Some experiences on using flashcards to teach english vocabulary for grade 3 students

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Content
1. Introduction
1.1. Rationale for chosing the topic
1.2. Objectives of the study
1.3. Objects of the study
1.4. Methodology of the study
2. Development
2.1. Literature review
2.2. Reality of teaching and learning vocabulary at
some primary schools in Tho Xuan district
2.3. Solution to the problem: using flashcards
2.4. Effectiveness of the study
3. Conclusion and suggestion

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3.1. Conclusion

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3.2. Suggestion

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1. Introduction
1.1Rationale for chosing the topic
It’s high time to identify that vocabulary learning is crucial for learning
foreign languages. According to French Allen (1983), if teachers use visual
materials, students’ learning will be better than the time when they use other
materials. Of all the foreign language teaching visual aids, flashcards have been
proven to be an incredibly useful and flexible resource for teaching vocabulary.
Some researchers also discovered that teaching with flashcards help learners,
especially young learners to acquire words more effectively. This is completely
true to children who always have great love for visual things and games.
Therefore, flashcards are an effective tool for teaching primary students
vocabulary. Specifically speaking, flashcards are great for introducing new
vocabulary, memorising, revising and consolidating vocabulary.
We are all aware of both benefits and the way of using flashcards to teach
children English vocabulary. But there is a fact that flashcards are a simple,
handy, versatile, valuable, yet often an underexploited resource. Being aware of
the essential role of flashcards in teaching children vocabulary is the first reason
why I do this study.
Children love flashcards very much but using flashcards is also one of
difficult teaching techniques for Vietnamese primary teachers to master and
apply it into their teaching English effectively. Besides, it’s not cheap at all for

teachers to buy one set of flashcards. And it’s not easy at all for teachers to find
out their suitable flashcards that can meet their aims as well as the topic of a
specific lesson. Therefore, in this study I provide teachers of English with steps
of using flashcards as well as some suggested activities and games using
flashcards to teach children English vocabulary. In case the teachers are unable
to find suitable ready-made flashcards, I also suggest here the way of making up
their own flashcards to teach with the hope that they can create more effective
lessons and help their children learn new words better through flashcards.
Using flashcards to teach English is really a broad issue because
flashcards can be used to teach not only vocabulary but also other aspects of
language. Furthermore, flashcards can be used effectively for learners of all ages
and language levels and they can be useful at every stage of the class. In
addition, “children” is also a broad object, so I just focus my study on grade 3
students, who are mostly in the first year of learning English and find learning
new words difficult because their methods of learning vocabulary haven’t been
formed. Under the limitation of time and for the main reasons as above, I
decided to carry out this study and present here “ Some experiences on using
flashcards to teach English vocabulary for grade 3 students”.
1.2. Objectives of the study:
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This study aims at clarifying the benefits of using flashcards to teach
children English vocabulary and suggesting the way flashcards can be used to
help children learn new words better.
1.3. Objects of the study:
Flashcards can be used to reinforce and practice vocabulary or grammar
patterns as well as giving students interesting and challenging speaking practice
based on the pictures shown in the flashcards. And flashcards can be used for
students of all ages and all levels. However, the main focus of this study is

looking at the reasons why and the ways how flashcards should be used to help
children in general and grade 3 students in particular learn new words better.
1.4.Methodology of the study:
To attain the mentioned objectives, a number of techniques will be used
during the process of carrying out the study. Theoretical background of the study
is based on reading, analyzing and synthesizing of the materials and relevant
books. Investigating the reality and collecting the data of grade 3 students
learning new words before and after using flashcards to teach vocabulary are
also applied. And according to applicative approach, some activities using
flashcards for some units in the textbooks Tieng Anh 3 are also applied in
teaching practice.
2. Development
2.1. Literature review:
2.1.1. What is a flashcard?
According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, a flashcard or flash card is
a card bearing information, as words or numbers, on either or both sides, used in
classroom drills or in private study. One writes a question on a card and an
answer overleaf. Flashcards can bear vocabulary, historical dates, formulas or
any subject matter that can be learned via a question-and-answer format.
Flashcards are widely used as a learning drill to aid memorization by way
of spaced repetition.
2.1.2. Types of flashcards
Haycraft (1978: 102-106) states two types of flashcards. They are word
flashcards and picture flashcards. Word flashcards are cards on which words
have been printed. When practicing word order, the teacher can use a number of
cards representing all the words in a sentence. The cards can be fixed to the
board, or given to a student, and arranged correctly either by the class a whole or
individual students. The word flashcards also can be used to practice structure.
Then, picture flashcards are useful for presenting, practicing and revising
vocabulary or as prompts for other activities – for example, to illustrate the

