When you’re a busy teacher, lessons and materials need to make your “teacher life” easier NOT harder! One ingenious way of doing this is by using Task Cards in your classroom! Task Cards may look cute, but don’t be fooled into thinking that they aren’t an excellent learning resource for your students! Not sure how to implement these fun-but-functional resources in your classroom? I’ve got you covered, friend! Here are 24 (oh, yes! I said 24!) life-changing ways you can utilize Task Cards any time you want!
1. Laminate To Write On
To keep your Task Cards durable and reusable, laminate them! They can be laminated on their own or glued to colored cardstock and then laminated, but don’t skip this step! Task cards can then be written on with dry-erase markers and simply wiped off when students are finished. This means you can reuse them over and over for years to come.
2. Centers
Students love working somewhere else other than their desks! Use Task Cards in various areas around your room as center work. They are quick and easy to pull out and make planning (and changing) centers a breeze!
3. Fast Finishers Work
Every teacher has heard this phrase in their classroom, “I’m done. Now what?” Responding with, “Wait quietly” is not an option, but task cards sure are! Designate an “I’m Done” basket and stock it with Task Cards that keep students busy learning while the rest of the class continues working. The cards are always there ready for students to complete as many or as few as their extra time allows.
4. Whole Group Activity
Do you have a standard that everyone in your class needs to review? Pull out task cards! Read each question to the whole class, discuss together the question or how to solve the problem, and have students write their answers on a whiteboard. Quick and easy, but effective!
5. Assessments
Test anxiety is no joke, even for the younger grades! Why not assess your students with brightly colored kid-friendly task cards? Questions are limited to one per card instead of one long, intimidating test which means less stress for your students. And if they aren’t nervous, students are more likely to show what they really know!
6. SCOOT
Any activity that involves movement is going to be a winner with your kids, so let them SCOOT! Make a “path” of task cards around your room. Each student starts at one card, answers the question on their answer sheet, then waits for your cue. When you say, “SCOOT!”, they scoot themselves along the floor or desk until they reach the next card. Continue this pattern until students have scooted to every card!
7. Interactive Games
Another whole group activity! Read each task card aloud to the group, but instead of using an answer sheet, students walk to one of 4 corners around the room, each labeled A, B, C, or D. Wherever they stand, that’s their answer!
8. Play Board Games
Got Shoots and Ladders? How about Candy Land? Grab any board game off the shelf and let kids play! The catch? Students must pull a task card and answer the question correctly to earn the right to roll the die!
You could even make your own games using my Game Boards For Any Set Of Task Cards Free Resource! Students answer the Task Card and, if they are correct, roll the die to see how many spaces they move!
9. WAR Card Game
Let students use math task cards to play War. Working with partners, students draw one task card. Both students read the card and work out the answer. The student who answers correctly first gets the card. Keep playing until all cards have been answered.
10. QR codes
Add technology to your task cards by using QR codes! QR codes bring your students a digital element that makes task cards even more fun! Once students have answered the question on a card, they can use a device to scan the code and see if their answers are correct!
11. Scavenger Hunt
Why not make work an adventure? Hide each task card in different places around the room and let your students try to find them! When they do, they must answer the question and leave the clue in its place for other students to find. To make this activity even more exciting, try moving to another area of the school – like the library! This is a perfect activity to use around Easter when you can hide task cards in plastic eggs!
12. Spiral Review Morning Work
Quick and easy morning work that helps review previously taught material? Task cards fit the bill! Using your document camera, project 2-4 cards each morning for students to work on. A less techy option? Place task cards (grouped by the same previously taught standard) in Ziplock bags for students to “check out” for Morning Work.
13. Jeopardy Style Game
America’s favorite quiz game comes to your classroom with a simple pocket chart and task cards placed in columns! Read the question to the class and have students “buzz in” to answer. Little prep work, but big fun for everyone!
14. Substitute Work
Every teacher knows that it is harder to be out for a day than to just work sick! Writing sub plans is stressful, but task cards can make this so much easier! Assigning task cards that you can pull out quickly (or even have already stored in a “Sub Tub”) will cut down on time spent thinking of what work to leave and gathering materials!
15. Parent Volunteers
If you have parents who want to help in the classroom, task cards are an easy way to put their valuable assistance to good use! They can work one on one with students who struggle by reading problems or questions, helping students stay focused, or providing extra support in solving problems or working out answers.
16. Boom Cards
Do you love task cards, but want to increase student interest by using technology? You can have both with Boom Cards! Boom Cards are digital task cards that students complete on a computer, tablet, or other devices. An added benefit is that they provide immediate feedback to students. Students are prompted to correct a wrong answer before moving on. There are so many benefits to adding technology to your classroom that you can’t go wrong!
17. Class Competitions
Nothing makes students work harder than the good ol’ competition! Divide your students into groups. Have one student from each team come up to the board to answer the question on a task card. All students who answer correctly win a point for their team!
18. Homework
It can be time-consuming to pull resources to share with parents who want extra practice to work on at home. Keeping task cards printed off and ready to send home is a great way to quickly help those parents while saving you time!
19. Sponge Activities
When your students have even a few minutes of downtime, you know that can lead to chaos! Whether you finished a lesson early or have your students waiting in line, use task cards as a way to keep everyone engaged and learning. You could even choose students to “be in charge” of reading the cards! It’s a great way to fill those extra couple of minutes.
20. Exit Tickets
Task cards are the perfect quick and easy way to check for student understanding at the end of your lesson. Project a few cards and give students the last 5-7 minutes of class to write answers. Collect their papers to see who “got it” and who needs extra help.
21. Partner Work
Sometimes, students just “get it” better when another student explains something. Allow students to work together on task cards! Students answer the question on their own, then check their answers for accuracy. If they are correct, they get to move on to another card. If one or both students are incorrect, they can work together to fix their mistake.
22. Differentiation
Task cards are a very cost-effective and simple way to allow students to work on their level, but still have all students working on the same activity! Pull out the level of cards that each student (or group of students) needs to work on, and no one else in the room will be the wiser.
23. Wheel of Fortune(ish)
This game has Wheel of Fortune elements, but with a classroom twist! Divide your class into two teams. One student from each team answers the question on a task card. If BOTH students are correct, they get to add a letter to a phrase you have written on the board. Students can guess at any time what the phrase is.
24. Math Journals
Print off 3-4 task cards on one page and have students add this to their Math Notebook or binder. Students must answer each card right there on the page. You can check their binder to see their thinking.
There you have it, friend! 24 fresh and fun ways to use task cards in your classroom! Not only will your students enjoy using them, but they will think you are a total Teacher Rock Star!
If you are excited to start using Task Cards with your students (like right now!), check out my Print and Go Task Cards in my Teachers Pay Teachers store! You will find sets for Math Standards like money, time, and addition. There are also Reading and ELA sets for standards like verbs and context clues. These resources will make using Task Cards in your classroom so incredibly easy!
Pin This For Later!
There are so many amazing ideas for using Task Cards you won’t be able to remember them all! Save this post on Pinterest to refer to later when your regular Task Card routine needs a creative boost!
