Using Flashsticks for Primary School Teaching
As the name suggests, FlashSticks are very similar to flash cards that you would create for revising information.
They come in the form of Post-It notes and contain words in the target language, plus the pronunciation of the word, the gender of the word (if this applies) and the type of word that it is. They come in a variety of languages, including British Sign Language and are a fantastic tool for teaching.
If used alongside other teaching resources, FlashSticks are a fantastic way of teaching students the basics of the English language, along with other languages such as French, Spanish and German, should you want them.
Here are a few reasons to consider using them:
They are fun
Children often get bored of sitting and repeating words or reading through textbooks. FlashSticks allow them to get up and about, sticking the notes on different items that they refer to.
They can reinforce lessons
The notes can be kept stuck up around the classroom, or in a dedicated area, so that the children can go back and look at them when necessary if there are certain words that they find themselves stuck on. This is particularly useful for teaching the difference between nouns and verbs, etc.
They are good for group work
To encourage the children to interact with others, the packs can be given out to pairs or groups and they can be set challenges. This can include getting their partner to indicate what type of word has been read out (verb, noun, adjective, etc) or they can be asked how they would use it in a sentence
Whilst these cards are great for learning languages, they also help with teaching basic English to lower KS1 classes.
