Flash Cards for Teaching Literacy Concepts

Flash cards are extremely useful teaching resources. Sets can be used in whole class instruction as well as in class and small group games. Using a set of teaching cards with a group allows all students to hear the letter or word correctly matched to its written representation. Each time a set of cards is shown (with students responding aloud), students hear the correct response and it is reinforced.

Cards can include upper and lower case letters (in different fonts as well), simple rimes (word endings), letter blends and diagraphs, cvc words, sight words, prefixes and suffixes, literacy symbols (such as "quotation marks" or editing marks), and many other things.

Cards can also be used on Word Walls and enables students to access words when they need them. Set aside an area of the classroom where words can be displayed either alphabetically or thematically. Ideally, students will be able to take words from the Word Wall to use in their writing or editing, and these should be easy to put back in place too. Some suggestions for categories of words are: science units, colours, numbers, theme work and word families. If there is space, an alphabet display with room to add words to each letter is ideal. Words can be attached with blue tack, pins or velcro. Replace words as you begin new units of work so that the Word Wall is not so busy that children become reluctant to use it. The word cards from previous units can be removed to pockets that students can continue to access when needed.

Cards for matching beginning sounds with letters:

Word Family Riddles and Flash Cards

Suggestions for use: Introduce a word family to the whole class with some fun riddles. Introduce the word family and show each word card. Place on display (on the floor in the middle of the class circle, or on a ledge or board). The teacher reads the clues aloud and selects children to guess the appropriate word from the group already discussed. If correct, they take the word card. When all clues have been guessed, those with the word cards place them on the class Word Wall. The riddles below can be made into cards or kept as an A4 page and stored in a display folder. The cards are printed 8 to a page, and then cut up for use.

Sight Word Cards

External Links to
Online Resources For Teachers

Upper and Lower Case Flash Cards (First School Years)