- – Task cards present material in small chunks which increases student confidence and engagement
- – They work for individual, pair, and group tasks
- – You can target specific skills and make activities longer or shorter
- – They are very versatile and can be used for speaking, listening, reading and writing
- tasks
- – If students don’t like a prompt or question, they can just grab a different card
- – They lend themselves well to tactile or kinesthetic learning strategies
- – They are easy to differentiate
4 Ways to Use Task Cards
1. Bell-Ringer or Warm-Up
- – Pair students up and hand out one stack of task cards per pair. Set a timer and give them one minute to discuss the prompt and/or image on the card before choosing a new one. Tie the task cards to the theme of the day to get them warmed up and activate prior knowledge.
- – Display one task card on the projector as students walk into class. Have them casually chat with a partner or small group about the prompt.
2. Writing Tasks
- – Make the writing prompts into a larger writing task.
- – Have them write a paragraph or two about a card/prompt of their choice.
- – Have them write 1-2 questions about a task card.
3. Speaking Tasks
- – Give pairs or groups of students a stack of task cards and have them discuss the prompts or images. Then have them join another pair/group and compare their answers.
- – Let students choose a prompt from a card and prepare a presentation.
4. Round Robin
- – Place 5-6 task cards in different stations around the room. Have students do a ’round robin’ and walk around in pairs discussing each card and writing sentences on a sheet of paper. Time them and tell them when it is time to move to the next station. Come together as a group and share a few answers.
- – Tape or place 5-6 cards onto boards or posters around the room with plenty of writing space. Have groups or pairs of students walk around and write one sentence answering the prompt. Move to the next one and repeat.
Click the image below to check out this bundle of ESL task cards from my store:
