Here is a summary sheet that Charlene Dunlop has designed all about exam technique and how to revise.

1. How can I revise?
Association: Link new knowledge to existing information and topics and create vivid
personal examples which act as 'mental hooks' or 'cues' for recalling material in the future.
1. Mind maps - good for remembering topics and sub-topics.
Imagine a Mind map is like a giant
Spider’s Web with all the ideas around
it. The spider (or main idea) is in the
middle and everything is around it.
The most important ideas are in the
middle and the sub-topics go out
further and further.
2. Concept maps
Now imagine that Spider’s Web falling
down and turning it into some kind of
weird chain with the words concept
map on it. The spider can go
backwards and forwards and around
so he knows how ideas connect, but
there are no sub-topics.
Mnemonics: Mnemonics help you to
remember by using short words that stand
for something to help you. Here is a
Mnemonic for REVISION.
Rest
Exercise
Variety
Imagination
Structure
Individual
Ongoing
Not too long
Make lists:
1. Bullet point them
Or
2. number them
Or
3. letter them
According to what suits you best. Numbers
will definitely suit those who are more
comfortable using their left/logical, side of
the brain.
Chunking: This breaking up a big piece of information into smaller chunks rather like steps in
a ladder. It can be used for numbers and words. Often students use Bullet points to break up
information.
Try to remember this by breaking it up into chunks:
The average person can take in four numbers or words at a time, can concentrate on
revision for a maximum of 45 minutes at a time and remembers information best
shortly before bedtime.
Chunked:
 Remember 4 words/numbers at a time
 Revision max 45 minutes.
 Remember best before bedtime
Reading Out Loud: Read your revision notes out loud to a particular rhythm – this could be
set by music playing in the background or tapping your foot or by walking calmly and
steadily. This is a sort of walk and talk.
Cards:
Two ways to practice with cards:
1. Put the answers on the back, but you will need to remember more at once before you
check
OR
2. Use a piece of paper and move down to reveal answers as you guess the contents.
These techniques are very useful for checking that you know key facts.
Visuals:
 Make good use of drawings /diagrams in your revision.
 Use different colours.
 Replace key words /ideas /people/places with pictures.
 Create and put posters up around your home.
Underlining:
 As you read through the work in your exercise book underline key words.
 You could come up with a predicted list before you start or you could make a list of the
key words at the end.
 You could underline in different colours, patterns or lines like wiggly, thick etc.
Use Colour: Your brain just adores colour and will remember things much more easily if you
use it. For example, put all the important words in red, the important concepts in green,
important dates in purple etc.

2. Magenta Principles: Do something different with your exercise book notes.
 Reduce it
 Change it
 Assemble it
 Search for it
 Connect it
 Arrange it
 Enlarge it
 Simplify it
 Classify it
 Compare and contrast it
 Deconstruct it
 Apply it
 Prioritise it
 Act it out
By rote: Learning by rote is simply reading
the text over and over until you remember
it. It is the most basic kind of revision, but
without the help of other techniques may
not be very effective and it can be very
boring.
Q & A: Devise questions and answers about
a topic for other people and quiz each other.
Post-its: Write information on post-it notes and place them
on the wall, door, large sheets of paper etc. You can then
rearrange them according to a variety of ideas:
 Group various things together
 Organise them into what you know and don’t know –
rearrange as you learn more
 Follow trends or themes
Record yourself: Make a recording of yourself to revise from using your phone or voice software on your computer.
1. It could be you reading your notes out loud.
2. It could be you singing your notes.
3. It could be you reading and then stopping to summarise what you have read (key words, ideas, phrases, quotations)
Or
4. Asking questions on what you have covered.
5. Listen to the recording as you lie in bed, walk to school, travel on the bus.
Preview – Question – Read – Review your notes and revision book pages
P = Preview
Give your notes / revision book a quick skim (2-3 minutes), trying to get an overview of key
points. Look for section headings, illustrative charts and diagrams, signposts or key words.
Don't start highlighting text at this point.
Q = Question
This is the key to active learning. Look for answers to the basic questions of "Who?",
"What?", "Where?", "Why?" and "When?" Identify the main theme or learning point of the
notes / textbook page.
R = Read
Now read your notes / textbook page carefully, with these questions in mind. Your mind will
be actively looking for answers as you read. Work with a pen and paper, make brief
summary notes, look for 'topic sentences' that summarise the most important point in a
paragraph or section and highlight them, if necessary. Vary your reading speed - move
quickly over lighter, less important material and slow down when you come to a difficult
section.
R = Review
Always check your understanding of the material by reviewing and testing your recall before
putting the text away. Look at the notes you have taken and check that they answer your
initial questions. Summarise your findings from this study session.
Loci: It involves thinking about a journey that you know well and the landmarks along the
way. You then add in images to help you remember information. (They do not have to be
famous, but things that you notice as you go by.)
Example:
When revising you could do the following:
1. Read through your books
2. If you do not understand something ask somebody.
3. Now choose the memory tricks that work best for you
4. Create posters to help you to organise information
5. Create cards with key points and practice
6. Use past papers to practice answering questions
Now let us take a journey from Newport Bridge to Macmillan Academy.
1. On the bridge itself you see a huge book
2. You reach the large roundabout and see your teachers, parents and friends.
3. You see the houses on the left and there is a magician performing magic tricks.
4. On a billboard on the fence of Macmillan you see a huge poster with your
revision on it.
5. As you walk into the gate you see a huge pile of cards.
6. When you arrive into the canteen you see test papers set out for you on all the
tables.

