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Want to get cheers instead of groans when it’s time to study for a test? Review games are your best bet — and with the right inspiration and resources, they may be even more effective than your carefully crafted study guide! Get your students enthused about an upcoming exam with review games for high school students in any subject.
Meaningful Math Games for High Schoolers
One of the most important study skills for high school students involves checking on their own learning. When it comes to math study skills, these review games for high school help straighten out tricky concepts, letting students assess their math understanding long before it’s time for their math test.
For innovative math review games for school, try out these classic activities with arithmetic twists:
- Math partner hunts: Half the class is handed papers with math problems, and the other half gets solutions. Who can find their matching problem or solution (and solve it) first?
- Board relay races: This classic group activity pits two team representatives against each other to solve the problem on the board first, then tag another team member to solve the next one.
- Math baseball: Team members are “pitched” a math problem by the opposing team. If they can get the solution quickly, they move to first base and allow the next player to try. Three outs and the teams switch!
Ace the next exam with algebra games
Algebra 1 can be complicated for any math student, especially students who are new to the subject. Help high schoolers master discrete algebra skills with math review games that focus on tricky concepts.
Algebra 1 Game | Graphing Quadratics & Key Characteristics
By One Stop Teacher Shop
Grades: 8th-10th
Subjects: Algebra, Math, Math Test Prep
Standards: CCSS HSA-SSE.B.3, 3a, 3b; HSF-IF.B.4, 5, 6, C.7, 7a
Can your high schoolers graph quadratics? After playing this algebra “I Can” game, they can! Perfect for independent practice, small groups, or a whole-class activity, this CCSS-aligned math game prompts students to answer “test-like” questions with an innovative review method that incorporates QR codes for instant feedback.
Infuse math review into other subjects
When math makes an appearance in other subjects, it can be a little worrying for students who are insecure about their math skills. That’s when review games for high school classes that have math elements, such as economics or science, are helpful for both concept knowledge and math practice.
Budgeting Task Cards – Leveled – Suitable for Review Games
By The Ontario Octopus
Grades: 9th-12th
Subjects: Applied Math, Math
Have your math students ever asked “When are we going to use this?” With an economics review game that incorporates applied math skills, the answer is “Now!” Use 12 applied budgeting task cards to review personal finance concepts like fixed and variable costs, cost of maintaining a vehicle, monthly and yearly income, and more.
Scintillating Science Study Games
Whether you’re looking for high school chemistry review activities or learning games to reinforce physics knowledge, well-timed review games can add just the right element to your curriculum.
Try out these science games that work for any level of high school science, and add your own review questions to make each activity relevant to your own instruction.
- Science trivia teams: Bring Trivia Night to your classroom with individual whiteboards, small groups, and a list of science test review questions.
- Lab escape room: Who can make it out of the lab first? Use review questions and logic puzzles as ideas for escape rooms you make yourself.
- Don’t Say it: Students describe a key science term without saying the word, or the five other words on the card! If their team guesses the word, they get a point.
Base your biology review on facts and fun
Biology is the study of life, so don’t be afraid to add a little life into your test review! Bring biology review games to your high school study session to get science students excited and working together.
Cumulative Biology Review Game
By It’s Not Rocket Science
Grades: 7th-10th
Subject: Biology
Where do you start when it’s time to review a year of biology? Start at the beginning with a cumulative biology review game inspired by the TV game show “Password.” Guessers from small class teams compete to guess one of 100 key biology terms based on clues given by their team members. If they get the right answer in 20 seconds, they get a point!
Entertaining ELA Games for Reading and Writing Review
Just because ELA tests involve more writing and fewer multiple-choice questions doesn’t mean students can’t review in a fun way. In fact, ELA has some of the most engaging review games for high schoolers that inspire creativity, thoughtful questions, and most of all, fun!
- Guess the character: During a novel unit or after finishing reading a class novel, host a game of Charades where students act out traits and behaviors of characters from the book (or other books you’ve read throughout the year).
- Find the revisions: Review proofreading and revision by projecting an unedited passage on the board and having teams be the first to find all the possible revisions.
- Synonym match game: Help high schoolers remember vocabulary words with a quick match game! Put ten synonyms for your current vocabulary words on the board, and see who can replace them with the words from their list first.
