middle school science Archives - Secondary Sparks

CER in Middle School Science: Making Claim–Evidence–Reasoning Simple

Michelle Rudolph — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 23:01:04 +0000

If you’re hoping to see your middle school students write stronger, more thoughtful scientific explanations this semester, you’re in the right place. Claim-Evidence-Reasoning, or CER, is a simple, effective framework that helps students organize their thinking, analyze data, and clearly connect scientific concepts to real-world phenomena.

January is the perfect reset point. A new semester means a fresh start, and it’s the ideal time to set clear expectations around science writing without the pressure of starting from scratch. When students build strong CER habits now, they feel more confident explaining their thinking and that confidence will carry them through the rest of the school year.

What is CER? A quick refresher

Before we dive into strategies, let’s look at what CER actually is and how it can help your students.

Claim: This is a single, clear sentence that answers the question or explains the phenomenon. Think of it as the “headline” of a student’s response.

Evidence: Here, students provide data, observations, or models that support their claim. Evidence can come from experiments, diagrams, or research.

Reasoning: This is where students connect the evidence back to scientific principles. It’s not enough to just list facts. Reasoning shows why the evidence supports the claim and demonstrates understanding of the science behind it.

When middle school students practice CER, they develop the skills to write clear, logical, and evidence-based explanations. These skills will help them not only in science class, but in understanding the world around them, too.

Make CER Easy for Every Science Lesson

Guide students through claim, evidence, and reasoning with templates that work for labs, demos, videos, and more. Any topic, any time!

Download the Templates

Easy ways to try CER in your classroom

One of the best ways to make CER manageable is to start small. You don’t need a full lab for students to practice. Try quick 1-2 sentence claims and have students pull evidence from diagrams, charts, or short classroom demos.

Use it as a warm up or exit ticket for class one day. These mini prompts make CER routine without overwhelming students, or you! Over time these little exercises add up, helping students internalize the structure so it becomes second nature.

Looking for ways to make CER in middle school science even easier? Check out my post on using secondary science templates to reduce planning time. It includes a ready-to-use CER template and other tools that can help you save time while keeping student thinking front and center.

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Start with Phenomena Students Can Explore

Phenomena are a fantastic way to spark curiosity and get students thinking critically. Show a picture, perform a quick demo, or play a short video, and ask students to explain what’s happening using CER.

Here are some examples:

Physical Science:

Ice melting on a countertop
A block sliding down a ramp
A rocket launch

Life Science:

An animal blending into its environment
Plant growth under different light conditions

Earth Science:

Weathering or erosion events
Clouds forming before a storm

Phenomena-based prompts connect science concepts to the real world and make students’ claims, evidence, and reasoning more meaningful. They also naturally spark discussion, which is great for engagement!

Explore Energy Transformations with CER

Quick, hands-on lab stations let students investigate energy changes, complete CER responses, and keep learning engaging all semester.

Grab the Lab Activity

Model Strong Responses for Students

Students can’t improve if they don’t know what a strong response looks like. Modeling both strong and weak CER responses can be eye opening and save you time in the long run.

Try this:

Color coded examples: Highlight claims, evidence, and reasoning in different colors.
Comparative examples: Show a CER with weak reasoning alongside one that’s strong and discuss which one is better and why.
Think aloud: Write a CER together as a class and verbalize your thought process for connecting evidence to reasoning.

Making the structure visible and concrete helps students understand what strong reasoning looks like and learn how to improve their own work.

Support Every Learner with Scaffolding

Some students will need extra support to get started with CER. Scaffolds give them confidence and reduce frustration. Try one of the following strategies to help make CER accessible for all learners. Over time you can gradually fade them as students gain independence.

Sentence starters: Share prompts like “The claim I am making is…”, “The evidence from the lab is…”, “This supports my claim because…”
Graphic organizers: Use small CER templates taped to desks or in interactive notebooks.
Word banks: Provide lists of scientific vocabulary students can pull from when writing reasoning.
Anchor charts: Display visual references in the classroom for students to reference.

Apply CER to Labs and Investigations

CER really shines when paired with labs and investigations. Instead of just collecting data, have students complete CER responses to make sense of what they observed.

No matter the unit, CER turns any lab into a chance for students to think like real scientists.