characters in a dialogue, to help students improvise. A picture flashcard is a card
which has a picture on one side and the word in the other side, or the picture and
the word in one side. Picture flashcards are used for teaching and practising
basic vocabulary through games. They could be pictures of animals, household
objects, places, people, story characters or action verbs.
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Thus, I strongly suggest we should focus on picture flashcards which can
help teachers a lot with improving their students’ vocabulary. You can use small
sets for individual or group activities or larger sets for display or for whole class
activities.
2.1.3. Where to get flash cards?
Buy them. Some course books provide a supplementary pack of flash
cards or they can be bought in sets.
Make them yourself. If you don't have access to professionally produced
flashcards, don't worry, it's really easy to make your own even if you're not very
artistic. You can use pictures from magazines, draw simple pictures or copy
from the internet or clip art. The most important thing is to make sure they are
all of the same size, on card (different colours for different sets) so you can't see
through them. If possible you can laminate the sets as you make them and they
will last for years. The advantage of making your own, apart from the fact that
they're cheap and yours to keep, is that you can make sets for your specific
needs. You may like to make a set to use in conjunction with a story book or
graded reader, or even to accompany project work.
Students make them. I have recently begun to incorporate the production
of flashcards into the classroom. After introducing a new lexical set, using realia
or the course book, ask students to produce the flashcards for you. Give each
one an item to draw. They can be mounted on card to make the set. By creating
flashcards, students began to set their own learning goals. Students are offered a

learning environment in which they are active participants rather than passive
recipients of information. First, they clarify their objectives. Then they select
words relevant to those objectives, choosing not only the information best suited
to the flashcards, but also the level appropriate to their ability. Second, they
exercise their responsibility for their own learning by developing their own
flashcards.
2.1.4. The advantages of using flashcards to teach children vocabulary:
Generally speaking, flashcards are extremely benefical for teachers to
teach English. Flashcards are effective that can be used for all students with
different levels and learning styles. Howard Gardener's multiple intelligence
theory reminds teachers that there are many types of learners within any one
class. Gardener's research indicates that teachers should aim to appeal to all the
different learner types at some point during the course. It is particularly
important to appeal to visual learners, as a very high proportion of learners have
this type of intelligence. Flashcards can be bright and colourful and make a real
impact on visual learners. Many of the activities outlined below will also appeal
to kinaesthetic learners.
Flashcards are motivating and eye-catching. Flashcards can be taken
almost everywhere and studied when there is any free moment. Flashcards have
a great power in motivating and stimulating the students. Meanwhile, flashcards
are easy media to help students and teacher in learning process, especially to
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teach the students of elementary school. Teacher can use it at any time and in
any situation when he wants to teach.
One of the most important advantages of using flashcards is they are easy
and fast to reproduce. Thus, they’re inexpensive. Making flashcards can be your
art project with kids, students and family members. With just crayons, color
markers, paper boards, and scissors you can produce your unique set of

flashcards that friends, family, or students can enjoy and learn from. Flashcards
can be one of the least expensive ways to study.You don't need to buy a set of
fancy illustrated cards. Instead, create your own flashcards.Furthermore, flash
cards provide students with a portable learning tool. Rather than having to carry
around a book or notebook, flash cards allow students the opportunity to
transport as many cards as they need. The portability of flashcards can improve
efficiency when learning new material. By taking the cards everywhere, students
can make effective use of their time such as using them while walking.
Flashcards are useful because the teacher and children can pick them up, move
them and display them in different places and different sequences. Since you can
shuffle the order, flash cards prevent students from simply memorizing the order
of the answers in long-list items. Reverse the flash cards so the answers can be
seen first and students must surmise what the original questions were.
In term of vocabulary mastery, flashcards are effective memory-aid tools
that can help students learn new material quickly because children love pictures,
posters and other visual aids. They allow for repetition and proper scaffolding of
the learning. Learning with flashcards can be a fun and interactive educational
experience for both children and adults because they have the advantage of
enabling you to turn a learning activity into a game. Besides, they are quick and
easy to use. Flashcards are simple media of instruction used commonly for the
basic education of children. If the flashcards are particularly designed for
guessing games, the information written on the reverse sides are answers or
literal references of the images on the front. Most teachers, lecturers and parents
find that learning with flashcards is quick and direct. They let you avoid using
the mother tongue to translate. You show the image and the kids know
immediately what the new word means. Their diverse and colorful designs
attract children and adults alike. The images printed on the cards and the
manners in which they are used to stimulate the mind to quickly look for
references to identify the flashed images.The real difficulty of a certain subject
matter or problem can also be lessened by choosing flashcards of varying

