Card Talk – Building Classroom Community and Learning About Your Students

Edit from 2020: Are you teaching online? Read the post below first, and then check out this one for ideas on how to adapt it to online teaching and learning! Good luck to you!!!

Card Talk is another essential activity for CI classrooms. It has had some different names throughout the years that you might be familiar with – Ben Slavic’s “Circling With Balls” is definitely the progenitor to what many now just call Card Talk. (Because…#thatnametho) (My understanding is that he named it that way because so many students drew sports balls on their cards when he was teaching. #sportsballs) Many teachers start off the year with Card Talk to build classroom community and learn about their students, but this is an activity whose flexibility really lends itself to being used at any point throughout the school year.

Why should you do it? Not only to learn about the opinions, aspirations, and experiences of your students, but also to connect students to each other through your discoveries! It can be exciting hearing about someone who shares some part of your life when you’re new to a class, to a school, to an area, etc. Plus, Card Talk can be a great way to front load some high-frequency vocabulary about a subject if you’re either required to follow some sort of mandated curriculum, or are diving into a focused unit of study about a (perhaps AP- or IB-aligned) theme.

When do I use Card Talk?

Card Talk belongs in the “Create” category of activities, or what we might also call the “Guided Oral Input” part of a lesson. This is an experience that generates language and common experience in the classroom, which become the basis for further literacy work. (Most activities, like stories, characters, Movie Talk, etc etc. that people think of when they think of CI fall into this “Create” category, as they generate a lot of novel oral language, but don’t forget to also have strategies from the Write, Read, and Extend/Assess categories to provide the most complete L2 literacy experience for your students!)

As for when to use this activity during the school year…it can really be whenever! Many teachers do this early in the school year (read: first or second day, first or second week) as a way to break the proverbial ice and build classroom community (and also reinforce classroom expectations and procedures). But you could just as easily bust out Card Talk in the middle of the year to align with whatever topic or theme comes next for you. District requires you to do a daily routine unit? Card Talk it! Looking to talk alllll about your culture’s delicious food? Card Talk it! Getting into 3rd- and 4th-year discussions about stereotypes and regional identity? Card Talk it! We’ll see how below…

How do I do it? – Logistics

I have done Card Talk effectively two different ways: on paper, and digitally.

On paper: Each student needs a piece of paper to write and draw on, as well as a marker. I would shoot for 8.5×11″ printer paper, or card stock if you can get it – these “cards” can function as name tents if you want them to. Marker helps the images and names be visible throughout the classroom. If you are feeling NEXT LEVEL, use differently-colored paper for each class, to keep them separate. If you are Recycling Royalty, there’s no shame in using the back of a scrap piece of paper! (I am of German descent, so my Recycling senses are strong…)

Once students have the necessary materials, they should fold their paper in half hamburger-style and write their name in large print on one of the sides. (Is there a more professional way to write hamburger-style folding? Is it “lengthwise?” Whatever we’re all teachers here and it’s my blog darn it) On the same side as their name, students should draw a large image – without words as much as possible – that is a response to the Prompt. You may want to have students divide that side up so that there is space for both their large written name and the image, and we ask for name on the same side as the image to link the two together in our conversation. If you’re doing Card Talk early in Level 1 or 2, your Prompt can be “Draw something that you like – an activity, a sport you play, something you do in your free time, whatever!” (Some students may need some loving reminders of what is context-appropriate to draw on a card for a “school assignment,” *teacher wink*) For more prompt ideas for levels 1 and 2, as well as ideas for upper level courses, see the “Pro Tips” section below.

Students only need about 4 minutes max to write their name and draw their picture. (We’re talking a quick sketch in one color, not an artistic masterwork.) After they have finished, you have some choices. I have typically used Card Talk in the beginning of the year, so I have students prop up their cards so I can use them simultaneously for the activity, and to learn names. OR: Scott Benedict turned me on to collecting all the cards, quickly sorting them by category (sports, video games, food, etc.) before choosing a first card for discussion.

Digitally: I link a slide show to our Learning Management System that has a template for students to fill out. There are enough copies of the slides for each student to claim one, and the instructions are right on the slide for students to edit and create their “cards.”

Use your Precision Teacher Judgment to pick a student’s card that you would like to engage the students and class in discussing. You’ll be holding on to it to use as a visual scaffold for much of the activity, or displaying it for the class to see.

To start, signal for students to bring their attention to the whole class, and if you have a signal that indicates a transition from the L1 to the L2, give that signal now!

