Revision Skills

‘Less is More’

The secret of revision is ‘less is more’.

Student-stress often comes from feeling overwhelmed by how much they’ve got to revise.

Getting a whole exam-topic onto a single sheet of A3 paper is the ‘less-is-more’ system modelled below.

The essential skill for revision is synthesis (or reduce-and-fuse).

Here are some visual examples for you:

The example from ‘1984’ (above) is the entire plot of the novel on a single sheet of A4 paper. This removes the feeling of “not being able to remember the book”.

Four thinking-skills have been used:

1. Categorisation (i.e. a different section for each part of the plot)2. Visualising (i.e. a different colour for each part of the plot)3. Hierarchy (i.e. numbering each part of the plot in the order it occurs)4. Synthesis (i.e. setting out to ‘capture’ key details only – less-is-more

Having a single sheet like this reduces stress and builds students’ confidence and, in doing so, takes the stress out of exam-prep.

The next visual example is a revision sheet for ‘Quotes and Themes’ in ‘1984’.

This example from ‘1984’ (above) is ‘Quote Bank’ on a single sheet of A4 paper. The aim, again, is to have all quotations needed on a single sheet of A4 paper. Secondly, quotations are placed into the appropriate ‘theme’ box (e.g. power, control, resistence etc.) to embed the skills of analysis.

The same four thinking-skills have been used:

1. Categorisation (i.e. a different section for each theme)2. Visualising (i.e. a different colour for each theme)3. Hierarchy (i.e. numbering each theme, helping to create a distinction for the eye/memory)4. Synthesis (i.e. linking quotations to relevant themes)

Again, having a single sheet like this reduces stress and builds students’ confidence and, in doing so, takes the stress out of exam-prep. Suddenly, ‘1984’ seems ‘manageable and doable’!

The next visual example is a revision sheet for ‘Quotes and Themes’ in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’.

This example is a revision sheet for ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ (above).

This a different design of the same system - i.e. using:

1. columns for each character2. colour for the different themes3. linking characters to themes to embed analytical thinking

The one additional thing used is images/symbols. This can be a very powerful memory ‘trigger’.

The final example (below) is for GCSE ‘Different Cultures Poetry’ Revision.

This example is a revision sheet for ‘GCSE Different Cultures Poetry’ (above).

This a different design of the same system - i.e. using:

4. shapes for each poetry ‘pairing’5. colour for each ‘poetry pairing’6. images/symbols acting as ‘memory triggers’

There are many different ways of applying this revision system of a getting a whole topic onto a single sheet of A4/A3 paper.

The key thing to remember is ‘less-is-more’.