Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Teacher’s Guide
Suggested Activities
Flashcard games and activities are grouped into four categories:
• general activities and games that can be used in large or small classes
• more challenging activities and games
• activities and games that work best with small classes
• activities and games that help students learn to spell the vocabulary
These types of activities and games will help students use and recycle vocabulary, as well as learn new
vocabulary. They can be used to provide multiple exposures to target language, something that research
has shown to be a highly effective tool in teaching and learning English.
General Activities
1. Flashcards in a Bag tune to a popular song, slowly move the card up to
After pre-teaching a set of flashcards, shuffle the reveal part of it. Once students have said what is on
cards and then put them in a large bag. students the card, show them the entire card and then say the
take turns pulling out a card and saying what is word or phrase together.
on it.
5. Take Turns Drilling
2. Circle Drilling Put a group of flashcards in a pile at the end of a
students stand in a circle. Name each flashcard as table. Ask one student to stand by the pile while
you walk around the circle, handing one card to others line up on the other side of the table. The first
each student. Each student then holds up a card student holds up a card and names it or asks What
and names it then other students repeat. Once all is it? or What are they? The other students take
students have had a turn, tell them to do this once turns answering. Repeat until all students have had
again, this time more quickly! a turn.
4. Peek-a-Boo! 7. Charades
Pre-teach ten or more flashcards. students close This game can be used for flashcards with a verb
their eyes as you choose a card and put it behind a or verb phrase on them. As you pre-teach the
book or other classroom object. While humming the flashcards, act out the verb. For example, if the
Challenge Activities
12. Two Flashcards: Make a Sentence word, ask the next student to try. Once a student
Choose two categories of flashcards. Ask students names all of the flashcards in the circle, they stand
to choose two cards, hold them together in the up, still holding up the card. Continue until all
correct order and say a sentence. Examples: 1. noun students are standing.
+ colour: A frog is green. 2. Food + sense of taste:
16. Humorous Questions
Crisps are salty. 3. animal + body part: A crocodile
Choose two flashcards and ask a funny question. For
has got big teeth.
example, hold up a zebra card and a bedroom card
13. Two Clues and ask Is there a zebra in the bedroom? Or hold
Choose a set of flashcards and spread them out, up a mango card and a skipping rope card and ask
face up, on a table. Say two things about one of the Can a mango skip?
cards. For example, for cards about animals, say
17. Preposition Commands
It’s grey. It’s got a long trunk. students guess.
Pre-teach the preposition flashcards, and then place
(Is it an elephant?)
several noun flashcards on a table. Ask students to use
14. Where? Over There! prepositions to direct one another as they place the
Pre-teach the flashcards as you place them around noun cards in different places around the classroom.
the room, propped up so students can see them For example, students say The mountain is under the
from their desks. Ask Where’s the ? Ask a chair, or The giraffe is in front of the door.
student to point to the card and say (It’s) over there!
18. Binoculars
The teacher can ask different students about cards,
Pre-teach a set of flashcards as you place them
or students can ask one another.
around the classroom. students stand in a line
15. Challenge Circle Drilling behind you. Ask them to hold their hands to their
students stand in a circle. Pre-teach the flashcards eyes as if they were holding binoculars. Walk around
as you hand them out. Ask students to sit down and the classroom and say Stop! What can you see?
hold up one card each, face out. Choose a student to students look through their imaginary binoculars at
name all of the flashcards in the circle. If the student a flashcard and say, I can see . Repeat this
makes a mistake, or has trouble remembering the until you have gone around the class a few times.
Spelling Activities
25. Spelling Clues rub out one slice of the pizza. Students get a point
Set out six to ten flashcards. Slowly start writing when they spell the word before all the pizza slices
one of the vocabulary words on the board, pausing are ‘eaten’. If they only name all the letters in the
after you write each letter. Students say the word, word when there is no more pizza left, they lose one
once they realise what it is. To vary this game, ask point. Keep a record of the points on the board. This
students to come up, take over the teacher’s role and game can be played as a whole class, or in groups
write words. where the teams compete for points. Alternatively,
students can take the role of the teacher and listen
26. Pizza Spelling Game
out for the letters.
Draw a circle on the board and divide it into four
equal parts. This is a pizza with four slices. Choose Vary this game by adding ingredients to the pizza.
one flashcard and hold it up to the class. On the When students spell out a word, they can choose
board, write blank spaces for each letter of that something to go on their pizza. If they do not
vocabulary word. Students take turns guessing spell the word after four tries, they get a topping
letters to spell the word. Write the letters in the rubbed out from the pizza. If the game is played in
correct spaces to spell the word as students say teams, the team with the pizza that has the most
them. If they say a letter that is not in that word, ingredients at the end of the game wins.
11
12
13
14
15