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Possible flashcard games: Short games For introducing vocabulary: • Show 8 flashcards in a row • Point to the first and say it together • Point to the second and say it together • Repeat • Point to the first and the learners say it unaided and you repeat • Point to the second and the learner says it unaided and you repeat • Move onto the third. Keep repeating and then expecting the learners to repeat until the learner can say the 8 cards in and out of order. Variations • Turn over the flashcards as you go • The learner points at the card instead of the teacher • The learners teach each other • Each learner has their own copy which they point to • Make up a gesture to go with each flashcard so each word can be mimed and guessed I know, I don’t know • Make two piles for a set of 12 flashcards 1. I know these 2. I don’t know these • The teacher turns them over one at a time stating the flashcard • If the learner doesn’t know the flashcard they place it in the corresponding pile 2 • If the learner does know the flashcard they place it in the pile 1. I know these • Once they have been through the set, learners can do this again with only the cards they

didn’t know • They can do this until they have no cards left because they have learnt them all!

Variation

• Take more than 12 flashcards • Time the learner to see how long it takes them to learn two sets of 12 • Always take the same number of cards to learn and have a goal to always learn them in

under a specified time. • Revisit the sets for everyday for 3 days then every week for 4 weeks then every month.

Matching

• Match English or mother tongue text to pictures • Match mother tongue to English text

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Longer games

Can I have... Shuffle and give out 3 sets of the flashcards. Each learner has an equal number of cards in their hands which they keep secret from the other players. Player A asks for a card in one of the other players hands by saying “Can I have your tomatoes please?” This practices ‘Can I’ and ‘food’ or whatever language structure or vocabulary they are practicing (player A must have the card they are asking for in their hand already). The selected player B answers “yes, you can”, and gives player A the card and then player A has another go or “no, you can’t” and then the next player in the group has a go. The winner is the first to complete all their sets of cards or the player with the most sets.

See a Match (snap) Copy four sets of the same flashcards. Shuffle them and deal out an equal number to each learner face down. Each learner takes turns to turn over a card and puts that card down on top of a pile face up in the middle of the table and says the name of the flashcard. If they put their card on one that is the same they win the pile. The game continues until all the cards have been won.

Flashcard Bingo Give each learner a copy of the flashcards (pictures or words or both) with some missing. There should be different ones missing on each card. Read out the flashcards and the students have to cross it off their card. The bingo winner is the one who crosses them out first.

Ladder game Make a board game of a ladder with 30 rungs. Number each rung. Every other rung has a question mark next to it. Learners roll the die and move their counter up the ladder. If they land on a question mark they must turn over the flashcard and name it in order to have another go. The winner is the first to reach the top of the ladder.