Physical Science: Using temperature changes to understand thermal energy transfer.
Life Science: Observing cell structures under a microscope.
Earth Science: Tracking the rock cycle or weathering processes
Ecology: Recording observations in an ecosystem study.

Using lab data as the evidence portion of CER helps students tie observations directly to scientific concepts. Through this, labs become opportunities for critical thinking and scientific argumentation.

Grading CERs without stress

You might be thinking, “This sounds great, but how am I supposed to grade all of these..?”

Don’t worry! Keeping it simple is key.

Use a simple rubric. Grade claim, evidence, and reasoning separately. This keeps grading consistent and helps students see exactly where they can improve.
Try peer review. Students can evaluate each other’s CERs using a checklist or rubric. Incorporate this into discussion posts on Google Classroom, Canvas, or Schoology. Peer review builds understanding, accountability, and discussion skills while taking some of the load off you.

The goal is to help students develop the habit of connecting claims to evidence and reasoning, step by step.

Make CER a Classroom Habit

If you take one thing from this blog, I hope you remember: you don’t have to do everything at once. Start with one CER activity. Maybe as a warm up or a lab reflection and stick with it! Consistency is more important than quantity.

Over the semester, students will become more confident in their scientific explanations, their writing will become more organized, and they’ll start to see the power of connecting claims, evidence, and reasoning.

And you’ll find grading and feedback become easier because you’ve set clear expectations from the start.

Whether it’s a quick warm up, a lab reflection, or a phenomena-based prompt, CER in middle school science is your friend. With a little modeling, scaffolding, and routine, your students will make sense of science like pros.

The post CER in Middle School Science: Making Claim–Evidence–Reasoning Simple appeared first on Secondary Sparks.

Halloween Science Activities for Middle School

Michelle Rudolph — Wed, 11 Sep 2024 16:19:21 +0000

As Halloween season is upon us, you may be starting to think about ways you can incorporate some Halloween science activities in your middle school science classroom. There are plenty of fun ways to throw in some of those spooky themes while still making sure that you’re either hitting those standards, staying in line with pacing or just simply just trying to have some science fun with your students! I’ve rounded up a couple of my favorite ideas and experiments that you may want to try this school year.

Pumpkin Dissection (Life Science)

Many of your students might hear the word “dissection” and cringe. But when it’s just a pumpkin, they may think a little differently. Carve a pumpkin with your students and explore the different parts such as the seeds, pulp, stem, skin, etc. Ask students questions about how pumpkins grow, the conditions needed, the importance of the seeds and structure of the pumpkin. Throw in those questions about ecology, reproduction in plants and photosynthesis to get students thinking. Add an extra layer of fun by making that mess worthwhile by carving your own class jack o lantern!

Glow Stick Thermal Energy (Physical Science)

Turn out the classroom lights for this lab! It’s easy, less messy and can cover a lot of topics! Have students crack various glow sticks and place them in different environments such as hot water or ice water. Ask them how the reaction speed changes with the differing temperatures. Ask them what they think is actually occurring in the glow stick and what signs tell them that a chemical change is occurring. How is thermal energy involved? There’s so much you can do with this simple lab! Many glow sticks come with connectors that students can use to make bracelets with their glow sticks once they’re done which is a fun little souvenir for them! You can find the glow sticks I use here: https://amzn.to/4egLDAN

Moon Phases with Oreos

Add food to a lab and you know your students will be HOOKED. They love labs and they love food so when you add the two together, you know you’ve got an activity they are 100% invested in! This is a simple lab you have probably already heard of where students work individually or in small groups to make oreo cookies to represent the lunar cycle. This helps them remember the individual phases and I like to have them predict what phase the moon would be on as an extra bonus. You can grab a freebie template below to get the same lab that I use. It even includes a short activity students can complete beforehand to review the moon phases as well as solar eclipses and lunar eclipses.

Dry Ice Fog (Physical Science)

Dry ice is always a hit with students on Halloween! It’s a great way to review changes in states of matter with students and give them a real life example of sublimation in which CO₂ turns directly from a solid to a gas, skipping the liquid phase when it is warmed up. This creates a fog that really gives off the spooky vibes in your classroom. If you coat the rim of the bowl with dish soap, soak a piece of string or fabric with the dish soap and then drag it across the rim to seal the opening, you can create fog bubbles!