difficulties, or it can be made more unpredictably challenging by employing a
random flash method. This is why flashcards are ideal to use as educational
games as well as ideal teaching aids to teach children vocabulary effectively.
2.2. Reality of teaching and learning vocabulary at some primary schools in
Tho Xuan district:
From preobservation, the situation of the class was not conductive for
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teaching and learning activities. Students did not focus on the learning process,
they were busy doing something outside the learning activity (talking with
friends, drawing picture). Moreover, they tended to be passive and ignore the
teacher’s instructions. In addition, some students were not active when they did
tasks in groups. From the situation above, we know that the students just acquire
a few vocabularies. This situation also found in some primary schools in Tho
Xuan district where the English teachers did not use the right media or method
that can increase the interest and achievement from the students. So it’s high
time to find out and implement a media that can improve the students’ interests
in learning English vocabulary.
Most of the students in elementary schools get much difficulty with
learning English, especially with vocabulary mastery. In my opinion, it is caused
by many reasons. Firstly, the students do not have interest in the teaching and
learning process. At school, the teachers often find that the students are not
interested in learning a subject matter. It also happens in learning English,
because the students do not have knowledge about the correlation between the
subject matter and themselves. Secondly, the teachers are still having less
creativity when teaching English. Usually the teachers just explain the material
without any game, so it can make the students bored. As teachers, they must
build the interest of students to learn English by using varieties of methods. For
example, the teachers use games in teaching learning process because the

students like to play. Finally, the uses of media and method are not appropriate
with the situation of students. In order to use a right method or media, a teacher
must make it suited to students’ hobbies.
Flashcards are one of the teaching aids that can improve children’s
vocabulary mastery effectively as shown above. Usually the students are able to
remember English words easily if the teacher shows cards that consist of words
or pictures. By using flashcards, the teachers are able to teach English by
employing many methods too, such as cards game, puzzle, roleplay, etc. So the
student can be more interested and enjoy in the English learning process.
Here are some figures of adjusting how my grade 3 students learn new
words at the beginning of the first term:
Total students
Number of students can pronounce the new words
correctly with its sounds
Number of students can pronounce the new words
correctly with its sounds and stress
Number of students can remember the new words’
meaning
Number of students can remember the new words’
spelling

60
30

Percentage
50%

6

10%

30

50%

30

50%

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- Only a half of my students can remember how to write any new word together
with its meaning.
- It’s even worse when 50% of my students can pronounce the new words with
its sound but only 10% of them can do correctly with its stress. This fact is
really worth worrying because we all know the importance of word stress in
developing listening and speaking skills for children according to
communicative teaching approach.
Why not using flashcards to teach children vocabulary? For the main
benefits of using flashcards as above, I tried on using flashcards to teach
vocabulary and I have found that flashcards can be really useful, and the kids
enjoy them too.
2.3. Solution to the problem: using flashcards
Remember to make flashcards large enough so students at the back of the
class can see what they are. Store the flashcards so that they can be reused in
future lessons. It will save you time in the long run. Make your own library of
flashcards and keep them in either a folder or within envelopes so that they are
easily accessible. Create a magazine drop-off box in the staffroom so that
teachers have ready access to a range of magazines for pictures, text, etc for

