WAYS TO USE

FLASHCARDS

CREATE – USE – MAINTAIN

THEORETICAL BASIS

Lim Siew Lian – KDU University College

Teacher As Student – My Story

Korean Hangeul – hand-written cards Chinese– on-line (Quizlet; StudyBlue;

FlashCardMachine) Arabic – Smartphone app

Using Flashcards ( FC)

Self-study With Partner Group Work

Introduction Revision Evaluation

Individual or Group? Stage of Learning?

1. “Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning..” John Dunlosky, et.al.

2. Spaced Learning –Ebbinghaus, Wozniak

3. Brain Rules – John Medina

Theoretical Bases

Rereading Test Practices Summarization of Texts Underlining & Highlighting

Rank these for effectiveness:

NOT class tests !!! INSTEAD, have low or no-stakes PT

Continue PT till items are answered correctly more than once within and across practice sessions

Dosage - More is better Timing – PT is better when spaced out;

longer intervals between sessions

Theoretical Basis 1 – “Effective Learning Techniques” by J. Dunlosky et.al., 2013

Practice Testing : v effective

The Leitner System http://flashcarddb.com/leitner

20da

Theoretical Basis 2 – H. Ebbinghaus What does this graph imply about learning?

1. The Leitner System - Phonemic Symbols2. Concentration or Memory Game - Minimal Pairs e.g. Long vs short vowels3. Classify It - Inflectional Word Endings –s or –es & -ed

A. Pronunciation

A1. The Leitner System / Self-Study- Recognising Phonemes

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/activities/phonemic-chart

A2. Concentration or Memory Game - Minimal Pairs in pair / group work

Short : Long vowel sounds

Cup: Carp Ship: Sheep Pull: Pool Bad: Bard Wed: Word

Mix cards printed on one side only.

Ss take turns to reveal two cards.

If a contrasting pair matches & if S can pronounce both correctly, S keeps the cards

Winner has most cards.

A3a. Sort It Out / Classify It- Inflectional Endings for Regular Verbs with the past tense / – ed /

/ t / / d / / id / like play want

watch try hate

look show need

dance cry visit

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/activities/pronunciation-past-simple-verbs

A3b. Sort It Out OR Classify It- Inflectional Endings for nouns /s/, /-es /

/ s / / z / / iz / students meals watches

books computers fishes

cups songs dances

cakes phones judges

4. Twenty Questions – Word Sets/ Closed Qs5. Two Truths, One Lie – Oral Fluency6. Taboo / Pyramid Game – Describing Words

B. Speaking Skills

B4. Twenty Questions - Asking Yes/ No questions to guess

Student draws a card

Group members take turns to ask 20 yes/ no questions

Card = Dentist S: “It’s a person/ job.” Q: Does he work

outdoors a lot? A: No. Q: Can anyone do

this job? A: No. Q: Is it a high-paying

job? A: Yes.

B5. Truths & Lie- pair / group work

S gets FC with 3 phrasal verbs.

S writes & reads out 3 sentences about themselves. Two are true; one is a lie.

Others guess which is the lie.

T checks grammar.

1. I can put on a Korean accent.

2. I’m lazy when it comes to putting away my things.

3. Last month I put in an application for a house loan.

B6. Pyramid Game - guess the word in the FC- group work

How To Play:1.Group picks one of 6 mystery packets. Only the MC & student

volunteer can see the words. MC will announce the clue to the group.

2.As MC reveals each of 6 words in packet to the volunteer, the latter gives verbal clues WITHOUT mentioning the key word. Group members guess the words for 6 cards.

3.If group fails to guess, volunteer can say “PASS” and the MC will reveal the next card.

4.To make it more challenging – set a time limit eg. 1 minute to guess all 6 words.

5.Points are scored for each word guessed correctly by the group.6.When all the words in one category are revealed, the next group

takes its turn to play.7.After the game, groups can work together to write synonyms /

definitions on the other side of the cards. These can be then vetted by the teacher before making copies for all students, if necessary.

7. Tag It - Question Tags 8. Shopping Role Play – much, many, etc. 9. Ping Pong – Use of Wh- questions

C. Grammar – Asking Questions

C7. Tag It - Question Tags

• Side A of flashcard - sentence• Side B of card – question tag

Examples:He likes football, doesn’t he?They’re from Brazil, aren’t they?You can ride a bike, can’t you?