Halloween Science Stations (Earth/Space, Life Science, Physical Science)

These Halloween Science Stations are the perfect way to review a bunch of standards in one day while still having that Halloween theme. These stations activities are perfect for spiral review in your middle school science class in that there are 9 stations that review Earth/Space, Life Science and Physical Science topics. They are low prep, engaging, and can be done in 1-2 class periods.

The 9 stations include:

Batty Limbs – Students will compare bat limbs to human limbs to describe homologous structures.
Ghoul’s Goo – Students will explore states of matter with oobleck.
Disappearing Candy Corn – Students will explore physical changes with dissolving candy corn in warm water,
Pumpkin Mass & Weight – Students will obtain the mass and weight of a mini pumpkin to explore the difference between both measurements in matter.
Spider Ecology – Students will discuss the ecology of spiders and their role in the ecosystem.
Sweet Erosion – Students will perform a mini experiment in which they simulate erosion with sugar cubes and a spray bottle.
Moon Phases – Students will identify different phases of the moon in the lunar cycle. Students will also research to see what phase the moon will be on Halloween night.
Monster Genetics – Students will create their own monster using Punnett squares.

9. Candy Rock Cycle – Students will simulate the rock cycle using candy.

These stations will help refresh your students on topics they have previously learned which, if you teach a class that is standardized tested in science, is something you need to focus on during the year. I find that these stations’ activities help jog my students memories about previous topics and allow me to address any misconceptions that students have. Learn more about how I utilize stations in my middle school science classroom here.

However you choose to celebrate Halloween in your classroom, remember that including those essential topics in your celebrations doesn’t have to feel like you are missing a day of instruction. There are plenty of ways to make Halloween themes fit into your science instruction!

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How to use Spiral Review Science Warm Ups for Daily Mini Review in Middle School Science

Michelle Rudolph — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 18:47:15 +0000

During a student’s middle school science experience, they learn SO many different topics within so many units and even more vocabulary. How do you get them to remember those topics long-term after you’ve already passed on to the next unit? It’s easier than you think and it’s the reason I use spiral review science warm ups daily.

What is the Importance of Spiral Review in Science?

Well, many science topics tend to blend together or build up on each other in many ways. Think about things like heat transfer and convection in the Earth’s mantle or talking about atoms and how they make up some of the tiniest life forms like single-celled bacteria. Not only that, but if you teach an 8th grade science class or any grade that has a standardized science test, it’s crucial that you review. Often, so much is covered on those state tests and it feels like you never have enough time to finish your own pacing guide, let alone review previous grade level material.

What is a Warm Up?

Warm ups, bellringers, Do nows, starters, etc. There are so many names to define the same thing. Basically, a warm up is a question or quick activity that students do the moment they walk in the door. It shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes to do and those 5 minutes can be magic. How’s that?

You can complete your attendance on time.
Reduce student distractions during transition time in the hallway.
Get students thinking about science the moment they walk in.
Review previously taught material.
After students work on them, I can review the question/address any misconceptions quickly.

I could go on and on about warm ups and why I love using them in middle school science but for now, let’s just focus on how I use them for spiral review.

How do you Choose Questions?

The questions I choose from my warm ups vary by topic. I try to include 1-2 Earth/Space questions, Life Science Questions and Physical Science questions per week. Each day, the students answer 1-2 questions in which they need to explain their answers. This has helped me expose my students to a little bit of everything for review throughout the school year. Questions for the unit I am currently teaching will be in the set of questions for the week as well.

Another tip I have for you is to never use multiple-choice or true/false questions. Why? Because students will just circle any old answer and say they completed the warm up. Some won’t even read the question. Now, I understand those standardized test questions are usually multiple choice and students need that exposure but, if you need to do it this way, have students explain why they choose their answer to you. Not only will they need to think about what they know but it will allow you to understand what their thought process was while they answered. This gives you another way to see what misconceptions or errors in thought need to be addressed.

How Do You Present Warm Ups to Students?

Print out a template that already has the questions on them for students. This is a great method for creating your warm ups in advance and not having to think about a new question every day. I like to add images or clip art to mine so that students can easily find certain questions or use those images to answer them. This is how they look.

2. You can also give students a blank template and have students copy the question on their own from a presented slide or question written on the board. I give the same template, just blank.

3. Go completely digital! Have students keep a digital interactive science notebook of warm up questions. That way, you can keep it all on your school’s LMS and make grading easier.