flashcard making. Also, the key to success is: just involve the kids in the process
of learning. So...don't keep the flashcards to yourself! Let your students play
with them, touch them and look at them closely. Apart from the flashcards, you
can add wordcards.
2.3.1. The stages and procedure of using flashcards to teach vocabulary:
*Stages of using flashcards to teach vocabulary:
The first stage is introducing new vocabulary by showing the flashcards
to the kids and attach them to the board. Then, put the corresponding wordcard
next to them. Teachers may let the kids guess what the objects are by revealing
the picture slowly, uncovering it step by step. You can also use this method for
revisions.
The next stage is practice. The teacher leaves the flashcards as they were
and mix up the wordcards (or you can do it the other way round). Individual
students have to come to the board and match the words with the pictures
again. Instead of moving the wordcards, they can also match them by drawing a
line. Here are more ideas to break the routine. Teachers can let students play a
''what's missing'' game by telling your pupils to close their eyes. When they are
ready, remove one flashcard or wordcard (or both). The first person to guess
what the missing word or picture is, wins. After two or three times, you may
invite one of the students to take off the word/picture they want. I use the
following commands for this game:
one, two, three....close your eyes!
one, two, three... open your eyes! Look at the board. What's missing?
Another activity to try is inviting some students to come to the front of the
classroom. Ss form a circle. Play some music and pass the flascards. Students
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have to keep passing the flashcards until the music stops. Then, they have to
name the objects on their flashcards. If they don't know them, they have to leave

the circle. Student who last leaves the circle, wins. Or you can play a memory
game on the board. Display the flashcards and the wordcards with their faces
down. Children have to uncover the cards and they get a point if the uncovered
picture matches the word.
The last stage is production. Slowly, take off the wordcards and ask
children to name the pictures on the flashcards. When you finish, ask the kids if
they can name all the objects. Help, if necessary. For more ideas to break the
routine, kids can prepare their own flashcards. Then, they play with them in
pairs.
*Procedure of using flashcards to teach vocabulary:
Step 1: Sit comfortably facing your students.
Step 2: Arrange the flash cards in the order you would like to present them.
Step 3: Starting with the first flashcard, hold it up so your students can
clearly see the front. Keep the back of the flash card toward you so your child
cannot see it.
Step 4: Shows the flashcard front to your students that consist of picture.
Say in English and ask the students to repeat after several times to
make sure that they could say it in a correct pronunciation.
Step 5: Give question to them by showing flashcards one by one randomly,
if your students give a correct answer, place the correctly answered
flash card in a pile on your left.
Step 6: If your students give an incorrect response or no response, tell him
the correct answer, and place these flash cards in a pile on your right
side.
Step 7: After you have finished showing your students all of the flashcards,
you may continue your flashcard teaching session by using the stack
of incorrectly answered cards. Continue in the same manner, placing
correctly answered flashcards on the left and incorrectly answered
flashcards on the right.
Step 8: Once your students have mastered the full set of flash cards, practice

them periodically to ensure your child remembers them. Based on the
explanations about the procedure of using flashcards above, the researcher
conclude that the step in using flashcards in English learning process are show
of flashcards, sounds, repetition and practice. The procedure of using flashcards
is simple, so the students or parents can practice it at home to improve their
vocabulary.
2.3.2. Some fun and exciting games & activities to teach children vocabulary
using flashcards
Flashcards are among the materials we use most often, especially with
young learners. They help visualize new vocabulary, and can be an excellent
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source of activities and games. Making your lesson fun and exciting gives your
young learners a chance to enjoy themselves as they learn and they will always
look forward to their next lessons. These following activities focus on adding
fun and excitement to using flashcards to teach and review vocabulary. Some of
them take a bit of time to set up and explain, but it is well worth it and once your
students have learned the activity you can play it time and time again. There are
lots of ways to use flashcards in teaching children vocabulary. Here are just a
few of them.
*Alphabet Line Up:
This is a good way to teach the alphabet to your class. Give each student
an alphabet flashcard with a different letter of the alphabet on it, starting at "A"
(e.g. if you have 7 Ss, give flashcards A through to G). Have them move around
the room to music. When the music stops, they must line up in order. You can
also play with missing letters (e.g.. Give a "c", then an "f", a "k", an "o", etc).
That way they are really learning the order, not just memorizing.
This game can be used to teach the vocabulary of Unit 2: What’s your
name?, Lesson 2 part 1,2,3. During this lesson, students are required to learn

about the English alphabet.
*Charades:
Have a student come to the front of the class and show a flashcard or
whisper a word to that student. The student then acts out that word to the rest of
the class and the first student to guess what it is can be the next player. This
works very well with action verbs. Variation: divide the class up into teams –
the first student to guess wins a point for his/her team.
This game can be used to teach vocabulary of some actions in unit 6:
Stand up!