How do I do it? – Procedure

1. After you have picked which card you are going to discuss first and gathered your class’ attention, show the card to the whole class. You can say something in the L2 like, “OooOOoo, look at Soandso’s card! How interesting!” Alternately, if you’ve collected your whole class’ cards, you can ask, “Hmm…where is Soandso?” while looking around the classroom. You will likely already know where they are, but it will give you a chance to repeat the student’s name early on in class in a positive light. This also give you a chance to use those question words early and in context, boom.
2. After you have identified the student and had the rest of the class observe their card, you can repeat simple comprehensible language like “Hmm, look at Soandso’s card! Wow, so interesting!” Again, shower the love early on. THEN: take a stab at describing what is going on on the card, in slow, comprehensible language. Think breaking it up into chunks of meaning, a la: “Soandso…plays…the guitar!” Point to the card as you repeat that line again, and then you might also go to the board to write the word for “plays” in L1 and L2 on the board, and “guitar” if that is not as cognate-y as it is in German and Spanish. Remember: the card is the visual scaffold for your conversation!
3. All you’ve said so far is that Soandso likes to do something. Easy. You’ve been looking into every students’ eyes to confirm that they’re with you. Maybe do a quick “What did I just say?” in L1. Now is a good time to confirm with the student in question – “Hey Soandso, you play the guitar, right?” This gives them a chance to answer affirmatively, and may sometimes be necessary if a student’s artwork requires a bit more…um…interpretation.
4. You’ve stated what the student likes to do, confirmed it, and are now ready to expand with some details. Using our example of playing guitar, you can ask things like, “Do you play guitar super well? Like Jimi Hendrix?” (obviously assuming that yes, they are a world-class guitar player) “What songs do you like to play? Are you in a band? How long have you played guitar? What style of music do you prefer to play? Have you ever played a big concert?” Here’s the thing: you only have to pick one or two of these detail options to make an interesting conversation. If this is early, your students might not be able to handle too much more new information/language anyways. Pick a detail and park on it for a while, savoring the new information as it comes.
5. And here’s a natural segue: I like to alternate between questioning the individual student and panning out to the rest of the class. I can either ask them similar questions to ones we’ve already covered with the student (“Who else in the class plays guitar? Who plays in a band?”) and then compare them to the individual student, or just confirm details and comprehension with the class using some artful questioning. (“Does Soandso play the guitar or do they play the piano?” “Yes or no, does Soandso play in a band?”) Both serve to slow you down from adding too much information, and get some natural repetition on whatever has already come up. Surveying the class and tallying the results on the board can also be a helpful visual scaffold.
6. If you’re ever stuck, two power questions are “Where?” and “With whom?” (“Do you play guitar in the [Nearby Concert Stadium]?” “Do you play in Justin Bieber’s band?”) Students can answer however they like. We’re not going to call their parents later to confirm that their child plays in Justin Bieber’s traveling rock band…teachers have no time for investigative journalism, per my survey of the field. But kids can be whoever they want in class, and maybe there’s a bit of fanciful invention allowed. Or they can answer honestly! Either way, whatever they say is cool (as long as it’s school appropriate/kind) and can be fodder for further conversation.
7. Ride the waves of energy that come with talking to the student and the class. HEY THERE remember we are always striving to talk TO the students, not at them. It’s all about the class communicating so that we can all learn more information about each other. That serves both content and affective goals, especially early on. Find out more information about the student, always checking comprehension, involving the class, and reviewing.
8. When you’ve discussed a student’s card, learned some interesting supporting details, and you feel the energy starts to wane a little bit…move on! You can pick another card and repeat the process. (“Oh wow, that was so interesting that Soandso plays the lead guitar in an emo band. I used to do that, too. Thanks, Soandso. Hey, class, look at Whatserface’s card! She does competitive horseback archery!”) It can be helpful to set time limits for yourself so the Create phase doesn’t feel too mushy and ethereal, so maybe stick to 10-15 minutes of Card Talk at a time before transitioning to another mode. Abandon ship at any time if the “feel” just isn’t there, and be ready to move to the other parts of your lesson early with literacy activities and brain breaks.

What do I do with it now that we’ve finished?

During the process of Card Talk, I find myself writing details on the board that we discover through the conversation. These might be words like “tournament” or “team” or “whaling harpoon” for your sports conversations, or “song” or “genre” for music conversations. You might have supported these by drawing little pictures to go with the L2 words in lieu of L1 translations – or not! Either way, all of this scaffolding that you’ve built up during the oral conversation can be excellent support for the Review portion of the lesson (which might just be a quick series of questions about things you learned together), and then for the shared writing during Write and Discuss. Your writing can flow easily because you can just follow the information that you’ve left as hints for yourself on the board.

Keep all the cards at the end of the lesson, and hold onto them. You can always pull out a card and Card Talk it on a day when you’re feeling less prepared, or if you just want to fill some time with some pleasant conversation. I usually do Card Talk a few days in a row at the beginning of the year to teach how to chorally respond, stay in one conversation, and how to signal when comprehension is lost. Plus, the class gets to know each other better as you help draw connections between students (and yourself!).

It’s also nice to whip out the cards later in the year, and talk about them as fond memories. Students might start producing phrases or sentences as you review them and they bask in the glow of their lovely memories. (One girl last year drew a cat on her card, so naturally we talked about cats, but she was also lightly teasing her own drawing, so we called her “the most artistic artist” for the rest of the year. And it came from Card Talk!)

During Comprehensible Cascadia, someone mentioned that it might be fun to give the cards back to the students and have them use them as talking pieces for little Presentational assessments. Maybe you set up a Flipgrid or Seesaw assignment where they talk about themselves. Using the card as a scaffold/support can help them feel more confident, because they’ve already heard the class talk about their card. I might try this during this coming year!