How Do You Grade Warm Ups?

I go more in detail about this process in this blog post, but I check them daily for completion. I make sure they answered the question completely. It doesn’t even need to be correct, just answered. I want to see what students are thinking in relation to the topic. Guessing is better than “I don’t know!” I can address misconceptions with a wrong answer rather than a simple “IDK” written across the paper. So yes, these are a participation/completion grade in my class but you can choose to do them in a way that suits you and your students.

Using the spiral review method in my warm ups has decreased my stress levels in regards to review. I don’t worry about cramming content weeks before the testing season because we review little by little each day!

Grab the exact spiral review warm ups I use for my class on my website here or shop on TPT.

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Reasons Why You Should Use a Middle School Science Syllabus

Michelle Rudolph — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 19:33:37 +0000

Let’s go back in time for a minute. Imagine you are in 6th grade. It’s your first day of school and you are full of emotions: fear, excitement, happiness, nervousness. You’re just a mess, right? Now, imagine you are walking into your 5th period science class and the teacher is verbally going over her rules and procedures with you for her class. This is after you’ve spent the previous 5 periods of the day hearing the same thing from all your other teachers. Are you really going to remember which teacher said you only had 2 bathroom passes per quarter vs unlimited? What classes are you allowed to eat in? Which required a notebook? It’s a lot to remember. This is why you need a middle school science syllabus.

Many teachers are doing the same thing on the first day of school. You don’t want your rules and expectations to get lost. Yeah, you want your students to get that information because it’s important. But, you also want to make sure they remember it. This is why I provide a syllabus in middle school science. Here are a few reasons why you should provide students with a middle school science syllabus too.

1. Clarity

You want your students to have clarity on what your class is all about, the expectations, what they will learn, the rules, the necessary supplies and objectives. It’s important to talk about it all but it’s also important to have it on paper (or digital if you choose)! If it’s all laid out for them, it removes a lot of confusion.

2. Organization

You can tell them what they need to be prepared for class each day and how to enter the classroom everyday during that first week, but sometimes they are going to forget. If they need to reference something, your syllabus will answer all those questions. It also helps your students understand how the course is organized and what they can expect to learn and when.

3. Accountability

Providing a syllabus for students will hold them more accountable. Your expectations are all laid out for them right there. It states what they need to do, what they can’t do, how they are graded and more. It removes the “you never told us that” or any other unknown because it’s all documented and easily accessible for them.

4. Parent Involvement

It’s hard to keep in touch with parents at the middle school level. You have so many students! By providing a syllabus for students to take home or access online, you are making it easy for parents to understand what to expect from you and the class. This makes you part of a team and removes a lot of confusion. Your syllabus is a communication tool for you, parents and students. Think of this as one of your very first introductions. Make it count!

Incorporating a syllabus into your class is more than just a formality. It’s a functional tool that enhances the learning experience for both students and parents. By setting clear expectations, objectives and fostering accountability in a document, you are paving the way for an excellent school year from the start. Your syllabus is a blueprint for success. Try creating one for your class this year!

If you want to create your own but don’t have the time or energy to create your own, you can grab these Secondary Science Syllabus Templates from my website shop or you can find them on TPT!

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Unlocking Learning with Science Cartoons: Engaging Kids in Science Education

Laura Balliett — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 16:00:41 +0000

Science cartoons have the power to reach today’s diverse population of learners because they improve accessibility, boost engagement, and portray information in a relatable manner. Across the globe, educators in elementary, middle, and home school classrooms are learning how to adapt to our ever-changing population of learners. Teachers are constantly searching for ways to adapt their teaching strategies to accommodate shorter attention spans, increasing diversity within one classroom, and larger gaps in reading abilities.

Science cartoons have the power to address this modern classroom environment by making content engaging and approachable.

Imagine the look on their faces when, instead of a textbook, you hand your students a comic-styled science cartoon. Jaws will drop and eyes will light up. Students will eagerly engage in the content because the illustrations are instantly engaging. Comics are a teacher’s secret weapon.

Relatability

Science cartoons and comics can speak directly to students in a manner they can relate to, and the illustrations and dialogue bubbles can make information more approachable. Instead of bulky paragraphs loaded with tricky vocabulary words, science cartoons present information in manageable chunks with relatable storylines.

