Flashcards are a great tool for memorizing just about anything and they are simple to create.

Just write a term on one side of an index card and the term's definition on the other side. Once you have a stack of them, you can quiz yourself to see which ones you know, putting the ones you knew in one pile and the ones you didn't in another pile. Even if you didn't know any of the terms before you started making the cards, you'll find that through the process of creating the cards you actually learned several of them. However, if you just stop studying as soon as you can recall all the term's definitions you'll find that after a few days of not reviewing the cards that you will have forgotten several of them. The key to really learning the information on all of your cards is to repeat the process after you've allowed some time to elapse. If the process of reviewing the flashcards is too boring or you are not motivated enough to study, you may find that making flashcards does not work for you. StudyStack has computerized the idea of flashcards and has tried to make the process of reviewing the information more exciting. The StudyStack site generates several different activities for every set of flashcards. By giving students several options for reviewing the information, students will hopefully review the information more. Another benefit is that by reviewing the data in several different formats, you'll end up memorizing the information better as your brain makes several different connections with the data. StudyStack will continue to create new activities using your flashcard data. If you have any suggestions, please fill out the comment form or send an email to suggestions@studystack.com.

Using Flashcards and Teaching English Document Transcript (http://www.slideshare.net/ddeubel/usingflashcards-and-teaching-english)

1. By David Deubelbeiss 2. About the Author David Deubelbeiss is a TESOL professor and teacher trainer presently living in North Bay, Ontario. He has traveled and taught around the world. A working mans teacher, he enjoys red wine, good food, good conversation and just being here. Find out more about him through his google profile.About this bookFlashcards bring language learning to life. They really do.How? Well, they take the constructivist principle that we learn by doing and put it intoaction. Students learn cooperatively and by bringing the classroom down to a smalldelivery level students learn much more effectively.The barriers to effective learning are many. But the greatest barrier is a student that justsits and listens. Language as a skill requires doing. Flashcards by their verymanipulative nature, make this happen.Find in these card sets, a lot of ground work on my part. Hopefully it will pay off in yourclassroom. Click on a set and print them out. Get the students cutting and playing manyof the activities Ive listed. Or, just let them decide how to use the cards. Let them teachthemselves. Your faith in your students abilities will pay off. In both their learning andyour own development as a student centered teacher.All these sets (and more on EFL Classroom 2.0), have

Quizlet games that students mayaccess freely and play. The online games (under each sets page) should be part of yourcurriculum and will really fortify the learning of the language.The purchase of this book helps support a new model of textbook delivery teachershelping teachers. It is supported by a large professional development community and anauthor that will respond to your needs. Your purchase supports all the activities tosupport practicing teachers through EFL Classsroom 2.0.Thanks in advance, enjoy the book. Any feedback and comments much appreciated.David Deubelbeiss 2011 by Im Press 3. Table of Contents Flashcards built on Quizlet1 Numbers 19 Animals Wild / In a Zoo2 Ordinal Numbers 20 Sports ( I can .)3 The Alphabet 21 Lets 4 School Words 22 The Seven Continents5 School Subjects Basic Vocab 23 Jobs / Careers6 What are they doing? 1 / 2 24 Places The Planets7 Essential Words 25 The Apartment | The Kitchen8 Food and Drink | All Kinds 26 Meal Time Modern Things9 Fruit and Vegetables 27 Emotions / Emoticons10 Meat and Dairy Products 28 The Beach / On Holiday11 Fast Food Snacking 29 The Horoscope12 Mr. Xs Amazing Day 30 Fantasy Characters13 Basic Personal Questions 31 Text Messaging14 The Weather 32 Traffic Signs15 Clothes 33 Superheroes16 Telling the Time 34 Transportation17 The Simpsons Family 35 Past Tense Verbs Irregular18 Sickness 36 Hotel Complaints 4. USING FLASHCARDS TO TEACH LANGUAGESWHY?: Games are fun and motivational. They increase student talk time (production). Visuals add context to the language learning. They are quick and easy to use. They allow for repetition and proper scaffolding of the learning.WHERE? Flashcards are now freely available all over the internet. Just download and print. (see the sites Ive listed below or visit EFL Classrooms sharing area). Vocabulary power points can easily be printed [File Print Preview x slides/page Print] and cut up by students for use. If you have the time, print an empty BINGO card and have the students draw/label their own cards! You can also just photocopy from books then cut these pictures up.WHICH? Use flashcards in the L2! Either without a label or with a label on the back. If you print and they dont have labels get your students to label them!WHEN? Anytime! They can be used to assess student ability/knowledge. As a review or formative tool. As an study part of the lesson to practice language in a controlled fashion. Or just as a fun, activating part of a lesson. 5. TIPS? ** Laminate your good card sets. ** Keep in labeled envelops or zip lock bags. ** Set up your classroom so it is easy for students to be grouped or spread out. ** Have a strict set of signs and signals to manage students. ** Model the game in front of the whole class with a few students. Go slow! ** Get students to invent their own games!HOW? There are literally a zillion ways to use flashcards to teach. Here are a few of them lumped into some main categories.1. MEMORYThis is probably the most simple and repetitive type of game. There are many variationsbut they are of two sorts.a) Recall. One student shows the student(s) a flashcard and the others try to make asentence or simply state the name of the card. The student teacher checks on the backlabel and if correct puts in a correct pile. If incorrect, it is set aside for review later.b) Memory Story. One student picks up a card and makes a statement using some targetlanguage. For example. Yesterday I went shopping and bought .. The next studentturns up a card and continues. Yesterday I went shopping and bought a and a c) Concentration. There are two sets of flashcards. Either picture/picture or picture /word. Students attempt to turn over and match from both sets. If they do so, they maycontinue. The student with

