Flashcards….Yes or No?
Are flashcards a useful technique?
What is the proper way of using them?
Will flashcards help struggling readers increase
their sight word bank?
We have used flashcards in our classroom for many years and have seen
the benefits from their use. The goal of this study was to gain knowledge
from the research done on the effectiveness of flashcards. We hoped to
find great conclusions from our studies so we would be able to back up our
stand on how important flashcards are in helping students to be able to
recognize sight words with automaticity as well as greatly increase their
sight word bank.
Good readers need to be able to identify highfrequency and irregularly spelled words in order to
successfully read stories. A child’s rate and
comprehension are likely to be lost if they are spending
too much cognitive energy struggling with each word.
Ways to use flashcards with
technology?
 “Technologies represent a tool when they are not designed explicitly for
school use but can be put to educational purposes” ((Murray & Olcese,
2011)
 Incorporating technology into our classrooms is a way to help us link
our students to the 21st century learning goal.
 By combining the use of technology and flashcards, you are able to create
a virtual tutor for your students.
 Four areas that we use technology to enhance the use of flashcards
in our classroom are iPad, Kindle Fire, PowerPoints and the Smart
Board.
Flashcard Apps
• Kindle Fires
• iPad
Flashcards with software
• Power Point
• Smart Board
Use of flashcards in the classroom:
 Make the PowerPoints available on your class website. It is another way that the
parents can interact in their child’s life along with reinforcing the words that the
child is working on. (Parette, Blum, Boeckman & Watts, 2009)
 There are three different approaches to flashing flashcards to students:
traditional, interspersing, and incremental rehearsal.
Interspersing: Known and unknown words are presented to the students
together. A known word followed by three unknown words. Another
known word followed by three more unknown words
Incremental: A unknown word is presented to the student 9 times
incrementally among 9 known words.
Effective ways to use flashcards in the
classroom
school
m
I like to go to school.
Pick 5-10 words from the book. Write
each word on the front of a flashcard. On
the back of the flashcard write a
sentence or phrase containing the target
word. Make sure the sentence does not
relate to the context of the story. Flash the
single word and phrases. Once words are
mastered, the student will be ready to
complete a picture walk and predict what
the story will be about.
Effective ways to use flashcards in the
classroom
here
After a small group of students have
practiced all the words from the book,
they can play BINGO with their newly
learned words. Pass out the teacher
made BINGO cards. Take turns being
the lead teacher. The lead student can
shuffle the cards and read them quickly
one at a time for the players to cover
with a chip if it is present on their card.
Effective ways to use flashcards in the
classroom
said
have
Each child has their own colored stack of
flashcards that they have been working
on. At the same time they can flip a
card. The student that reads their card
the fastest as well as accurately gets to
keep both cards. The winner is the
student that has the most cards.
In Conclusion
Flashcards can be a useful and fun technique when used properly.
Flashcards can make a poor reader a better reader.
Excessive drilling in long sessions will turn students off to reading altogether.
Allowing students to understand each word and then having them see these words in
text will greatly contribute to permanent improvements in children’s reading skills.
Flashcards can promote fluency and in turn help gain comprehension.
Flashcards should be used to supplement the teaching of phonemic awareness skills
and letter-sound relationships.
Using flashcards with technology helps
to promote 21st century learning.