When information is presented in a cartoon format, readers can connect with contextual clues and a narrative. The characters convey information through conversations and actions, and the sequential format aids in the process of decoding information. This makes the content more approachable to reluctant readers and students who have dismissed school as “boring.”

Accessibility

Science cartoons and comics improve accessibility because the use of illustrations makes it easier for readers of any skill level to gain some degree of understanding. The brain can register images within a fraction of a second making it easier for struggling readers to interpret the information without feeling the self-doubt they often feel when faced with paragraphs. Students who are challenged by short attention spans or language barriers can decode sentences with the help of captivating cartoons.

Many students find reading lengthy reading passages intimidating and instantly shut down when they are presented with a traditional text. To them, the paragraphs are a wall of words. Science comics have the power to break these paragraphs making the information more approachable and less intimidating.

Retention

Science cartoons improve retention because students want to read the content. They approach the information with curiosity. Frequently, learners are more motivated to read comics over traditional textbooks. This willingness to read makes learning fun, and as a result, they are more likely to retain the information.

Research has suggested that cartoons and comics tap into the power of visual learning. When ideas are tied to images, readers direct their attention and understand the information easier and better. This increases retention because it activates multiple facets of the brain.

Engagement

Science cartoons and comics are natural attention grabbers and rope learners into the content. The vivid colors and balance of words and imagery ignite curiosity and maintain attention. The more obvious reason why they remain engaged is because science cartoons and comics are fun. Children want to see what is going on and what is going to happen.

This is especially helpful for students who struggle with maintaining attention. The sequential delivery of the information and the ease of reading the shorter chunks of text helps readers maintain attention. Struggling readers to not get hung up on tricky concepts. Instead, they decode the information with the help of the images and continue to move through the reading passage.

Science Comics and Hands-on Learning

In addition to reading passages, science cartoons and comics can improve participation in hands-on activities. Presenting instructions in a visual format opens the door to participation and active learning. Many students resist reading instructions and consequently fail to understand the procedure in labs and projects. Just as reluctant readers shy away from paragraphs, they also tend to avoid instructions.

Purchase a bookshelf or small piece of furniture, and chances are you will have to assemble it at home. Most of the time, the instructions provided are full of illustrations. This is because instructions are easier to understand when they are paired with pictures. At the same time, the visuals help break down language barriers making it possible for multiple languages to assemble the product.

The same goes for activities in elementary and middle school science classrooms. When experiments and labs are tied to visual instructions accessibility and participation improve. Struggling readers are once again allowed to understand what is going on and keep up with the pace.

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4 of My Favorite Marine Science Picture Books

Michelle Rudolph — Wed, 31 May 2023 02:28:21 +0000

When it comes to picture books, you might think of little kids during literacy time. But picture books can actually be fun and informational for middle schoolers as well. In my experience, middle schoolers appreciate a chance to be a “kid again” and take a break from more challenging texts. Which is why I love using marine science picture books with middle schoolers.

Not only are picture books enjoyable, but they can make complex concepts accessible. One of my favorite ways to use science picture books is to introduce a new unit. It gets students engaged in the content and gives them basic background knowledge to build on.

Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.

My Favorite Science Picture Books

10 Little Rubber Ducks

A cargo ship is hit by a giant wave and a box of ten rubber ducks goes overboard. Because of the ocean currents, the ducks are sent in various directions and meet lots of marine life on their journey. This book is a cute way to introduce marine life and habitats, plus wind and currents.

I often use this book to introduce my Air-Sea Interactions unit.

Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean’s Most Fearless Scientist

There are lots of misconceptions about sharks, and Eugenie Clark wanted to change that. In this science picture book, students will learn about a female scientist who devoted her life to researching sharks. One thing I really like about this story is how Eugenie actually gained an interest in sharks at a young age. I think it can be relatable for middle schoolers. I use this book during our Bony & Cartilaginous Fish unit.

Secrets of the Sea: The Story of Jeanne Power, Revolutionary Marine Scientist

What does a nineteenth-century dress maker have to do with science? Well, Jeanne Power changed the way we study underwater life. She built glass tanks to study animals and published her findings in scientific journals. At a time when women didn’t get much recognition in science, Jeanna made a large impact. This science picture book goes really well with our history of Marine Science unit at the beginning of the year.

