" Interleaving boosts learning by mixing up closely related topics encouraging discrimination between similarities and differences. " (Agarwal & Bain, 2019)
“Practice that’s spaced out, interleaved with other learning, and varied produces better mastery, longer retention, and more versatility." (Brown, 2014)
Interleaving Practice is essentially mixed practice, where practice questions (or problems) are different enough that students have to discriminate between related ideas to answer correctly. Some examples include mixed operations math problems or questions about the causes of both World War I and World War II. Interleaving is NOT a mixture of different subjects nor a mix of word problems and computation that require the same operation.
Daily Math Review (K-8th) or Daily Grammar Review (2nd-8th). These are available on Beyond Textbook website under the Math and Writing sections, respectively. Use BT website to find your grade level reviews. Below are just a couple of examples.
The Dice Game Strategy: Put Students in Charge of Interleaving (Agarwal & Bain, 2019)
Summary: 1) Students pair up or join small groups. 2) Students get a numbered list of similar vocabulary words, math concepts, or related concepts. 3) One student rolls a die ( or dice for more than six items). 4) The student who rolls the die or dice retrieves the number they rolled. (They could be asked to define a word, solve a problem, or apply a concept etc.) 5) The other students provide feedback. 6) Switch turns.
VIDEO LINK: Dice Game
The Fishbowl: Switch It Up for Different Classes (Agarwal & Bain, 2019)
Summary: 1) Write past and current concepts on slips of paper and put them in a fish bowl, a hat, a backpack, or use an electronic list where topics are numbered. 2) Have a student draw a slip or choose a number randomly followed by a Think-Pair-Share before drawing the next one.
The Lightning Rod Strategy: Keep Interleaving Fast- Paced and Low Stakes
Summary: 1) Create a list of past and current topics (to build in spacing). Better yet have students create the list! 2) Have one student call out concepts from the list at random. 3) Have all students retrieve and write down their answers. 4) Give students feedback at the end of the lightning round to keep it fast paced.
Blank Recall (These methods can be used for retrieval of current topics or for spacing and interleaving of previously taught topics.)
( Do Nows, Warmup Worksheets, or Bell Work, Exit Tickets -Online or with post its, white board formative quizzes, Kahoot It!, Google Forms, Go Math Share and Show in workbooks and online, Socrative, Quizizz, paper and pencil quizzes)