Random Card

 Random Card

This primary drill is used at a stage when the students first come into contact (or are still relatively unfamiliar) with the flashcards. The beauty of this activity is that it does not require any set-up.

The teacher stands at the front of the classroom holding a wad of flashcards (let us say for example that the flashcards are for jobs). The teacher reveals the flashcards one at a time, saying the vocabulary item, the students repeating, the flashcard is moved to the back of the pile (still in the teacher’s hands) and a new flashcard is revealed, said by the teacher, repeated by the students. …

“Pilot; Bus Driver; Teacher; Doctor; Nurse; Office Worker; Police Officer; Fire Fighter; Monkey ...”

When the students see the monkey flashcard, they immediately realise the randomness of this piece of vocabulary.

The teacher now explains that when the students next see the monkey flashcard, they must stand up, turn around, and then sit down again. The teacher demonstrates this action before checking the students understand by suddenly showing them the monkey flashcard and shouting, “Monkey!”

The first team to have all members stand up, turn around, and then sit down again is the winner and is awarded points (look out for any cheaters!).

The flashcards are then shuffled by the teacher (with the random card being slipped towards the back of the pile) and the drill begins:

“Teacher; Nurse; Pilot; Office Worker; Bus Driver; Fire Fighter; Police Officer; Monkey ...”

When the monkey card is next revealed the excitement happens and points are again given.

For the first few drills, the students will be listening and repeating from the teacher. Soon, however, they will be able to say the flashcards themselves and the teacher will only need to speak when correcting their pronunciation.

Of course the random card does not have to be a monkey. It can be anything. A robot, a tree, a lemon ... and once the students have played this game a few times, the ‘random’ flashcard could even be one of the new vocabulary items. For example, the teacher explains that when they see the doctor flashcard they must stand up, turn around, and then sit down again.

Also, the action of spinning around and sitting down again can be replaced by another activity: running to touch a wall; sitting on the floor; standing to attention and saluting; closing their eyes and ‘falling asleep’ on their desks, get the students to stand up next to their chairs and to sit down when they see the random flashcard, etc.