So Many Task Cards, So Many Uses

No comments Student Engagement, Task Cards, Teaching Ideas

Do you use task cards? I love these handy little teaching tools because they are so versatile.

Here are seven different ways that I use task cards in my classroom.

Use them as a fast finisher activity.
I always have several activities available for my students to use when they finish an assignment early. I typically rotate these activities, and several times a year, task cards make an appearance. I simply place the cards into a gallon size zip top bag with a stack of recording sheets. You can also put your task cards on a ring before placing them in the bag.

Use them in your small groups.
When working with my small group of math students, I use the task cards during our time together. I can place a ring of cards in the center of the group and everyone can respond on their own recording page. It's a quick and easy way to see how they are doing with the skill.

Use them as a cooperative learning tool.
Pair students up and let them share the stack of task cards. They can help one another solve the problem/answer the question on the cards, or they can solve the problems independently and discuss how they arrived at their answers.

OR

Use them to play Quiz-Quiz-Trade. Quiz-Quiz-Trade is a Kagan engagement strategy. Each student gets a task card. Student pair up and read/answer each others cards. Here's a breakdown:

Student A asks Student B to answer the question on his/her card.
Student B answers the question.
Student A lets Student B know how they did.
Student B asks Student A to answer the question on his/her card.
Student A answers, and Student B lets him/her know if they were correct or not.
The students trade cards and find someone else to read their new card to.
The process repeats until the teacher calls time.

At the end of this activity, I like to go over the cards as a whole group. YOu can read more about Quiz-Quiz-Trade HERE.

Use them as a center.
Once again, you can place the task cards on a ring and inside a zip top bag with a stack of recording sheets and students can use those materials during your centers time.

Use them as a whole group teaching tool.
I frequently use task cards as part of our math warm up. I project one card at a time via my classroom projector. The students use their personal whiteboard, or a piece of paper that they fold into fourths, to solve the problems on the cards. It's a great way to check for understanding on the spot, when you use the whiteboards.

Use them to play Scoot.
Scoot is a well loved game in my classroom. It has been for years! Simply place a task card at each desk and have your students scoot from desk to desk, on your cue, to respond to each task card. Don't forget to establish a path of rotation prior to scooting!

You can read more about Scoot HERE.

Use them to play a game of I Spy.
I Spy is another huge deal in my classroom. The kids looooove it! I Spy is also commonly called Around the Room. I place the task cards around the room, and the students go from card to card and respond to each one. It isn't necessary that they visit the cards in order, they just have to make sure that they visit all of the cards. As you can see, I place the cards on the floor. Sometimes, I just don't have it in me to tape the cards to the walls, cabinets, etc.

I like to use this activity as a follow up to our whole group instruction or to review a skill as needed. Sometimes I set out all of the cards and sometimes I set out half of them. It depends upon the time we have and the needs of my students at the time. I love that task cards are so versatile! (I may or may not have already mentioned that in this post). You can read more about I Spy HERE.

Well, there you have it, seven different ways that I use task cards in my classroom. Who knew that one little stack of cards could be so very, very useful?

7 MORE Ways to Use Task Cards
Check out this post for 7 MORE ways to use task cards. :)

Task Card Resources
Looking to add some task cards to your classroom? I have several sets of math related task cards in my TPT store. :)