Leaving Cert History Retrieval Practice guide, workbook and presentation

This pack contains a 52 page guide which can be used with 5th or 6th yr history classes for retrieval practice. It covers 3 courses - USA and the World, Politics and Society in N Ireland and the Case study course (Dictatorship and Democracy)

Brain dumps are a powerful retrieval practice tool for learning history as they encourage students to recall key information from memory, reinforcing their understanding of historical events and concepts.

By regularly practicing brain dumps, students improve their long-term retention, strengthen retrieval skills, and identify gaps in knowledge. This active recall process also boosts confidence in tackling exam questions and helps make connections between different historical themes and events.

Teachers use the introductory powerpoint to introduce students to retrieval practice and using brain dumps to help them to revise their course.

Students are then given either a digital or physical copy of the guide to use to prepare each topic. Each week, they can use a copy to write down as much as they can recall about a given topic and have a short amount of time in which to do this.

The guide contains a schedule for 2024-2025 for 5th and 6th years. The guide has a schedule for Ordinary level and Higher level, and there are worksheets for each relevant topic.

There is also a very handy reflective sheet that students can be given to reflect on how each brain dump has gone.

Hopefully, your class will find this to be an engaging and helpful way to aid their revision and for you to monitor their progress over time.