Teacher and Student Use Ideas
Potential Teacher Uses
Potential Student Uses
- Though the Common Core Essential Standards generally push critical thinking, there are still times when students need to memorize facts. The Common Core Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies (Grades 6-12) call for a lot of vocabulary knowledge. Standard 4 states: "Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies." Nonfiction/ Social Studies teachers will greatly benefit from the pre-made flash card sets on a variety of subjects, including US History, World History, and Ancient Civilizations, all of which are important topics covered on the NC Final Exams.
- ELA teachers can certainly benefit from the vocabulary and spelling review it offers students. Common Core Essential Standards for Language and Vocabulary calls for students to "Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression" (standard L.6) as well as spell correctly (standard L.2b). Assigning flash card sets of vocabulary and spelling words to study would greatly benefit ELA/ Reading teachers.
- As a project, teachers could ask students to make their own flash card sets and include appropriate images. This would require the students to both reflect knowledge of the material learned as well as conduct research. For example, a Social Studies teacher could ask students to compose a 15-card flash card set at the end of a unit on World War II. Students would have to evaluate what they think are the most important terms, conduct research to create cards, and then study those cards for their unit test.
- Flash card review or the simple match game can be a great "Do Now" or Bellringer for students as a quick warm-up to start class. Or, the activities could also be used as a remediation tool for some students; a teacher could require a student who struggles with vocabulary to complete a certain number of reviews activity per day-- at lunch, at home, during a remediation block, etc.
- A teacher could conduct in-class competitions in which students compete against a partner on their tablet or phone for best time in the "Match" activity, or students could work in groups and work together to compete against other groups.
Potential Student Uses
- Students can use any kind of free time they have to study up on their vocabulary and spelling words or important historical concepts. As long as they have the flash card set, they can study on the bus, in the car, at home in their bed, at recess--anywhere. They do not have to wait for a teacher to begin an activity or to be online to study.
- Students can keep a tracker for themselves (student or teacher-created) to track their progress over time. They could fill in a table with they fill in their time in the match game, how many mastered, for each flash card set; this running record could go from flash card set to flash card set.
- Students can create flash card sets that aren't just definitions and terms. They could instead do a term and a sentence with a blank where the term would go; a term and just a picture; or even antonym flash card sets.