My mother-in-law asked me to create materials for her to help her students master adding and subtracting within 20. Most likely the largest Teachers Pay Teachers project that I've undertaken, I'm almost finished and I am really excited to share the results.
It's been a long time since I've done task cards, so I decided to share those first. I've loved using task cards in several ways in the past.
Math Centers
One way to use the task cards is in centers. Unfortunately, I can't find the blog post where I found the center organization method I used (it was called GIFT, I believe); however, there are several other organization methods out there that look fantastic. The key will be to find what works for you and your students. Math centers have been wonderful because they are something different than we normally do in class, they can be more interactive than regular lessons, and they are a great way to review subjects. I also loved using them when I had to get substitutes. The students knew them well enough that they could almost completely fly solo.
Here are some links for ideas to organize your math centers.
Sparkling in Second, The First Grade Parade, Diary of a Not So Wimpy Teacher, and Tara's Teaching Treasures
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Test Review
When it comes to test review, it can be hard to keep it interesting for students. This is where task cards come in handy. One of my students' favorite games has been musical task cards. For this game, you scatter the task cards around the room and have students ready with pencils and response sheets. Then have them wander the room as music plays. Once you stop the music, everyone must go to a task card and work on solving it. When the music starts again, they need to go back to moving around and wait until the music stops again. After the given amount of time has passed, have everyone sit down and go over the answers as a class.
Some of the other favorite task card games of my students are: "trashketball," Bazinga, and Scoot. I'll go into those games in a future post.
Fast Finishers
When students finish work fast, these task cards are great for giving them some extra practice with the topics that you are studying in class. These can also be great for students that need either an extra challenge or just need extra practice. Having the answer keys with each set of cards also helps with management, since students can check their work as they go.
The different decks can be found here:
Each set of task cards also has a printer friendly version! These are great if you want to save on ink.
When using these with your students, I would recommend laminating the cards before you use them (especially if you do musical task cards). Laminating them will help them last and survive the damage that will probably happen during reviews and centers.
These cards are also CC aligned. They fit with 1.OA.1, 1.OA.6, 2.OA.2, and 2.NBT.5!
What are some of your favorite ways to use task cards in the classroom?
In honor of bringing this project to a close (soon I hope), I am holding a contest. The first reader to complete any of the following will win a free packet of worksheets that will be featured in my upcoming bundle for Addition and Subtraction within 20.
1. Answer the question I left at the end of the blog in the comments.
- What are some of your favorite ways to use task cards in the classroom?
2. Complete this survey here.
3. Or both one and two
However, if you are an upper-grade teacher, I will send you a grade-specific freebie instead.
After I get 5 people to do any of the above tasks, I will post a special freebie to the blog.