Grammar Games to Review ELA Fundamentals
What do you mean, your students don’t like studying grammar? They may change their tune when they play grammar games that incorporate physical movement with grammatical knowledge (and a few team points, too!).
Active and Passive Voice Trashketball Review Game – Verb Voice Grammar Activity
By OCBeachTeacher
Grades: 6th-10th
Subject: English Language Arts, Grammar, Writing
Standards: CCSS L.8.1, 8.1b, 8.3, 8.3a, 8.6
If passive voice is a scourge of your students’ writing, help them get “active” about it with a verb voice grammar review game of “Trashketball.” This CCSS-aligned resource gets students out of their seats and includes PowerPoint and Google Slides versions of the game, complete with concept review, game rules, teacher instructions, and an answer key.
Sensational Social Studies Games for Future Historians
No list of review games for high school is complete without social studies games! Rich and concept-heavy, social studies subjects make excellent forums for review games surrounding trivia and important facts. Use these thought-provoking games to move past memorization in history, geography, and other social studies classes.
- Set the “president”: Give small groups one presidential candidate to research, then pose questions about what their president would do in particular situations. (Extra points for role play!)
- Put them in order: Assign each student a key event during a period of history, and see if they can place themselves in the order in which the events occurred.
- Where in the world: Test students on their geography knowledge by showing them a silhouette of a country or state, and seeing which team can buzz in with the correct (or closest!) answer.
Get a handle on history with period-specific study games
Put the focus on one period of history with specialized review games. Whether you’re studying all the figures and dates of one war or reviewing an influential era in world history, there’s nothing like a review game to get students immersed in your instruction.
Gilded Age Progressive Era Activity Bingo Review Game EOC Review STAAR
By Active History Teacher
Grades: 9th-11th
Subject: Social Studies, U.S. History
Step into the Gilded Age of American history with an engaging Bingo activity game. With 50 topics covered in 36 Bingo cards and 2 sets of calling questions, you can play this game over and over to prepare students for an upcoming test on the late 19th century!
Studious Spanish Games for Language Learners
If your Spanish students are getting nervous about la próxima prueba (“the next test”), bring these review games for high school Spanish to an upcoming study session. They’re not only more fun than flashcards and repetition, but they’ll help students practice their oral language and pronunciation alongside their Spanish knowledge.
- Solo preguntas: Have students revive the classic “Questions Only” improvisation game with challenges that have them interact only in questions in front of the class.
- Pictórica: Using your Spanish vocabulary list, have students draw images on the whiteboard or projected drawing app for their teams to guess the right word (in Spanish, of course).
- Partes de una oración: Give each student one card with either a Spanish noun, verb, preposition, article, or conjunction, and have students find the right parts of speech to form the first Spanish sentence in the class.
Spend more time learning with Spanish review games
Get out of the textbook and into engaging conversations with Spanish review games for high schoolers! Test students’ knowledge of Spanish fundamentals with review games that prepare them for the next test and beyond.
Spanish Present Tense AR ER IR verb REVIEW GAME Octopus on Guard NO PREP review
By The Stress Free Spanish Teacher
Grades: 6th-12th
Subjects: Spanish, World Languages
High schoolers can master present tense conjugation with a fun octopus-themed review game! Five versions of the game present Spanish students with challenges to choose the correctly conjugated words in order to reach the treasure guarded by a possessive octopus.
Opt for online games and digital resources
When students in the 21st century hear the word “classroom games,” they may picture a tablet instead of a whiteboard. But how do you ensure that online and digital games are as educational as they are entertaining?
Choose teacher-created and curated digital games from TPT to infuse learning standards into your review games for school. If you’d like to use your own review questions in online games, look for a reputable Edtech site where you can make your own digital games and assign them for independent practice. (Talk about homework your high schoolers will look forward to!)
Making school fun makes learning enjoyable
When students have a good time in class, they’re more likely to attend — and more likely to succeed. Using review games for high school students is an engaging way to combine learning, teamwork, and good old-fashioned fun. And the biggest surprise? Class periods with review games may be your favorite teaching days of all!
Find more high school resources for review games to keep students on their toes and on the edge of their seats. And for more important ways to engage teens in the classroom, incorporate life skills activities for high school students to prepare them for graduation and beyond.