Index Cards

I have decided that there is something inherently fun about index cards. Deceptively dull in appearance, index cards can enliven a classroom in many ways. They add an element of chance and can be used to support a heightened level of student participation. I would love to hear from any of you who have had success with this humble office product and submit a few ideas here for you all to adapt if you like.

Idea #1. Write passages from a reading assignment on index cards (with page numbers in case a closer look is needed). Pass the stack in class and have students take turns reading a card aloud. Students share their responses; when the discussion subsides, the stack is passed to a classmate and a new card is drawn.

Idea #2. Give the students the index cards for homework: ask them to inscribe a card with a passage which strikes them for any reason--as beautiful, painful, wrong, confusing, funny. Use this student-generated collection in the same way you'd use cards which you yourself had prepared. The difference is that as the class responds to each prompt, the student who prepared the card can share responsibility for shaping the discussion.

Idea #3. Divide the class into groups of 3-4. Write discussion questions on index cards and give the groups 5-ish minutes for each. You can ask different kinds of questions, including:

a) Personal Response questions, such as "Does Eliezer do the right thing when he lies to his relative from Antwerp?"

b) questions about Authorial Choices, such as,"What effect do the anachronistic moments
in the text have upon the experience of the reader?"

and

c) Interpretive questions such as: "What do you notice about the role of shadows in this memoir ?"

Benji has a "popcorn rule" which I find useful: just as popcorn reaches a steady roar on the stove, so a good discussion starts out a bit slow, warms up and then cooks for a while before subsiding. In doing any activity, listen for the roar, and when it starts to subside, initiate the next step in the process--i.e. pass the card!