How to use mini-flashcard
How to Use EF Small Stars Mini-flashcards With Your Child at Home
The Small Stars mini-flashcards are a great tool for helping your child to memorize new words and structures, reinforcing language learned during lesson time.
They can also help older children with word and letter recognition.
Most young children tend to be visual learners, and the mini-flashcards are bright, colorful and match the graphics used throughout the Small Stars series. Many of the activities you can do with the mini-flashcards will also appeal to kinesthetic learners.
There are many ways in which the mini-flashcards can be used, to make learning fun and instructive.
When asking your child to reproduce the language they learned in class, it’s best to avoid asking them directly “What did you learn in class?” Many very young learners are not aware of the learning process and view their time in class as play. Direct questions related to the child’s progress are likely to confuse and result in a very limited response. For the same reason, asking your child “How do you say ‘this’ in English?” is likely to be met with a puzzled expression. Children often don’t need the word in their native language to understand that a dog is called “a dog”.
The best way to elicit vocabulary items from your child is to ask them the English question “What’s this?” etc. If asking in English is not an option, try to elicit the answer through non-verbal expression, point at the flashcard, shrug your shoulders and make a puzzled face.
Reviewing Vocabulary
Ask and answer:Hold up a flashcard and ask your child to produce the target language.
Bean Bag Throw: Lay the flashcards face-up up the floor. Have your child throw a bean bag on to the flashcards, and name the flashcard it lands on.
Mime and guess:Choose a flashcard, but don’t show it to your child. Mime the language and have your child guess the word or phrase on the flashcard. Note: This activity works best with adjectives, animals or objects that can be used.
Order the flashcards:Your child takes a set of flashcards out of his/her mini-flashcard pack. You call out a sequence of those flashcards and your child must place them accordingly. E.g. your child takes out the colors red, yellow, blue and green. You say: ‘Blue, green, red, yellow.’ Your child places the flashcards in the sequence blue, green, red and then yellow.
Flash the flashcard:Hold the flashcards so that your child can’t see the picture. Turn the flashcard around quickly so that they only see the picture very quickly. Have your child name the object. Have the student use the appropriate structure E.g. ‘It’s a ….’
Slow motion:Hold a set of mini-flashcards with the pictures facing towards you. The last card should be turned around so it is facing your child, but is hidden behind the pack. Slowly pull the flashcard up inch by inch so your child can only see part of the flashcard. As the picture is slowly revealed have your child try and guess what it is. If your child guesses correctly, have them take the flashcard.
Disappearing Flashcard Game:Place a number of flashcards in front of your child. 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 your child to open their eyes again. Have your child guess the missing flashcard. To Support Listening Activities
Your child’s Small Stars program contains many listening activities on the Audio CD. By looking at the audio script downloadable from Parent Pages you can see the vocabulary used during that activity. Remove the required mini-flashcards and have your child point at the cards as they hear the relevant words.
Letter Tracing
Letter tracing practice is an essential part of the Orange and Red Small Stars books. Through letter tracing practice your child will refine their fine motor skills, preparing them for their future education at school, as well as helping them through a key stage of their development.
Small Stars Orange and Red book contain a full set of Alphabet mini-flashcards. These mini-flashcards are specially laminated on the letter-side, to make them easy to wipe clean. Your child can practice tracing over the letters on the mini-flashcard using a felt-tip pen. Wipe the card clean using a piece of tissue paper once they are done.
Have the student repeat the tracing activity on a frequent basis to hone their skills.