Skip to content

It's Lit Teaching

High School English and TPT Seller Resources

  • Home
  • Start Here
  • Blog Posts for Teaching English
    • Literature
    • Creative Writing
    • Grammar
    • Writing
    • Teachers Pay Teachers Tips
  • Shop My Teaching Resources!
  • Sell on TPT
  • About
  • Home
  • Start Here
  • Blog Posts for Teaching English
    • Literature
    • Creative Writing
    • Grammar
    • Writing
    • Teachers Pay Teachers Tips
  • Shop My Teaching Resources!
  • Sell on TPT
  • About
Pedagogy and Teaching Strategies

3 Easy Ways to Use Task Cards in Your English Class

3 Easy Ways to Use Task Cards in Your English Class

I’ll admit it–I was super late to the task card game as an English teacher. I had never heard of task cards until I was browsing Teachers Pay Teachers and teacher blogs for ideas. Even then, I only vaguely had an idea of what they were before using them in my class. Since then, I’ve learned how flexible and ingenious task cards are. In this post, I want to share some of the ways that you can use task cards in your English class!

Pinterest pin for It's Lit Teaching blog post: "3 Easy Ways to Use Task Cards in Your English Class"

What Are Task Cards?

Task cards are exactly what they sound like–cards that each contain a task or question on them. A task card for English might say something like “Describe the protagonist of To Kill a Mockingbird” or “Write a sentence using a semicolon correctly.”

They may or may not include a worksheet where answers can be written down. 

Grab a FREE Copy of Must-Have Classroom Library Title!

Sign-up for a FREE copy of my must-have titles for your classroom library and regular updates to It’s Lit Teaching! Insiders get the scoop on new blog posts, teaching resources, and the occasional pep talk! 

Marketing Permissions

I just want to make sure you’re cool with the things I may send you!

I’ll send regular emails updating you on new content, plus an occasional bonus info with time sensitive info!

By clicking below to submit this form, you acknowledge that the information you provide will be processed in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

Thank you!

You have successfully joined our subscriber list.

.

Tips for Using Task Cards in your English Class

If you’re making your own task cards, remember to number them. It will help when students ask how many they have to do, and it will be essential when you’re trying to figure out if a deck of task cards is complete or not. 

I highly recommend making a worksheet to go with task cards, too. If you have twenty-five task cards in a deck, give students a blank worksheet numbered up to twenty-five. This will help students stay focused on completing the task (cards) at hand. 

If you can, laminate the cards! It’s amazing how much a single card will go through during the course of just a single school day. If you’d like to reuse the task cards or use them in a creative way, laminating them is the only way to go!

Pinterest pin for It's Lit Teaching blog post: "3 Easy Ways to Use Task Cards in Your English Class"

Use Task Cards as a Worksheet

The most straightforward way to use task cards is like a worksheet. Students work their way through the cards, completing tasks or answering questions on a separate sheet of paper as they go. 

Teachers Pay Teachers cover of It's Lit Teaching Product: Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning (C-E-R) Writing Framework Claim Task Cards
Claim task cards make review easy!

I always use task cards to reinforce students’ understanding after teaching the concepts of claim, evidence, and reasoning. After teaching them about claim, they do claim task cards. Then evidence, followed by reasoning. 

Why bother with task cards instead of just making a worksheet? 

The cards shuffle and move, unlike questions on a page. For students who tend to fidget or have short attention spans, task cards make simple worksheets more “hands-on.”

Task cards are also just a nice break from traditional worksheets. If you’re finding yourself in a “worksheet rut,” try some task cards instead!

Use Task Cards as a Scavenger Hunt

These figurative language task cards can be used in any figurative language or poetry unit!

My favorite way to use task cards is as a kind of scavenger hunt or gallery walk. Instead of giving students a deck of task cards, tape them up around the classroom (or down the hallway, around the library–whatever you can get away with!).

Give students a blank worksheet or have them number a piece of paper–one number for each (numbered) task card. 

Now, in order to complete all of the tasks or answer all of the questions, students will have to walk around the room and find each task card. 

Having students get up and find the questions they need gives students a break from otherwise sit-and-get lessons. 

I love doing this because it’s a low prep way to add movement to a lesson. If you’ve already got the task cards, taping them up around the room takes just a few moments. Plus, it’s easy to put these up for one class, but take them down for any classes that maybe can’t handle walking around the room. 

I love doing this with my figurative language task cards. So much of creative writing is sitting still and writing–using task cards as a scavenger hunt breaks up the class time!

Use Task Cards as a Group Activity

Teachers Pay Teachers cover of It's Lit Teaching Product: Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning (C-E-R) Writing Framework Evidence Task Cards
Students struggling with using evidence? These evidence task cards can help review what strong evidence consists of

If students are really antsy, you can always use task cards as a group activity. 

Students can partner up and quiz each other using the task cards. If task cards are really difficult, having a group of students working through a task card deck might work, too.

Depending on your classroom culture and the general “trustability” of your students, you might even just let them talk and help one another as they work through task cards. 

My students struggle with my evidence and reasoning task cards. They often have a lot of questions, but when they’re allowed to chat or work with a peer, they’re usually able to sort it out themselves. Hearing one another’s work and seeing others’ examples also helps reinforce knowledge and clarify information for struggling students. 

Using task cards as partner or group work is just one more way you can use task cards to break up classroom routines while reinforcing content. 

Pinterest pin for It's Lit Teaching blog post: "3 Easy Ways to Use Task Cards in Your English Class"

Conclusion

Task cards are wonderfully flexible teaching tools for your English class! You can even vary how you use them from class period to class period, allowing for in-the-moment differentiation. 

If you’d like to get ahold of some ready-to-print task cards, definitely check out the amazing variety on Teachers Pay Teachers or check out mine!

SHARE THIS
About Heather

About Heather

I’m a full-time high school English teacher, caffeine addict, greyhound mom, and wife-to-be! Life keeps me busy but I LOVE helping other teachers!

Related Posts

Sketchnotes: What You Need to Know About Visual Notetaking in ELA
Sketchnotes: What You Need to Know About Visual Notetaking in ELA
Here Are Some Creative Essay Alternatives for Your Next Unit
Here Are Some Creative Essay Alternatives for Your Next Unit
5 Helpful Tips for Teaching With Graphic Novels
5 Helpful Tips for Teaching With Graphic Novels
5 The Hate U Give Essential Questions for Your Unit
5 The Hate U Give Essential Questions for Your Unit

Post navigation

3 Quick and Engaging Strategies to Excite Your Students
A Simple Lesson Plan Structure English Teachers Can Steal

Categories

  • Creative Writing
  • Grammar
  • Life Tips for Teachers
  • Lit Literature Reviews
  • Literature
  • Pedagogy and Teaching Strategies
  • Seasonal Teaching Ideas
  • Teachers Pay Teachers Tips
  • Uncategorized
  • Writing

Let’s Keep in Touch!

Meet me in The Lounge!

Signup for my newsletter The Lounge and be the first to hear about new teaching resources, blog posts, and oh, so much more!

Thank you!

You have successfully joined our subscriber list.

.

My Reading Picks!

Amazon Associates Disclosure

Heather Cianci is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com or myhabit.com.

Instagram

  • Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • Amazon Affiliate Disclosure
  • Shop It’s Lit Teaching Resources
Copyright © 2023 | All Rights Reserved | Site Designed by Little Theme Shop