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What is a flashcard? A flashcard can be an excellent teaching recourse to help teach any subject. It can be used for drilling and to elicit information for a quick response in group teaching or for private studies. A flashcard can be used in a variety of activities. From words, facts, dates, pictures and numbers, either single or double sided. In some cases, flashcards can have a question on the one side and answers on the back. Flashcards can be used in all teaching stages, from beginner to advanced classes. Flashcards are a brilliant way for learners to retain information for the long term. According to ITTT; “Flashcards and pictures are useful to elicit more obscure words and can be anything from commercially produced materials to pictures printed from the internet or cut out of magazines and mounted on card.” (ITTT 2011: Unit 3, p. 5) Beginner flashcard activities For a beginner student, the teacher will teach the student the alphabet in a specific order. The recommended order is as follows: 1. s, a, t, p, i, n 2. c, k, e, h, r 3. m, d, g, o 4. l, f, b, q, u 5. j, z, w 6. v, y, x https://www.howweelearn.com/teaching-letter-recognition-what-order-to-introduce-letters/ The teacher will start by teaching the capital letters and those will be referred to as the letter names. Alongside that, the teacher will teach the lowercase letters and those will be referred to as the letter sounds. This can be done separately or at the same time. Students will quickly become familiar with capitals being the letter names and lowercase letters being the letter sounds. Side Note: Not all letters and sounds are taught in one lesson. Letter learning can be broken up into multiple lessons. It depends on the ability of the students. The teacher will make 26 flashcards with each letter of the alphabet. One set of capital letters and one set of lowercase letters. On the back of the flashcard, there can be a matching picture to go with that specific letter/sound. The teacher will teach the letters in the order advised and then the students can practice playing a guessing game in pairs or small groups. Variety of guessing games: Resources needed along with games that can be played: 1. A set of capital letter flashcards (Matching picture with letter name on the back) 1.1 Guess the letter name (One student shows the letter – the other guesses the letter name.) 1.2 Guess the picture to go with that letter name (One student shows the letter – the other guesses the matching picture to go with that letter name.) 1.3 Guess the letter name using a picture. (One student shows the picture, the other guesses the letter name based on the picture shown.) 2. A set of lowercase letter flashcards (Matching picture with letter sound on the back) 2.1 Guess the letter sound (One student shows the lowercase letter – the other guesses the letter sound.) 2.2 Guess the picture to go with that sound (One student shows the letter – the other guesses the matching picture to go with that letter sound.) 2.3 Guess the letter sound using a picture. (One student shows the picture, the other guesses the letter sound based on the picture shown.) 3. A set of capital letters (blank at the back) 3.1 Guess the letter name (One student shows the letter – the other guesses the letter name.) 3.2 Guess a word that begins with that letter (One student shows the letter – the other guesses a word that begins with that letter) e.g. c --> cat 3.3 Create a picture (One student shows the letter – the others draw a matching picture to go with that letter) 4. A set of lowercase letters (blank at the back) 4.1 Guess the letter sound (One student shows the letter – the other guesses the letter sound.) 4.2 Guess a word that begins with that letter (One student shows the letter – the other guesses a word that begins with that sound) e.g. b --> ball 4.3 Create a picture (One student shows the letter – the others draw a matching picture to go with that sound. Once the student has learnt all the letters and sounds of the alphabet, students will be able to play additional activities using flashcards. Additional activities using the letter flashcards can be: 1. Ordering and sorting alphabet cards into alphabetical order (capital and lowercase separately) 2. Matching lowercase letters with capital letters 3. Matching picture cards with letter/sound cards 4. Match name cards of students with different letter flashcards. (S --> Sarah, C --> Claire) 5. Memory game – This can be played according to the level of the student. Start with a lower number of cards and increase based of the level of difficulty. Students can place both sets of cards (upper and matching lowercase letters) face down on the floor. Students can take turns in turning over 2 cards – then saying the cards aloud. If the cards match then the students keeps the cards. If the cards are different, the cards are turned back over again in their original places. The students with the most pairs at the end of the game wins. If the teacher has made multiple sets of alphabet flashcards, these flashcard activities can be used on a rotational basis. Each group of students can take turns doing each activity for a certain amount of time. Elementary – Upper Intermediate Elementary learners are able to create simple sentences and communicate simple topics. The teacher can create flashcards with basic action words on them with matching pictures at the back of the card. Activity 1 Students can work in pairs or small groups. A student will select a card and then the other students can act out the flashcard and/or make a sentence with that action word. Types of words displayed on flashcards: Run, jump, swim, fly, eat, read, write, sleep, play. Types of sentences that students may say: I am running. I can run. I am swimming. I can swim. I am reading. I can read. I am jumping. I can jump. Activity 2 The teacher will give students a set of cards with simple present sentences on them. Types of sentences: I can read. I can fly. I can play. I can talk. *Students can change the simple present sentences into past tense sentences. Types of responses from students I was reading. I was flying. I was playing. I was talking. Intermediate - Upper Intermediate For an intermediate – upper intermediate learner, the teacher can prepare different job flashcards. Activity 1 On the one side of the flashcard, there can be a question of the job description and on the back of the card, the answer. Students can take turns and guess the type of job. Activity 2 Charades. A student can act out the job and another student can guess what job it is. Refer to the sample flashcards displayed in Unit 14 of ITTT, pages 6 - 9 Additional game: Backs to the Board Game Teacher splits the class into 2 groups. A student from each group faces towards there groups. Teacher puts a special word on the board (E.g “coffee”) and the students have to explain what that word is to their team member. (E.g. You can buy it at Starbucks, it's a warm drink) The first student to guess what the word is – wins a point for their team. https://www.eslkidstuff.com/blog/flashcards/top-10-flashcard-exciting-games-activities Conclusion Flashcards can be a very useful resource for teaching. They can create a fun learning process and are easy to obtain or create. Flashcards can be used throughout all stages of teaching and learning. Reference https://www.howweelearn.com/teaching-letter-recognition-what-order-to-introduce-letters/ 120hour unit 14 and unit 3 of International TEFL and TESOL Training, 2011 https://www.eslkidstuff.com/blog/flashcards/top-10-flashcard-exciting-games-activities