The World of Coral Reefs: Explore and Protect the Natural Wonders of the Sea

This is a great book for helping students understand the power of coral reefs. During the story, Erin Spencer, a marine ecologist, covers the types of coral, their lifecycle, where they live, and more. This is a great book for introducing your Coral Reefs and Human Impact unit.

Want more tips for planning your marine science units? Grab the free Marine Science Pacing Guide for a week by week breakdown of what I teach throughout the year.

I hope you can see why I love using science picture books in the classroom. They are so many stories out there to choose from which can help you ease into a new unit or topic, while also getting your students engaged.

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4 Fun Food Experiments for Middle School Science

Michelle Rudolph — Wed, 31 May 2023 02:15:56 +0000

When it comes to capturing the attention of middle school students, incorporating food can be a game-changer. One thing most middle schoolers have in common is a big appetite and a love of food. Adding an edible element to scientific explorations can be a great way to pique student interest and foster an engaging learning environment. Hands-on food experiments can make science content relatable and fun for middle schoolers.

Why Use Food Experiments?

Food labs are always a fan favorite in my middle school science classroom. Nothing gets students hyped to learn about a “boring” topic quite like bringing food into the equation. These fun edible science experiments turn up engagement in a big way.

The best part about these food experiments is that students are highly interested, engaged, and having fun. This means better retention of content and challenging their knowledge in a new way. Of course, students love it because they get to take a bite out of the final product!

Let’s look at some of my favorite edible science experiments.

Ice Cream Lab

This Ice Cream Lab is perfect for reviewing changes in states of matter and thermal energy. For this lab, students will be making ice cream in a bag. Not only is this a fun food experiment (and doubles as an arm workout!), but this lab also covers a ton of standards at once.

Students will shake the bags and watch the mixture thicken into ice cream as it changes from a liquid to a solid. During the lab, they will discuss changes in thermal energy, particle motion, and why it all occurs. And, of course, it wouldn’t be an edible experiment without getting to taste the final result. I like to bring a few ice cream toppings for an added dose of excitement.

S’Mores Lab

The S’Mores Lab is great for reviewing thermal energy and how it transfers. With this s’mores experiment, students will try to melt a marshmallow using all three methods.

They use a hot plate for conduction, a steam kettle for convection, and a heat lab for radiation. The students roast their marshmallows at each station and then add them to their graham crackers with chocolate.

As students create their delicious treats, they will discuss which method was most effective, how each was demonstrated, and illustrate particle motion.

Plate Tectonics Lab

Plate Tectonics is another topic that makes for a fun edible science experiment. During the Plate Tectonics Lab, students will use food to represent the different parts of the Earth.

For example, graham crackers represent continental crust, Fruit Roll-Ups symbolize oceanic crust, and frosting is used for the asthenosphere. Then, students will manipulate these snacks in different ways to demonstrate the plate boundaries (convergent, divergent, and transform).

Throughout the lab, students discuss what they noticed as they manipulated the food and even review some key vocabulary.

Oreo Moon Phases

The Lunar Phases Oreo Moon Phases is a simple but fun food lab. Each student will get four Oreo cookies. They open up the cookie and add or remove parts of the frosting to represent each of the phases of the moon.

With this activity, you can incorporate information on moon movement, gravity, and eclipses. Try out this Oreo Moon Phases lab for free!

I hope these labs inspire you to get creative and add some edible fun to your middle school science experiments! Your students will have a blast with food experiments, and you’ll enjoy the built-in engagement.

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7 Review Games to Make Standardized Testing More Fun

Michelle Rudolph — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 19:38:43 +0000

Let’s face it: review season can get super boring! When there is a ton of content to get through, it can feel like you’re using the same review games and activities over and over again. But in order to keep our students engaged and excited to learn, you have to keep things fresh.

That’s why I’m sharing my favorite review games and activities to make test prep season a bit more fun!

*This post contains affiliate links for Amazon*

#1 Gallery Walks

Not your typical gallery walk! We are going to make things simple and easy for you by using task cards. This task card gallery walk only takes a few minutes to set up. Simply tape task cards around the room or place them on desks. Then, pair students up or have them travel the room and solve the problems solo. Not only does this get your students up and moving but it is also a quick way to cover those heavier standards in a fun way.