open the book
the book

sit down

don't talk

come here

close

stand up
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We can also use this game to teach vocabulary of some continuous actions
in unit 18: What are you doing? or new words of some sports and games in unit
10: What do you do at break time?
*A what?
For example, to teach vocabulary of school things in unit 8: This is my

pen, let students sit in a circle. You show a flashcard to Student 1 and say 'This is
a ruler.' Student 1 looks at the flash card and asks you, 'A what?' The teacher
replies 'A ruler' and passes the flash card on. Student 1 passes the flash card on
to Student 2 and says 'This is a ruler'. Student 2 asks Student 1 'A
what?', Student 1 asks the teacher 'A what?', and the teacher replies to Student 1
'A ruler', Student 1 replies to Student 2 'A ruler,' and so it goes on until the flash
card travels full circle. When the group has mastered it, two flash cards can go
around the circle in opposite directions. They will cross over mid circle. When
students know the game, choose one of them to play the teacher's role with other
flashcards of school things.

pencil

school bag

pen

pencil case

book

ruler

pencil sharpener

rubber

This game can be used to teach vocabulary of school things in unit 8: This
is my pen, things in the house in unit 13: Where’s my book? And unit 14: Are
there any posters in the room? Or toys in unit 15: Do you have any toys? Or

somes pets in unit 16: Do you have any pets?
*What is missing?
Place a number of flashcards in front of the Ss. Give them a few
moments to memorize the pictures and then tell them to close their eyes. Take
away one of the flashcards and then tell the Ss to open their eyes again. The first
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S to guess the missing flashcard can win that flashcard (for 1 point) and take
away a flashcard in the next round.
This game can be used to revise vocabulary of school objects or another
topic. Thus, it can be used to teach vocabulary of most units in Tieng Anh 3.
* Reveal the word:
Cover the flash card or word card with a piece of card and slowly reveal
it. Students guess which one it is. Once the card is shown, chorally drill the word
with the group using different intonation and silly voices to keep it fun. Vary the
volume too, whisper and shout the words. Children will automatically copy your
voice. Alternatively, flip the card over very quickly so the children just get a
quick glimpse. Repeat until they have guessed the word. This activity can be
used to revise new words of all the units in Tieng Anh 3.
*Keep the cards in order:
Each student has a set of cards (pictures with names) similar to the
teacher. The teacher places his/her cards in a particular order in two or three
rows, and so do the students following instructions. T starts calling the cards in
pairs so that the two cards named change positions. Make a few changes in this
way (don´t let students see the changes, they must follow them only by listening
carefully). Afterwards, T. calls a student to say the cards in order. If all the cards
are well placed the student can lead a new game. Students love the game and
learn a lot of vocabulary. This activity can be suited to all topics in Tieng Anh 3,
for instance new words of some sports and games in unit 10: What do you do at

break time?

skip
blind man's bluf

football

skate

basketball

hide-and-seek

chess

table tennis
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*Spin the Bottle:
Sit your students in a circle with a bottle in the middle. The teacher spins
the bottle. When it stops spinning the student it is pointing to is shown a
flashcard and asked to say what it is. If the answer is correct then that student
can spin the bottle. This is a good vocabulary review activity for all the units in
Tieng Anh 3.
*Memory tester:
Place a selection of flashcards on the floor in a circle or stick them on the
board. Students have one minute to memorise the cards and then the teacher
takes the flashcards away. In groups, they have two minutes to write as many of
the names as they can remember. This acivity can be used to revise vocabulary

of all units in Tieng Anh 3.
*Circle Drilling:
The most common use of flashcards in the classroom is for drilling and
checking pronunciation with the class. You can either nominate individual
students or get whole class drilling organised with the use of flashcards. Get
students to sit in a circle, get learners to place their desks to the sides of the
classroom and then they all sit down. Introduce the vocabulary to the learners
and drill pronunciation. The next step to circle drilling is to hand one flashcard
to a student to your left or right and then get them to pass the flashcard to the
next student. You can speed up the drilling by handing more and more cards to
the students next to you. The students will find it incredibly enjoyable and
highly competitive.This activity can be used to present new words of all the
units in Tieng Anh 3.
*Give Me Game:
Elicit the different flashcards you have. Then place all the flashcards
around the classroom. Tell the Ss to collect as many flashcards as they can.
Once the Ss have collected all of the flashcards (they’ll probably do their best to
hide them in their pockets, etc.)
For example, to revise toys in unit 15: Do you have any toys? T says
“Give me a (doll)”. The S with the (doll) flashcard should approach the T and
hand it to him/her: “Here you are”. Avoid having the flashcards thrown back to
you as they can go anywhere and takes a long time to finish the game. Instead of
having the Ss collect the flashcards, have them stand around the room, then T
says “Give me a (doll)” and the Ss rush to be the first to find and give the card to
the T. T then continues with other toys flashcards such as:

