Check it! - Rivers - Year 3

Understanding how rivers are formed is a key part of the Year 3 curriculum, and it's important to ensure that children have regular opportunities to review what they've learned about this natural phenomenon. To facilitate this, teachers can incorporate various review techniques such as 'Brain dump', where students write down everything they know about a topic, or 'Give me FIVE!', a quick-fire activity where they list five related facts. Other methods like adding to a mind map or using 'Retrieval Pyramids' help students organise their knowledge and recall information more effectively. These strategies not only aid in solidifying students' understanding of river formation but also make the learning process interactive and engaging.

During the 'CHECK IT!' activities, children are prompted to recall specific details about rivers. For instance, they might be asked to name five European rivers or five rivers in the UK, helping them to connect their learning to real-world examples. Expanding and elaborating on concepts is another key activity; students might explore how a river progresses from its source to the estuary or how an oxbow lake is formed through river meandering. The 'Pyramid Check' activity challenges students at different levels, with the expectation that all pupils can describe basic river features and processes, while more advanced learners can explain complex concepts like the water cycle, as well as erosion and deposition, in relation to river formation.