Read the first post by #TeacherMom HERE |
(This post contains affiliate links. That means that I make a small commission if you purchase any of the products but it's at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!)
Tool #1: Index Cards
I took full advantage of the fact that my school provided index cards in two sizes and ordered several packs each year. I also bought my own colored index cards. I used the cards in many ways:
* To make Concentration games for students – I used color cards for these games and wrote the words all on one colored card and the definitions on a different colored card. In small letters, I wrote the grade level and unit and chapter numbers on the other side to identify which subjects the cards were for.
![]() |
Part of a Concentration game a Grade 6 ESL Social Studies class; source: The ESL Nexus |
* Writing just the words on the smaller white index cards and using them to play charades to review vocab words before a test.
![]() |
Index cards for charades, to review vocab about Prehistory in Grade 6; source: The ESL Nexus |
![]() |
Pieces in a game I created about Mesopotamia, for 6th graders; source: The ESL Nexus |
Tool #2: Small Baggies
* Each Concentration collection of index cards and the cards used for charades were all kept in their own baggies. I labeled each bag with a Sharpie so it was easy to identify them. I also gave baggies to my students for their flashcards. I preferred the kind that had a pull tab rather then the kind where you press the sides together to close them because it was faster and easier to close those.
![]() |
Storage for index cards; source: The ESL Nexus |
Tool #3: Flash Drives
Several of my students did not have internet access or a printer at home so they weren’t able to use Google Docs or email me or print out their work if they had to type an assignment for either my or other teachers’ classes. For those students, being able to save their work to a flash drive and bring it school was a lifesaver.
![]() |
Two of the five flash drives students could borrow; source: The ESL Nexus |
Tool #4: Spanish Dictionaries
Most of my ELLs spoke Spanish as their first language. Spanish is not one of the languages I know, however. So I found a really good dictionary and when my students didn’t know a word in English or I wasn’t able to explain the meaning of a word well enough for them to understand, I resorted to this dictionary. Most of the time, we could find what we were looking for. I also bought another dictionary just for verbs in Spanish so I could use the correct conjugations when talking with parents. (The image below shows my version of the verb dictionary but there is a newer edition available and the link goes to that one.)
![]() |
Books that really helped with communicating in Spanish; source: The ESL Nexus |
I hope I’ve given you some ideas for your own classroom. Do you have any other ways you use index cards? Please share them in the Comments section below. And please head on over and read some of the other posts in this linkup—you can find them at the end of this post. I’m sure you’ll find lots of great ideas!
Please take a few minutes to read at least some of these other blogs that are part of the Building Back to School Linky: