e all know that the minute you announce “let’s play a game” to the class, you instantly have their attention. 

So why not “gamify” the parts of your review session that could use a little spunk? 

Of course we do a Kahoot or Quizizz. Those are fun, interactive and educational at the same time. But I have others that are my favs. 

Let’s start with the one that requires the most student thought and participation:

You’ve probably heard of Quizlet, right? Well, Quizlet Live is quite a bit different than just regular Quizlet. Let me explain: 

First you have to set up a “study set” (like flashcards). Sets can include vocabulary words, study terms, dates, images, maps, foreign languages etc.  It is great for anything that contains specific terms and definitions (not opinions or long-answer essays). 

Then go to the menu of Quizlet and choose “Live”. You will need 4 students to join the “Live” before it will allow you to play. (Less than 4 and you can’t start the game).

How the game works is a bit hard to describe until you see it in action.  So do me a favor, just try it. Get at least 4 students to try it with you and just click on “Live”.  Quizlet will walk you through how to use it.

The reason I love it (and so do the students) is that it forces them to work as teams to answer the questions. Every student has different answers on their devices, so it’s impossible to work alone! Plus, the game makes them move around the room to find their teammates, so it’s physically active too. The students love that part! 

Not only is it fun, but it requires group cooperation and knowledge of the concepts and terms. It’s a bit competitive and really gets the students to be active participants with their team. The countdown timer, exciting music and technology is just an added plus. It is so much fun, you really need to try it! 

Even if you don’t use Quizlet Live, you could easily use the regular Quizlet for review sessions. The regular version allows you to create flashcards or “study sets” to review material.  

What I love about Quizlet is that the STUDENTS are the ones who can create their flash cards and their games. You, the teacher, don’t have to.

Plus, Quizlet has Speaking, Reading, Writing and Listening features that most other educational game sites don’t. 

Take a look at this menu. It shows you all the things that Quizlet can do: 

Now can you see why this website offers SO much fun and educational ways to study??? It’s interactive, it works on all 4 types of communication (listening, reading, writing, and speaking) and they can do it alone or in groups. 

This website is fun for younger kids (and overwhelmed teachers who need a bit of help). It is chock full of colorful games on every topic you can think of. In fact, the best thing this website has to offer is that you can search just about any topic known to man, and find a ready-made game to play in class. 

I typed in “Spanish Verbs” in the search bar, and literally found thousands of games to use for free! Look:

Students and teachers love Bamboozle because it is so easy to use. Students can study the concepts or play the games by just answering out loud.  There is no need to type your answers. In my opinion, this is both good and bad. It makes the games quicker and easier to set up, but it doesn’t require them to write anything down. 

Keep in mind that the free version of Bamboozle is pretty limited. But the good news is that if you do decide to buy it, it’s not expensive. It is only about $5 per month.

I started using Bingo cards during the pandemic because I realized you can easily create Bingo cards for both online and offline activities (or a mix of both!).  You may be thinking that Bingo is an “old” game, or a boring choice, but I challenge you to come up with a gamified lesson that is fun and engaging, that can be played on paper and online! 

Yes! With Bingo you can!  

All three of the websites below will allow you to set up a group of terms, numbers, words or whatever else you want to use in your game. Then the website will randomize the information onto all the students’ Bingo cards. All you need to do is send one card to each student. Each card will be different since the information has been randomized automatically by the website. 

Students can print the Bingo cards on paper or just use them on the computer. 

If they print them on paper, it is a perfect activity for students who want to play over Zoom, but who want to be able to mark their answers on paper at the same time. It’s good for students with limited wifi or limited devices too. 

This is a simple, yet trustworthy option for a class game that students love.

And if these ideas aren’t enough, here is a whole list of interactive games websites that are good for review sessions in class:

• Gimkit
• Socrative
• Quizalize
• ClassResponder
• Kahoot
• Quizziz

So now go and play!