I am still grappling with the best way to do a comprehensive review.
I tried two things last year, with one falling flat and the other a success. The one that fell flat was a group assignment “shower curtain” of the course time periods. My students said it did not help them because they only focused on a small portion and viewing the results of other groups was of no help.
On the other hand, the “May Madness” brackets for who was the most important historical figure resonated well. Initially each student was assigned to create a social media page for one figure. Once finished, they linked their work by name of the historical figure to a class Google Doc. Students were then expected to view the slides and decide on their top 4 choices. I used a Google Form for students to indicate which four figure we would discuss in a Socratic Seminar. We then held a Socratic Seminar to decide on our MVP. This took about three 55-minute periods. I found this activity to be engaging, inclusive, and active!
Another process that students said really helped were my daily picture warmups. Here is an example. I did this every day for three weeks; students said that some of the pictures and graphics I used showed up on the test!
- What do you all use to help students do a comprehensive review?
- Do you have practice SAQs, DBQs and LEQs?
- What activities have the most efficacy for your students as you review for the AP exam?
March Madness is well underway in my class! We had to call in tiebreakers for Gavrilo Princip vs. Albert Einstein and Karl Marx vs. Charles Darwin - competition is intense this year!
