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Index
Cards: A Natural Resource for Teachers
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In an effort to supplement lesson plans in the
ESL classroom, teachers often turn to games. The justification for using games in the
classroom has been well demonstrated as benefiting students in a variety of ways. These
benefits range from cognitive aspects of language learning to more cooperative group
dynamics.
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Choosing the correct game for a class is not as
simple as it seems. Care should be given to the selection so that the success of a game is
inevitable. Teachers should consider the following factors while planning the use of a
game: classroom space; noise; materials necessary for the game; the amount of time needed
for the game; and the level, culture, interests, and age of the students. Does the game
relate to a structure, topic, or function that is being used in your class? Choose a game
that complements whatever you are doing in class.
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Developing games for the classroom is often too
costly for the teacher in terms of time and money to make the effort worthwhile. Typing
handouts and making copies for the class becomes draining physically and financially
whether the teacher is working with institutional or personal funds. However, index cards
provide an inexpensive and easy source of possible activities for language learning. Index
cards have several favorable aspects. Aside from being relatively inexpensive, they are
also easily available anywhere in the world. Teachers in both small rural communities as
well as in major cities have access to them. These cards are easily organized and stored
in any type of small box. Special index card files make organization quick and handy, but
often an old shoe box works just as well. Once cards are stored, they are also easily
portable from classroom to classroom or country to country. These cards become part of a
teacher's permanent collection of resources. With a little care, index cards are also
reusable once an activity has been developed. In addition, these cards are often adaptable
to other levels, so that one set of cards may provide two or three different activities.
Index cards also provide a dynamic resource for lessons, giving students a welcome break
from textbooks, work sheets, and other standard classroom fare. These activities can be
utilized as part of the lesson, fulfilling an objective instead of an activity that merely
fills a period of time.
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The variety of games and activities for which
index cards may be employed is limitless. The few examples explained here should be
considered only as a starting point. With some imagination and experience, countless other
activities will no doubt come to mind.
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The easiest place to begin is with single words
on each index card. For these activities, "card conservation" is easily
accomplished by cutting the cards in half since the space needed to write the word on the
card does not need to be large. The words used on the cards should come from students'
basic vocabulary or vocabulary introduced in the class. Students may either work as a
class to review definitions with the teacher, or quiz each other in pairs or groups using
the cards. A variation of this type of activity also involves taping the cards to the
blackboard and having the students work in teams. Each team takes a turn choosing a card
from the board and giving a definition or a sentence using the word. Giving points for
correct definitions can turn this simple activity into a game in which two teams compete
against each other. This activity can be used from a beginning level all the way up to a
TOEFL preparation class.
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Word cards are also useful for pronunciation
practice. A dynamic variation of choral pronunciation practice would be to have a
pronunciation relay race. With the class divided into two teams, one person from each team
goes to the blackboard. Another person from each team then chooses the top card from a
pile of cards designed for each team. The student with the card reads the word on the
card, and then the student at the blackboard writes the word that he or she hears. The
student with the card may repeat the word several times until the word written on the
board is correct. Both teams are reading the cards (different cards for each team) and
writing at the same time. Once the word on the board is correct, the reading and writing
rotates to the other members of the teams. The first team to write all of their words on
the board correctly wins. Instead of words, dictated sentences can provide a variation of
this activity.
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Cards with sentences written on them may also be
used for a variety of activities. The following activities all use only one sentence per
card.
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Students can arrange these cards with sentences
in the proper order to form a dialog. The benefit for students here is that they can
physically move one sentence with respect to the others until they reach a logical
sequence of sentences for the dialog. This same idea may be extended to sequencing tasks
from any kind of narrative paragraph. Lyrics from a narrative song used in this way may
serve as a listening follow- up activity for students in order to check their answers.
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Sentences on cards may also be used as prompts
for students to develop dialogs or for free conversation. A sentence describing a
particular communicative function (i.e., suggesting a place to eat, giving a friend
advice, etc.) can serve as the structure for students to write dialogs in pairs for
role-playing. Or students might be asked to explain embarrassing situations described on
cards: "You are seen coming out of a bar at 1 a.m. without your shirt on." The
student must then explain how s/he came to be in this situation. Students can even write
their own embarrassing situations, and the other students can decide if the explanation is
sufficient or believable.
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Many teachers use picture files for all kinds of
activities. By converting the smaller pictures in these files into index cards (by gluing
the picture onto the index card, for example), teachers will find that both filing and
storing these pictures becomes easier. These pictures are also extremely adaptable to
different levels and activities.
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Put an interesting face or person on an index
card, and the possibilities for discussion are amazing. Describing the person for a
partner gives students a chance to use a wider range of vocabulary if people from many
cultures and lifestyles are shown on the cards. For a lesson on adjectives, students can
describe the person's appearance. For a lesson on clothing, students can describe the
things the people are wearing. Students may also role-play with partners practicing
introductions or creating dialogs playing the part of the person shown on the card. If the
people on the cards are not famous, students may also create their own personalities for
the people. Obviously this type of activity also lends itself well to writing tasks in
describing or telling stories about the people in the pictures.
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The examples described above merely scratch the
surface of the activities possible with the use of index cards. Sharing your ideas with
colleagues will expand the use of these index cards. Teachers are encouraged to use their
imaginations and tap into this often neglected resource of classroom material.
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General
Benefits of Games |
Affective:
> lowers affective filter
> encourages creative and spontaneous use of language
> promotes communicative competence
> motivates
> fun |
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Cognitive:
> reinforces
> reviews and extends
> focuses on grammar communicatively |
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Class Dynamics:
> student centered
> teacher acts only as facilitator
> builds class cohesion
> fosters whole class participation
> promotes healthy competition |
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Adaptability:
> easily adjusted for age, level, and interests
> utilizes all four skills
> requires minimum preparation after development |
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M.
Martha Lengeling is a teacher trainer at the University of Guanajuato, and has
taught EFL for more than 16 years in Mexico and the United States.
Casey Malarcher is completing a two-year teaching contract
in Seoul, Korea. He is planning to return to the U.S. to continue his studies in TESOL. |
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