Day Eighteen: Poster Review Part Three

What are the main topics we went over regarding Jesus? Quick review of terms. Incarnation, Jesus, Christ, Lord, Son of God, Formation of the Gospels, the Bible, Paschal Mystery, Hypostatic Union, Covenant. I have a plan to help the students prepare for this test. I have to be honest in the blogosphere, though. I only used this method once. It might have been effective for some, but I am always looking for better review methods.

I tell my students: Students will be able to create posters for this unit’s concepts, describing how they help us to develop a relationship with God and learn how to Love.

Each of the concepts that we have studied in class is a “rope” that God gives us to help us grow in a relationship with Him.If we develop that relationship, we can begin to learn to Love and to be Loved again.

They will do a project to help them prepare for the test. I ask my students to team up, and as a group they will choose two of the ten concepts and create posterboard reviews for the whole class to study from.

The first step is easy: Review class notes, assignments, reflections, etc… to make sure the posterboard has “essential” information (What do you think will be asked on the test?). Make sure the poster is colorful, fun, and informative. Work together to review details related to the concepts you group has been assigned.

The posters will be used by classmates to prepare for the test, so make sure they are good. Be creative with how the posters are presented.

The Mosaic at the Knock Basilica in Knock, Co. May, Ireland. The mosaic tells the story of the apparition at Knock. Everyone knows that art has always been used to teach in the Church. Even well-known stories like the Passion (or maybe the Knock Apparition for Catholics in the region) use art like this Mosaic to "review" the narrative. (photo P. Smith)

I like the theory of this review and, if it is done well by all the students, it can be effective. When all the projects are done, I display the posters in the room and it makes a sort of gallery from which students can study. The problem with this methodology is that the artifact they create stays in the classroom and they cannot take it how to study from unless they take a picture. But that almost never happened. When I used this method, I really Hoped I had taught it well enough for them to know the material despite the review. As it turned out, they did learn the material. Nevertheless, I have since changed my review methods.