#2 Trashketball

A popular review game among middle school teachers is trashketball! You can use a mini-basketball hoop like this, but any sort of bin or trash can works, too. Place painter’s tape on the floor to make a 1 point line, 3 point line and 5 point line. The farther away from the basket, the more points.

Break students up into groups of four. Each group will get the chance to answer a question. If the group answers correctly, they get a point and can shoot the basketball for more points from whatever line they choose. If they make it, they get the points. If they don’t, they still keep the point they earned for answering correctly. If they answer the question incorrectly, the next group has a chance to steal. The group with the most points at the end wins! I will say, this one has always been a favorite with my students!

#3 Online Review Games

I won’t lie to you: online review games are one of my favorites. Not only are they easy to set up (half the time you can find pre-made games), but students are really engaged and fueled by the competition aspect. My favorite online review games are Kahoot!, Blooket, Quizizz, Nearpod, and Gimkit.

#4 Jeopardy

Surprisingly, Jeopardy is still popular in classrooms! Create a jeopardy board with categorized questions. This is a great way to review several units, concepts, or skills during one review period. Personally, I like to use Jeopardy Labs. It’s $20 for a lifetime membership.

#5 Glow Games

This review game is about creating a unique way for students to answer questions. You can use worksheets, task cards, or any other typical question format. But to make it interesting – turn out the lights! Set up blacklights, LED lights, and give students glow sticks to make the experience exciting.

#6 Heads Up

Reviewing vocabulary has never been more fun (and challenging) than with heads up. Write down content-specific vocabulary onto index cards. Then, a student will hold the card to their forehead without looking at the word. Their group or partner will give them hints as to what the word is without saying the actual vocabulary word.

#7 Whiteboards

There are tons of review games you can play with whiteboards, but I personally like to use them for team competitions! Break the class into two or more teams. Read or display a question, then have students write their answers on the boards. The first team to reveal the correct answer gets a point. If you don’t have a class set of whiteboards, you can use a sheet protector and add a piece of printed paper inside. Life hacks!

Mix and match these classroom review games to keep things interesting during test prep season!

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How to Assess Student Knowledge with Choice Boards

Michelle Rudolph — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 19:34:15 +0000

You’ve probably heard time and time again that a big key to student engagement and buy-in is choice. And it’s no wonder! When students have a say in the activity they do or how they show off their knowledge, they can pick what sounds most interesting or appealing to them. This is exactly why I love choice boards for students.

Choice boards are an amazing tool for any middle school science classroom for reviewing key concepts. They give students ownership over their work, can be easily differentiated, and allow for student choice. What’s not to love?

The best part about choice boards? Students can showcase their various talents and interests, all while hitting the standards and mastering objectives. Which is why I love to use choice boards to assess students’ knowledge. Because students are more likely to give the activities on a choice board their all, and you can really see what students know and are struggling with.

How to Assess a Choice Board

When there is a choice involved with activities, being able to assess them can get a little complicated. Luckily, there are some simple ways you can assess students’ knowledge and allow them the freedom to choose.

#1 Use a Rubric

Rubrics not only help you determine how you will assess students, but they give students a clear idea of how they will be graded and what you are looking for. When giving students their choices, but clear on exactly what you will be grading.

For example, what vocabulary they might need to include in their final product, what you want to see in a model, how students should present the information, the number of pages, sizes for a poster, etc. Basically, get super clear on what you expect!

#2 Create Check-Ins

If you want to offer plenty of student choice and leave things open-ended for students, go with the check-in route. Before students get started with their activity or project, I have them check in with me about their plan.

Then, throughout the activity, I walk around the room checking on student work. This way I can easily get students back on track or give them the green light if they are doing well. At the end of the project, I have students hold conferences with me to go over the material and assess their knowledge.

This route will require you to be more hands-on and active, but it can really help you lean into the student choice aspect!

Try Choice Boards

Give choice boards a try with this Science Choice Board Freebie. This choice board can be used for any topic in your middle school science classroom and make for easy stations or early-finisher activities.

It includes activities like making a video, recording a podcast, making a postering, researching a topic, and more! Allow your students to creatively display their knowledge of recent concepts – while also doing something they enjoy.

BUTTON: Grab the Science Choice Board Freebie

Want even more middle school science activity ideas? Try creating a gallery walk with task cards! This activity is easy to set up and will give you another use for your task cards.

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