3. Other ideas that you may have come across during your geography lessons that are good activities for
revision too.
QUIZ QUIZ
TRADE
1. Write 10 questions for a topic.
2. Attempt the questions without looking at your notes or doing any revision.
3. Then mark your answers by looking through your notes. Identify how many you got correct and this is your
starting point.
4. Do something with the information learned e.g. Teach your parents, make a crossword, read it aloud, write
an exam answer using the information etc…
5. Re-do the questions again but in a different order. How many did you get correct this time?
What am I?
Design a set of clue cards for different key terms or case studies which you can then get your parents, friends or
family to use to test you. You could have these as simple one sentence clues or graduated into levels e.g. 5
levels, first clue the hardest and the last clue the easiest.
Find someone
who?
If you are struggling with a topic write down the questions you cannot answer and find someone else who is
studying geography who can answer the question, this could even be your teacher.
Splat
Write down a series of key terms or facts onto a sheet of paper. These are the answers, now write down the
questions that match these answers. Then either;
1. Get a parent to say aloud the statement and you have to splat the key term as quick as you can and
someone times you.
2. Play with a friend who is also studying geography and get a parent / family member to say aloud the
statement and then compete against your friend to be the first one to splat the correct answer.
Write the mark
scheme to the
question
1. Look at past papers and apply your knowledge of mark schemes by writing the mark scheme for the
question to work out what detail and information you should include in the exam answer.
2. Check this against the real mark scheme.
3. Then write the exam answer.
Listen, read and
recall task
1. Play this in pairs with someone else who is revising the topic.
2. Read through a specific section of your notes and make a table with the key points from the notes in it.
3. Then recall to a friend as much as you can of what you have read and they tick off the key points that you
tell them. See how many key points you remembered.
4. Swap turns. You now listen to your friend recall what they can remember and you tick off on their table
how much they recall.
5. Swap a further 2 times.
6. Then use the key term table to rewrite in your own words the notes that are in your exercise book on the
topic.
Word cloud Make a word cloud (using www.wordle.co.uk) to summarise the key terms used in a given topic you are revising.
Ready, steady,
teach…
Use materials e.g. play dough, beads, string, pasta etc… to make models of landforms or processes that you are
revising. Then use the model to teach your parents, a family member or friend about the landform or process.
You could record yourself doing this and then play it back to remind yourself of the key points.
Key term cards
1. Make yourself a set of key term cards using index cards.
2. On one side write the key term and on the other write the definition.
3. Play in a pair or group.
4. Place the cards key term side up. Select a card and give the definition of the key term. If it is correct you
turn the card over, if not it stays as it is. The next person than selects a key term and attempts to define it
and so on…
5. Once all the cards have been turned over so they are definition side up, then repeat the process but this
time read the definition and you have to say what the key term is.
Quizlet Use Quizlet on line to test your key term knowledge and understanding.
Make a flipbook Use post it notes and make a flipbook to draw the stages involved in the formation of a landform.
Connect 4
Make yourself a grid with questions in it (have the answers ready too). Play in a pair and the aim is for you to get
4 questions in a row on the grid correct. If you get an answer wrong you lose your turn.
Headlines
Turn your case studies into a series of engaging headlines to remind yourself of the topics and questions the
case studies relate to.
Tweet it Summarise the key points of a topic or case study as a tweet (so as 140 characters) or a series of tweets.
Learning as a
recipe
Write a recipe for the knowledge you have to know for a specific landform or process e.g. coastal spit or bar
formation.
Draw a cartoon
sketch
Draw a cartoon sketch or storyboard of the topic you are learning to consolidate your understanding in a visual
way.
Paper chains
Create a paper chain. Each link must have a key word on it. You then explain to a friend / family member what
each link is and how it relates to the next link in the paper chain.
Come dine with
me
Create a summary for the topic you are studying on a paper plate.
Cheat cards
Pretend that you can cheat by putting the key points of a topic on a small index card. Limited space means you
only write the most important things.
Talk-Listen-
Repeat
Face a partner and talk on a subject for 30 seconds. Now swap. Repeat trying to get more key words into the 30
seconds without looking at your notes.