SchoolArts - October 2007

Step Cards

The New Flashcards

Sometimes a seat up front or giving individual attention is not enough to keep a student focused. Sometimes reinforcing previous vocabulary, building on existing knowledge or using traditional instructional aids doesn’t suffice. Sometimes hearing terms in conjunction with seeing them written on the board still doesn’t cut it. Often old ideas become obsolete, but sometimes they merely need to be adapted to meet the individual needs of a contemporary classroom.

A Valuable Tool Sometimes having individual, miniature instructional aids for the students to physically hold onto can be a valuable learning tool for a special-needs student. Having instructional aids that are interesting, as well as cool and colorful, is an added bonus. If I could market all the teaching tools that I have created in my own classroom throughout the years, I would be closer to retirement! That’s how valuable these cards are! I call these individual aids “step cards”—very similar to the notion of flashcards.

mon themes are geometric shapes,
line types, and vocabulary words,
but they can get as complicated
as recording individual steps for a
particular lesson. The latter is also
useful in helping students to catch
up after being absent. Supplies can
differ, but usually consist of 2 x 3"
( 5 x 8 cm) or 4 x 6" ( 10 x 15 cm) tag
board cards, permanent markers, a
hole punch,
and a metal
ring to group
them toget her.
If time permi ts,
and you plan
on reusing
them, laminating them is a fan-
tastic option.

These cards can be the beginning of many valuable teaching techniques in the classroom. They are quite useful when teaching English as a second language students to reinforce the language of the artroom. The same concept can be used in creating “Early Finisher” activities. You ca n

use the same card and metal ring idea, but can also create folders of unique worksheets with the step-by-step method of creating art. These can be kept in a designated area for students to work on their own.

So while reflecting on and adapting your lesson plans, consider making a set of step cards. You will find that the time spent preparing these cards is well worth the effort!