the most pairs at the end, wins. Heres an online example.http://tiny.cc/MZwhYd) Snap. The cards are face up on the table. The teacher says a sentence and the firststudent to snap or slap the right card gets to keep it. The most cards at the end, wins. Youcan play this full class by putting large flashcards on the board and having students run upto the blackboard and slap the correct flashcard. 6. 2. GRAMMARThese games use some target language which the teacher models and puts in the board.Students play the game using the flashcards and the designated language structure. Manytimes, the language can be a closed question / answer (ex. Did you .. last night? Yes, Idid / No, I didnt)Some example grammar structures:Do you like / Do you usually .. / Do you have .Did you yesterday? Have you ever ? Will you tomorrow?a) Go Fish. Use two sets. Students in groups of 3 or 4 ask each other questions using thetarget language. If the student asked has that card, they must give it and that studentcollects a pair. They may continue until they dont collect. If a student runs out of cards,they pick up some more cards to continue. Most pairs at the end wins.b) Survey. Give each student a card. They survey others around the class using theirvocabulary flashcard. Ex. Have you ever..? Report back to the group or the class usingthe structure AllMostSome of us FewNonec) Conversation prompt. There is one pile of cards in the middle. One student turns overa card and using the flashcard as a prompt asks another student a question. That studentresponds with one sentence. The other students in the group must ask one follow upquestion each.Some example prompts:When did you last ? / Have you ever .? / Do you prefer . Or ..........?If someone ......... , what would you do? / What do you think about ?d) Find your match! Copy some flashcards in different numbers. 6 of one, 5 of one, 4of one 3 of one etc Give one card to each student. Using the target language on theboard, the students must go around the classroom and find other students with a similarcard. If they find a match, they link arms and continue trying to find others with a similarcard. (Ex. I love . What about you? Oh, I love . Bye. ) Alternatively 7. students can choose their own response from the items brainstormed on the blackboard.Have them use a post it to create their own flashcard!e) The You Can Game. A person in a group turns over a flashcard. They must make astatement/sentence using can. Ex. You can .. or An / A . can.. Continuearound the group awarding a point for each statement.f) Guessing Game. Create some sets of flashcards with common people / places /things. One learner picks up a flashcard and describes it usingIt is a thing that .It is a place where .It is a person who .The first student to correctly guess it, wins the card. Most cards when time is up, wins.3. CLASSROOM ACTION GAMESThese games use flashcards to get students moving around the classroom and competing.a) Charades. Bring a student to the front of the class. Show them a flashcard. They mustact out the object / action. The other students guess or a team guesses as many as possiblein one minute. The next team tries to beat them. Make sure they use full sentences! (ex. Heis an elephant!) . After a whole class demonstration, get students doing this in small groups.b) Pictionary. Same as charades only this time instead of acting out the flashcard, theymust draw it. You can also have multiple teams drawing on the board first team to guessthe correct word wins.c) Telephone Whisper. Put your students in rows. Show the last person in the row aflashcard. They must make a sentence with an adjective (ex. It is a huge elephant) andwhisper it to the next person. Continue until it gets to the front of the class. That studentwrites the phrase on the board. If it is a

the same as the flashcard a point is awarded.4. OPEN ENDED GAMESThese games are for higher level students and give them an opportunity to use language ina meaningful and fuller manner.a) Story Dominoes. One stack of cards in the middle. A student picks up a card andstarts a story, stating one sentence. The next student picks up a card and continues the 8. story. And so on until the last card when the story concludes. Start again and see if thegroup can recall and repeat the story!b) Liar, Liar pants on Fire! Each student in the group gets 3 flashcards. They mustmake a statement about each flashcard and their life. One must be a lie. The other studentsguess which one is the lie. Ex. (for animals): I like crocodiles. / I have seen a giraffein real life. / I have kissed a dog . Which is the lie?c) Making Connections. Use two sets of assorted flashcards. Spread them out into twogroups. Students must make a sentence using a flashcard from both sides. Ex. An elephant(a) doesnt like to swim(b). Continue until all cards are matched.d) Not like the others. Use a set of assorted flashcards. Students turn over 4 cards andput them face up in the middle. Students must make statements why one is different fromthe others using the phrase, A/An . is not like the others because .. A pointawarded for all logical answers. When students run out of statements, start with a new setof four flashcards.e) Discussions Students turn over a card and state their opinion about the topic of thecard. Go around the group with each student stating their opinion. Discuss.WEB BASED FLASHCARD RESOURCESEFLClassroom 2.0 Diigo http://quizlet.com/user/eflclassroom/EFL Classroom 2.0: http://eflclassroom.ning.com/resourcesESLJunction http://www.esljunction.com/esl-eflflashcards/ESL Flashcards http://www.eslflashcards.com/MES English http://www.mesenglish.com/flashcards.php

Flash card teaching strategies are popular with teachers because of their effectiveness. Parents also appreciate the flash card because it is an easy teaching strategy for home. There are several ways to use flashcards for teaching. This flashcard teaching strategy, the Constant Time Delay (CTD) technique, is widely used by special and regular education teachers. The CTD strategy can be used easily with flash cards at home to teach any subject.