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doll

car

robot

puzzle

yo-yo
ship
plane
kite
This game can be used to revise objects students have learnt from Tieng
Anh 3 such as school things in unit 8: This is my pen, things in the house in unit
13: Where’s my book? And unit 14: Are there any posters in the room? Or toys
in unit 15: Do you have any toys? Or somes pets in unit 16: Do you have any
pets?
* Pelmanism Flashcards:
Another popular activity with flashcards, particularly if you have a picture
and corresponding text, is to play a game where you match the picture with the
correct text. It is recommended that you demonstrate this activity to the learners
so that they are able to pick up the rules of the activity. Basically, you get place
all pictures and corresponding text flashcards face down and shuffle them up.
One student picks up two cards and if they pick up a picture as well as a
corresponding word, then the learner will get one point. It is best to get students
to keep their pair of flashcards so that they are able to count up how many points
they have achieved. Young learners and adults alike enjoy this game in the
classroom and is a wonderful memorisation activity. This activity can be used to
teach vocabulary of most units in Tieng Anh 3.
*Line True or False:
Put a line of tape on the floor and designate one side "True" and the other

"False". Hold up a flashcard or object and say its word. If Ss think that you
have said the correct word they jump on the True side, if not they jump on the
False side. Incorrect Ss sit out until the next game. This is ideal for any topic
you want to teach.
*Musical Flashcards:
Ss walk around some flashcards in a circle as some music is playing.
When the music stops T shouts out a flashcard and the Ss must race to step on
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that card. The first S to step on it keeps the card (1 point) and the game
continues. This activity can also be applied in all uints in Tieng Anh 3.
*Animal Game:
This is a fun activity for young learners on the topic of animal
noises. After teaching the animals and their noises sit each S in a different part
of the classroom and assign them as different animals (to make it clearer you can
give each S a flashcard of the animal they are representing). This game can be
used to teach vocabulary of pets in unit 16: Do you have any pets?
Walk around the room and talk to each S, who can only reply as an
animal. E.g. T: "Hello Lan", S1:"Meow! (cat). T: "What's your name?" S2:
"Chop!Chop!" (goldfish). T: "How are you, Nam?" S3: "Bow-wow!" (dog)…

cat

goldfish

parrot

rabbit

*Flashcard Whispers:
The other day, I wanted to review vocabulary with a group of students and
rather than naming the game “Chinese Whispers”, I decided to call it “Flashcard
Whispers”. I would use the flashcards to prompt the word/picture and students
whispered the word/picture to the front of the group and the first group to write
up the word or draw the picture would gain a point for their team. It is a lively
activity for students and gets them up and out of their seats during the lesson. It
is best used at the end of the lesson as a review and they leave the classroom
with a smile on their faces. Try it out and be creative with the points – the teams
will be very competitive. This activity can be used to teach vocabulary of most
units in Tieng Anh 3.
*Lightning Flashcards:
T stands at front of class with flashcards. Ss form two teams standing in a
line. Two Ss go first and face away from the T, T says 1.2.3. what is it? and Ss
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quickly turn around and the first S to call out the correct answer wins a point for
their team. This game is good for review of vocabulary of all units.
*Quick Peek:

T holds a flashcard with the picture facing towards him/her. T quickly
shows it to the Ss for a quick peek. The S who guesses the card wins a point.
This activity can be used to revise new words of all the units in Tieng Anh 3. For
example, to revise new words of some continuous actions in unit 18: What are
you doing?, we can use this game with flashcards such as:

reading
listening to music

singing

cooking

drawing

cleaning the floor

playing the piano

watching TV

Here is a specifically illustrative lesson plan for unit 9: What colour is it?
with part 1,2,3 of lesson 2 in Tieng Anh 3, in which some flashcards of colour
are used to warm up, present and revise vocabulary as well as for some practice
and consolidation activities after that.
LESSON PLAN
Unit 9:
What colour is it?
Lesson 2: Part 1, 2, 3
I. Overview:
1. Objectives:
- Helping students be able to identify some colours, then ask and answer
questions about colours
2. Language focus:
2.1. Phonics:
2.2. Lexical items/ vocabulary:
Red, green, blue, white, yellow, brown, orange
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2.3. Grammar/ structures:
A: What colour is/are your ………..?
B: It’s/ They’re ………………..
3. Teaching/ learning aids:
- Students’ and teacher’s book.
- Projector, screen, CD player, colourful chalks, magnets, flashcards of school
things and colours.
II. Procedure:
Teacher and Students’ activitives
A. Warm up: Play the game: What’s
missing?(3 minutes)
- Teacher sticks 7 flashcards of the 7
words (Red, green, blue, white, yellow,
brown, orange ) on the board and asks
students to read the name of each card in
Vietnamese. Ask students to close their
eyes while teacher is hiding one of the
flashcards. Then ask students to open
their eyes and answer the question:
“What’s missing?”
- Teacher does it again with some more
flashcards, then ends the game and leads
in the topic of new lesson: Colours
B. New lesson:
I.Vocabulary:(8 minutes)
* Teaching vocabulary: “Circle
drilling” activity (5 minutes)
- T uses the flashcards again to teach the
English words of those colours following

steps of teaching vocabulary.
- Sits the Ss with you in a circle. T holds
up a flashcard of one colour and says its
name (e.g. “red”). T passes it on to the
next S who also says its name and passes
it on to the next students. T continues
passing with other flashcards of left
colours ( yellow, orange, green, blue,
white, brown)
* Checking up vocabulary: Chanting
and “keep the cards in order” activity
( 3 minutes)
- Teacher introduces the chant: “ Now I

Target language
Flashcards:

red

green

blue

white yellow brown

orange

New words:
colour: màu sắc
red: màu đỏ

yellow: màu vàng nghệ
orange: màu vàng cam
green: màu xanh lá cây
blue: màu xanh da trời
white: màu trắng
brown: màu nâu

Chant: Title: Colour
Yellow, orange, white. ( Clap )
Yellow, orange, white. ( Clap )
Yellow, orange,
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have a chant about colours for you.
Listen first.”
- Teacher reads the chant several times
together with clapping hands for students
to listen
- Teacher says one line at a time and ask
students to repeat several times, then
says the line again, clapping hands where
the language is stressed as indicated by
the asterisks. After that, have students
repeat the chant several times with
clapping their hands. Then the teacher
shows flashcards according to students’
chanting. Teacher asks some students to
come to the board showing these
flashcards while other one are chanting.

- Teacher shows the written text of the
chant on the screen for students to read
in choral by themselves.
- Teacher divides students into two
groups to read each line of the chant turn
by turn. Then calls some students to
present the chants individually using
flashcards to the whole class.
- Teacher asks students to arrange the
flashcards according to the order they
appear in the chant.
II. Model sentences:(3 minutes)
- T introduces model sentences to ask
and answer about colours then asks
students to give some examples using
these sentences.
III.Practice:
1. Look, listen and repeat:(5 minutes)
- T asks Ss to look at the pictures, listen
and repeat the dialogue in chorus then in
pairs. T calls some pairs to read and
gives comments.
2. Point and say:(8 minutes)
- T asks Ss to practise asking and
answering about colours while pointing
each flashcards of school things
combined with flashcards of colours.T

Yellow, orange,
Yellow, orange, white. ( Clap )

Green ,blue, brown, red
Green ,blue, brown, red
Green ,blue, green ,blue
Green ,blue, brown, red.

A: What colour is/are your …?
B: It’s/ They’re ……………

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then calls some pairs to speak.
- Ss speak in pairs and give comments on
other pairs’ speaking.
3. Let’s talk:(8 minutes)
- Teacher asks students to practise asking
and answering about colours more with
their partner in pairs.
- Teacher calls a few pairs to act out the
dialogue in front of the class.
IV. Consolidation & homework:(3
minutes)
- Teacher uses flashcards and asks
students to read the chant again to
consolidate the vocabulary.
- To consolidate the model sentences,
teacher puts some of the flashcards in a
bag and asks students to guess the colour
of each school thing inside by asking:
“What colour is/are…. ?