C8. Shopping Role Play – much, many, some, a few, a lot of, etc.

C9. Ping Pong – Wh- questions

Group A draws card with picture of a cup.A. Which cup is yours?B. Who wants a cup of tea?A. Where did you buy the cups?B. When did you break the

cup?C. How many cups of coffee do you have

daily?D. How do you make a good cup of

coffee?

• Bonus mark to B if A can’t come up with another Wh- Q quickly / within 5-10 second count.

• No repetition of Wh- word allowed in each turn.

10. Spell It, Use It – Irregular verbs11. Charades – Past Simple & Past

Continuous tenses12. Tour Guide – Past, Present & Future

Forms

D. Grammar – Making Sentences

D10. Spell It, Use It – Irregular Verbs

S draws card from pile of irregular verbs.E.g. “eat” – S says/ writes: “He ate a big plate of pasta yesterday.”

For a more challenging task, each turn requires two sentences to contrast Past Simple & Present Simple.

D11. Charades – Past Simple & Past Continuous Form

•Student draws a card with TWO verbs from pile. • S acts out a scene based on verbs. Others write sentence to contrast Past Simple and Past Continuous Forms .

Example: “ cook” & “ring” OR “fry” & “ fly”.

“She was cooking dinner when the phone rang.” OR “ He was frying chicken when it suddenly flew away.”

D12 Fortune Teller - -ed & -ing adjectives

Students in pairs take turns to tell each other their fortunes based on cards they draw. Each card adjectives that end with –ed and –ing

Student A: fortune teller; Student B: customer who draws two cards at random from a pile. Example: interested / tiring.

A: “Someone you like is not interested in any relationships. However, you find eating alone on Saturday nights even more tiring and so you keep up the chase.”

13. Speed Rounds – Word Recognition14. Riddles - Describing Things15. Boardless Board Game -

Inflections of Words

E. Vocabulary Building

E13. Speed Up Synonyms - Vocabulary

• How many synonyms can Ss come up with for a flashcard word within 30 seconds?• Record progress.• Points for correct answers. •Put FCs with ‘problem‘ words in a separate pile for a second round.

E14. Riddles – Describing Things

• Ss get 2 or 3 concrete nouns and blank Stick-It notes. • They write descriptive sentences on Side A. •On Side B, they write the name of the object. • Put riddles on walls for Ss to solve & flip over for answers.

E15. Boardless Board Game - Word Inflections

START Word 1

Word 2

Miss A Turn

Word 5

Move Ahead

2 spaces

Word 4 Word 3

Word 6

Word 7

Word 8

END

Laminate most-frequently used FCs Recycle envelopes or ang-paos to hold sets of

FCs Keep sets in bigger envelope and label it. Store bigger envelopes in box, etc.

How To Maintain Hand-Made FCs

http://quizlet.com/18887658/greetings-flash-cards/http://quizlet.com/18766424/people-and-relationships-flash-cards/http://quizlet.com/18887946/same-sound-different-spelling-meaning-flash-cards/

Types of Flashcards

developPhonemic symbols for the

new word

Meaning / definition:1. ( from/ into) to (cause to)

grow, increase or become bigger

2. to study or think out more fully

3. to use resources to make money

4. to ( cause to) begin to be seen

Synonyms: grow Antonyms: retard, inhibit

Sample sentences Develop – verb

1. The seed has developed into a tall tree after many years. 2. I want to develop my ideas before I present them at the meeting.3. He wanted to develop the land and build a resort.

Development; developer – noun

4. The development of the country needs time.5. The developer has built a new condominium.Developed, developing, -

adjective6. Japan is a developed country in Asia.7. Is Malaysia still a developing country?

anger patience justice jealousy pride

determination

pride arrogance

humility kindness

consideration

luxury hesitation

tragedy weight

selflessness

conflict confidence

intelligence

choice

generosity affluence

calmness beauty history

enthusiasm

challenges

efficiency simplicity opportunity

courage hunger inspiration

exhaustion

disgust

loyalty laziness laughter distance fortune