Task Cards in the High School Classroom - Part 1

Before discovering TpT I hadn't ever seen or used a typical task card. I wasn't even sure how to use them when i first stumbled across them. Turns out you can use them in a variety of ways. So I did some research and complied a list of common ways teachers use task cards at the high school level. I will be doing future lists with less common ways as I come across them!

A few cards from my Solving 2-step Equation Task Cards

Stations (Small group/Individual)
Cut out and laminate (optional) the task cards and set up stations around the room with 2 or 3 cards per station. Make sure you have recording sheets of some kind for each of your students to use. Break your students into groups. Each group will spend a few minutes at each station answering the questions. Give a signal and have them switch to the next station.

Pros - Gets kids up and moving. Students all get to practice the material. Recording sheets give you information on their progress. You only need to make 1 copy of the task card set. Works great for review. If the task cards have QR codes students can check their answers as they go.​

Cons - Students may get stressed if they can't answer the questions in the given time limit. Students might feel inclined to copy from other students in their group.

Pairs
Cut out and laminate (optional) the task cards you will need at least half as many sets as you do students in any one class. Break your students into pairs and have them work through a set of task cards together. You can have them use a single recording sheet or individual recording sheets if you want them to write down their answers.

Pros - More discussion between students about the math. It gives you some indication of their understanding of the material. Works great for review. If the task cards have QR codes students can check their answers as they go.

Cons - You need to make many copies of the task card sets.

Individual Practice
This requires making a set of task cards for each student. They can use a recording sheet to record their work or do it in individual notebooks. If the task cards have QR codes students can check their work as they go. Works very well as differentiated review. Students can each practice the concepts they are still struggling with prior to an assessment instead of all students working on every concept.

Pros -  Each student can be working on different concepts. Gives you information about the students progress.

Cons - Students might struggle working on their own. You have to make a lot of copies of each set of task cards.

If you would like to try some task cards in your classroom I have a sample set of cards in my TpT store (Click the Picture!)