- Homework: Teacher asks students to
create their own flashcards of colours.
2.4. Effectiveness of the study
After a short period of time using flashcards to teach grade 3 students
vocabulary, my students have changed a lot their attitude towards learning
vocabulary. Most of them find learning new words amusing and as not difficult
as before. They are eager for every new word that the teacher is going to give.
They even suggest their own flashcards for the class to learn altogether. It’s
much easier for them to memorize the meaning of new words through flashcards
because it’s easy to combine pictures or realia to illustrate new words’ meaning.
With flashcard games and activities, their pronunciation of new words has also
been much improved. They can now pronounce a new word correctly and
naturally with its stress. And after all, they are willing to memorize the new
words’ spelling and they are even able to create their own flashcards. Therefore,
students can remember all main aspects of a new word after flashcard games and
activities naturally and eagerly without their recognition. And here is the result
of adjusting how my grade 3 students remembered new words at the middle of
second term:
Total students
60
Percentage
Number of students can pronounce the new words 45
75%
correctly with its sounds
Number of students can pronounce the new words 30
50%
correctly with its sounds and stress
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Number of students can remember the new words’ 45
meaning
Number of students can remember the new words’ 45
spelling

75%
75%

To compare with the result of grade 3 students remembering new words
before applying flashcard games and activities, there is a great increase( from
50% to 75 %) in the number of students who can remember how to write any
new word together with its meaning. The same increase happens in the number
of my students who can pronounce the new words correctly with its sounds. The
most dramatic increase takes place in the number of students who can do
correctly with its sounds and stress (from 10% to 50%). This result identified
clearly that my students’ ability of remembering new words has been improved
very much. Generally speaking, they feel more confident when being checked
vocabulary. And it is really a positive signal when their listening and speaking
skills have also been improved because of their improvement in pronouncing
word stress. The results showed that students’ vocabulary mastery improved
after they were taught by using flashcards. The students in experimental group
admitted that they could memorize the words easily, be more motivated to learn
English and understand vocabulary easily. After treatment, all the students were
motivated and interested in learning English. Flashcards give many benefits to
the students in learning vocabulary, such as: they became motivated and
interested in learning English, understood the words easily and memorized the
words faster.
3. Conclusion and suggestion:
3.1.Conclusion:
In short, flashcards are really helping children learn new words much

better considering pronunciation, meaning and spelling of each word. Flashcards
and embeded interesting games and activies are very entertaining and children
really love them. As an additional material it’s a perfect teaching tool to make
children motivated and involved in language lessons, especially the little
children, slower students or students with some learning difficulties. They are
helping the students understand and memorize easily, making the students relax,
making the class more productive, and helping the teacher to handle the class.
It’s high time English teachers in general and English primary teachers in
particular applied flashcards in their teaching not only vocabulary but also other
aspects of language. However, it’s not easy at all to master all flashcard
techniques. But due to its great benefits as presented above, I hope that many
English teachers will like it and spend their time more on researching and
applying flashcard techniques into their real teaching effectively.
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3.2.Suggestion:
There are some suggestions for further research in the field of teaching
vocabulary using flashcards. Firstly, it is suggested for further study to conduct
the study in the other contexts, such as: in reading, writing, speaking, listening
and grammar teaching. Secondly, it is recommended that teacher can
present interesting pictures on the flashcards to lead teacher’s performance
better. Overall, it is recommended to use flashcards as a strategy to teach
vocabulary to young learners.
The last but very far from the least suggestion is holding some seminars
about the ways to use flashcards in teaching English so that many English
teachers can have a chance to meet, learn and share experiences on using
flashcards to teach together. By this way, flashcards will become popular and
will be widely used in teaching English. And the teachers will have one more
effective choice to make their lessons more vividly and attractively. Of course

students’ love for English will increase more and more day by day and flashcard
by flashcard.
Under the limitation of time, I have just presented here only a few of my
experiences on using flashcards to teach grade 3 students vocabulary and I’m
really looking forward to receiving sincerely contributive ideas.

Thanh Hóa, ngày 5 tháng 3 năm 2018
Tôi xin cam đoan đây là SKKN của mình
viết, không sao chép nội dung của người
khác.
(Ký và ghi rõ họ tên)

XÁC NHẬN CỦA THỦ TRƯỞNG ĐƠN VỊ

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REFERENCES

1. Carthy, Michael Mc. Vocabulary. English Oxford University Press -1990
2. Hoang Van Van and authors. Tieng Anh 3, Book 1. NXB Giao Duc - 2014
3. Hoang Van Van and authors. Tieng Anh 3, Book 2. NXB Giao Duc - 2014
4. Nguyen Quoc Hung, M.A. Ki thuat day Tieng Anh cho hoc sinh tieu hoc.
NXB Giao Duc – 2012
5. Thornbury, Scott. How to Teach Vocabulary. England, Longman - 1990
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