What are task cards?
I’m sure there are people that’ll disagree, but I think task cards are pretty simple. Task cards are essentially a worksheet with your normal questions chopped into pieces and printed nicely on to cards. This literally can be as simple as taping your questions to index cards. Once your questions make it to cards, the question now becomes, how do you use task cards?
There are seriously endless possibilities for how to use task cards, but I have a few favorites.
Self Assessment
I recently used a new mass vs. weight activity in my classroom. It was mass vs. weight task cards. There are lots of ways to use the F=ma equation. You can solve for any of the three variables. So in using this equation, there are multiple question types that arise. I will put the “solve for F” questions on a different colored card that the “solve for m” questions. In doing this, my students and I can identify the types of questions that are hard. My students don’t really know that the “solve for m” questions are hard, but they’ll be able to say “the blue ones are tough.”
Sometimes I will give the kids the task to complete 2 or 3 of each color so they get a small dose of each question type. In doing that, they get a decent idea of how they are doing. Then I will typically give the kids the answers to every question and have them self assess. If they do particularly poorly in a color or question type, I will have them go back and try a few more of those types of questions.
Teacher Assessment
When I need a grade for the gradebook, I will have the kids write their answers on an answer collecting sheet. Then I’ll take a look at the answers for myself. I can super easily figure out which of the questions the kids are doing well with, and which are giving them a run for their money. This is especially helpful for questions that require kids to write and explain themselves. This is because students usually have a tougher time self-assessing these types of questions. When it comes to collecting data on kids, I will usually just check out a few specific questions, not all of them.
Group Race
I learned this tactic during my student teaching. At the time, I didn’t know these were called task card, or even how to use task cards. The teacher put the kids in groups and they had to race to the finish. The winner would either have to complete a certain number of questions or would have to finish the most questions in a certain amount of time. She offered kids a homework pass for winning. I like to give stickers or extra credit.
Self Check
One of the best ways I’ve ever used task cards is with a black light! I like to write the answer to the question on the back of the card using an invisible ink pen. Then I give each of the kids a small black light and let them review the answers. If they get the answer right then they get to move on. If they get it wrong, they’ll know right away what things still need to be addressed. Plus, it’s a trick to get them to do the cards when they really aren’t that interested.
Gallery Walk
One of the classic ways to do task cards is to have them posted around the room (using Stikki Clips) and have the kids navigate to them. When this happens, you have them a bit more lively since they’re up and moving. But this usually entails them answer all or most of the questions. For some topics, this is a great way to do it.
Differentiation
This could be used in combination with really any of the above strategies. Assign kids or groups of kids to particular cards. This works especially well when you can break a deck of task cards into chunks. I like to do this with easy, medium and hard. But I also will sometimes do this with content categories, such as vocabulary, recall and applications. I usually do this by color coding the types of questions. For example, all of my vocabulary questions would be on green paper. Then I can assign the green cards to a group of kids. In doing this, I can also give them different tasks. One group may have to answer 3 vocabulary cards, and only one application card and another group can have a different type or amount of cards based on what they need.
Check out my collection of task cards and card sorts HERE. And to answer your question: no, card sorts are not the same thing! Read here to learn more about why I’m obsessed with using task cards in my classroom, you know, outside of the versatility.
