Flashcard Games

The following are a list of games you can use with flashcards (FC) to practice new vocabulary from the unit:

With the Teacher (T):

Flashcard Flip: T stands infront of the students. Flip the flashcard and have students guess the word . Make a show of it and add noises too (for younger kids ;). Give the FC to the student who guesses correctly. The S with the most FC at the end wins.

Slow Reveal: T stands in front of the classroom with the pile of FC. Cover up the picture of the FC with another FC. Slowly reveal the picture from this FC and have students guess what it is. Give the FC to the student who guesses correctly. The S with the most FC at the end wins.

“Close your eyes”/Take Away 1: With FC on board or on floor in front of children, the children cover their eyes and guess the missing FC. Variation: Rub Out: A group of words are written on the board and the students are given a minute to look at them. They must then turn away and close their eyes while the teacher rubs out one of the words. The students must then turn back to face the whiteboard and say which word has been erased.

Games with Whole Class:

Tornado: Supplies needed: flashcards (pictures or questions on one side, numbers on the other), 'Tornado Cards' (flashcards with numbers on one side and a tornado picture on the other). Stick the numbered cards on the board with either pictures or questions on the back (depending on the age group) facing the board. Also include 6 Tornado cards and mix them in with the picture cards. Students then choose a number card. If they answer the question correctly then their team can draw a line to draw a house. If they choose a tornado card they blow down their opposing teams part drawing of a house. The first team to draw a house wins.

Flashcard Memory/Word Pelmanism: After the students are familiar with the vocabulary, this is a good review game. With FC pairs on the floor facing down, students take turns flipping 2 cards over calling out what they are. If the cards match, the student keeps them; if they do not, the student replaces them face down. OR: for younger learners: Teacher puts all flashcards (about 6 FC) face down in the center of the room. Have students remember where they are, and the teacher can move them around a little to trick the students. Point to the FC and have the students guess the vocab word. Give the winner the FC, and the student with the most FC at the end wins the game.

OR: for older learners: Rather than having to turn over two identical cards the students can be challenged to turn over two half sentences that match.

Slap: A very simple game for learning vocab from FC. Run through the cards quickly then spread them out on the table. Call out the word and the students race to slap the card. The winner takes the card. With young children, get them to put their hands on their heads before each round to avoid cheating. Penalties such as putting an already won card back on the table for slapping the wrong can also be added.

Target Game: Draw 4 concentric circles on the whiteboard, like a target. The one in the middle is worth 100 points and the others go down in value to the outermost circle. Dive it into four quarters and attach a flashcard outside of each one. Teams take turns throwing the sticky ball or shooting the gun and makes a sentence with the target language wherever it lands. They earn however many points for their team depending on how close they landed to the centrer

Line True or False (Pogo Jump): Put a line of tape on the floor and designate one side “True” and the other “False.” Hold up an object or FC and say it's word. If Ss think you have said the correct word they jump on the True side, if not they jump on the False side. Incorrect Ss sit out until the next game.

What's the Word? Place students in 2 teams. 2 students at a time stand in the front of the classroom with their backs together holding a FC facing out. The 2 students count to 3 and jump around at the same time revealing the FC in their hands to each other. The first student who guesses the opposing students FC wins a point for their team.

Bomb: On board, draw 2 bombs; an A bomb (a bomb with the letter A in it), a regular bomb, and a rocket. Place the other FC around these bombs. This is a good game to drill all of the new vocab. When the teacher hits the FC (with a fly swat or hand) the students say the word.

• Rocket = Students jump
• Bomb = students fall to the floor
• A Bomb = students say the phonic value for A “Aaahhh” and act like lil' maniacs

*There are different variations to this game; you can also make a bomb FC and while drilling the vocabulary the students have to fall to the ground when the bomb is revealed.

Give me: A simple listening game with the FC spread all over the floor of the classroom. Teacher gives directive “Give me an apple.” Student finds the FC with an apple on it and hands it to the teacher, “here you are.”

Heidi's Game (rock, paper, scissors): Put class into 2 teams. A group of words or flashcards are placed horizontally across the board and a magnetic counter is placed at each end.

(counter) red yellow blue black orange (counter)

One team stands on the right side, and the other on the left. The front member of each team is asked in turns what the next word is (ex; orange for the team on the right and red for the team on the left. If the answer is correct the teams counter is placed above the relevant word. The front member then moves to the back of the line and the process is repeated. Eventually the 2 counters will be above the adjacent words:

(counter) (counter)

red yellow blue black orange

Both teams now play 'paper, scissors, stones' to decide the winning team. The losing team's counter then returns to the beginning and the game resumes. The winning team is the team to successfully get their counter to the opposition's first word.

Flashcard pass (over/ under): Have students stand in two lines. Give the student in the front of each line a FC. The two teams race to get the FC from front to back alternating from passing it over (the head) or under (in between their legs) while saying the word at the same time.

Hot/Cold: One student leaves the room and one student hides the flashcard somewhere in the classroom. The rest of the class helps the student find the flashcard but instead of saying Hot/Cold, say the vocabulary word. The closer (hot) they are to that FC, the louder the students say the word. The further away (cold) they are the quieter they are.