Flash cards with the question, problem, or sight word on the front side and the answer prompt on the back. Steps: 1. Sit comfortably facing your child. 2. Arrange the flash cards in the order you would like to present them. 3. Starting with the first flash card, hold it up so your child can clearly see the front. Keep the back of the flash card toward you so your child cannot see it. 4. If appropriate, read the flash card front to your child. For example, you may read a math problem or a question from the flash card front. Wait three full seconds. You do not need a timer to use flash cards. You can count three seconds silently by saying, one thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three at a normal speaking

pace. This will allow your child about three seconds to consider the question on the flash card and think about his answers. 5. If your child gives a correct answer, place the correctly answered flash card in a pile on your left. 6. If your child gives an incorrect response or no response, tell him the correct answer, and place these flash cards in a pile on your right side. 7. After you have finished showing your child all of the flash cards, you may continue your flash card teaching session by using the stack of incorrectly answered cards. Continue in the same manner, placing correctly answered flash cards on the left and incorrectly answered flash cards on the right. 8. Once your child has mastered the full set of flash cards, practice them periodically to ensure your child remembers them. Flash Card Tips: At the end of a long day of school, even the most motivated students may have difficulty paying attention in a flash card session. Try these motivators to help:

Keep the flash card session game-like and fun. Take activity breaks from your flash card session as your child needs them. Revive energy for study with a healthy snack. Reward your child with a favorite physical activity. Some of the best motivators are free like hugs and cheers for a job well done.

Ten Reasons to Try Flash Cards

By Terri Mauro, About.com Guide Pity the humble flash card. It gets no respect. Kids want to use fancy computer programs. Teachers want to use cutting-edge strategies and technology. Parents want to believe there's something better than what they used when they were in school. But for repetition, reinforcement, and total recall, nothing beats those two-sided slips of paper. Not convinced? Consider these Top 10 Reasons to Try Flash Cards.

1. They give lots of bang for the buck.

Dollar for dollar and penny for penny, flash cards are an unbeatable educational value. The preprinted kind you can pick up practically anywhere are economical enough, but writing your own on index cards works just as well. If you're really cheap, tear the index cards in half and make twice as many, or print a batch on a piece of paper and cut them into little rectangles.

2. They're customizable.

If you're making your own flash cards, you can tailor them to exactly what your child is learning at any particular time. Turn the vocabulary lists in your child's textbook into flash cards, or use only the math concepts or numbers your child struggles with. Then save used cards for review at midterm and final exam time.

3. They're personalizable.
Every kid has strategies that work better for them than others. Your child may respond to rhythms, or acronyms, or rhyming clues, or clues that use visual cues. Tailor his or her flash cards to the strategies that will do the most to increase recall on tests or in the classroom.

4. They're portable.
No need to be tied to computers or books to use these study tools. Toss a set in your purse, pocket or glove compartment, and use them for quick drills while killing time in restaurants, movie theaters, drive-through lines and doctors' waiting rooms.

5. They reinforce writing skills, too.

That is, if you make your child craft his or her own flash cards. Writing on those small cards will give good penmanship practice, and writing words also helps kids memorize them.

6. They make their own routine.

Set some time aside every night as flash-card time. Maybe seven minutes at the dinner table when eating's over, or whenever your child is most likely to be stationary and alert. Mark down how many cards were done in that time each session, and challenge your child to do a little bit more the next time.

7. They're fun.
Disguise work time as play time by making up flash-card games. If you have two kids, have flash card competitions -- either using the same set of cards, or with each child using their own. It can be a simple point-and-answer contest, or you can blow it up into a Jeopardy-style gameshow guess-off.

8. They make you a good teacher.

It's hard sometimes to know how to help our children with homework -- or to help without helping too much. Flash cards are perfect for parent involvement. You have a clear role, in holding the cards and confirming the answers, and can run with it by being animated in your clue delivery, enthusiastic in celebrating answers, and conscientious in scheduling card-time.
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9. They help you learn with your child.

If your child has advanced to that level of learning at which you no longer quite understand what the heck he or she is doing, ask a teacher, aide, or inclusion teacher to provide the flash cards, or at least a fact sheet you can use to make them. In writing and quizzing, you too shall learn -- in a way you'd never do if you just parked your kid in front of a computer.

10. They work.

Whether your child's a memory whiz or requires constant, constant, constant repetition and reinforcement, flash cards will increase comfort and familiarity with the material and make it much more likely that your child will recognize it when it appears in homework, classwork and tests. Sometimes, low-tech rules.