One last use of the cards and Card Talk is to personalize stories you tell with your class, or any other activity where everyone is interacting. Once you learn things about your students, you can put those things into their conversations and stories. Or maybe you don’t get to a card during Card Talk, but you can pull out the information and put that into a story – the kid who drew it may have forgotten that they drew whatever on their card, and imagine that you’re a Psychic Teacher with Magic Powers. Maybe a kid drew a horse, and in a story you’re telling, suddenly a horse appears! That might lead to an aside with that student, talking about their interest in horses and maybe personalizing the details so that everyone’s heart siiiiings.

Pro Tips!

1. Go slow! You may be tempted to explore EVERY ASPECT of EVERY CARD of EVERY STUDENT as SOON AS POSSIBLE to BUILD COMMUNITY and HAVE SO MUCH FUN. Slow down there, Turbo. (message cc: myself) We do not want to overwhelm students early in their language acquisition journeys, and each card may cause us to introduce a good bit of new language. Stick to fewer details / less language at first to build student confidence in comprehending and responding, and students will thank you for going slowly in their new language. Plus, this can also help us savor the moments more and remind us that the kids are the curriculum – we got nowhere to be, y’all. Just with our students. Take time also to review “old” cards to refresh that language and that knowledge.
2. Ask the next natural question! This activity is a lot like making small talk at a cocktail party. Ask yourself, “what do I want to know about this image and this student that will help us know them better and appreciate their lives more?” If you have to script out your questions ahead of time, there’s no shame in that! Take a peak at the cards during your planning period, and make a list of questions, if that helps you feel more confident. Then you can flow more naturally: “You like to swim! Where do you swim? Are you a good swimmer? Do you swim competitively?” There’s no shame in being very prepared, and then magically pulling out that specific card that you’ve prepared well when you’re with your class. You’ll find that preparing for one card actually helps you prepare for the rest of them, as the questions tend to be similar across time and topics.
3. Compare and contrast with the class! As I hinted at above, it can sometimes just feel like you’re talking to one student while everyone else awkwardly listens in. Involve the class by surveying them, comparing them, contrasting them, checking their memories. You might create a tally of people who do the student’s activity well, okay, and awfully, and then name a couple “experts.” (I have had at least 4 Fortnite “experts” in each class whom I asked all varieties of questions about the game.) Connect students who share similar interests: “Oh! Both Soandso and Whatserface play soccer! But they play on different teams!” This activity is all about building community and common knowledge about the many wonderful people in your classes.
4. Move on! One time, I pulled out yet another card that indicated that Soandso liked video games, and, surprise, this kid loved Fortnite specifically. I looked around and saw like 8 of my other non-gamer students astral project out of their bodies, because we had already touched on the topic before. So I moved on! If a topic isn’t bringing energy to the class, or the student you pick isn’t providing tons of details that move the conversation along, there’s no shame in confirming what you have learned with the class, and then moving on. Give each card a good faith attempt, and be okay with switching to something else. You can either pick another card, or move into a Review of everything that came up in Card Talk that day.
5. Provide choices! Especially early on in a course, students might feel uncomfortable responding to more open-ended questions because they might not know if they can say some words in L1, or because they’re worried whether or not they’ll say the L2 “correctly.” You can circumvent this by offering some choices to the student – “Do you play the guitar in a band or by yourself? Do you create your own songs or play songs by famous people?” Include some choice options in your preparation so you can assuage the nerves of your poor L2 babies when you’re like HEY TALK L2 WITH ME and they break out in a panic sweat.
6. Prompt ideas! – This one gets its own section below…

Prompt Ideas (roughly by level)

You can use Card Talk in any level to learn about what students generally like, but you can also use it to adapt to any thematic unit or topic you might be teaching. Just have students respond to the prompts with a simple drawing! Useful vocabulary for a topic or theme usually comes up in response to prompts like these. Here are some ideas based on what is typically “asked for” by traditional scopes and sequences at each level – if you have more ideas, comment below and I’m happy to quote you and add them to this list! You don’t have to do Card Talk to start any unit if you don’t want to – these are just suggestions!

Level 1:
What do you like?
What is your favorite place in our school?
What is your favorite class?
What is your favorite food? What is your favorite food from the Target Culture?
What do your typical meals each day look like?
How do you stay healthy?
What is your favorite room in your home?
What do you buy when you go shopping?
What is your favorite place in our town?
Who is your best friend, and what are they like?

Level 2: any of the above, plus:
What are you afraid of?
What are your favorite activities in your favorite class?
How do you spend your time after school?
What is your least favorite/grossest chore to do at home?
What is your favorite mode of transportation?
What does your ideal weekend look like?
What is one of your favorite childhood memories?
What holiday means the most to you?
What is your favorite scene from your favorite book/movie/TV show?

Level 3: any of the above, plus:
What sorts of art do you appreciate most?
What do you think symbolizes our local community?
What technologies have had the greatest impact on our society (either historically or recently)?
What job do you want to have when you are older?
How will the future be different from now? (Economically, environmentally, politically, etc.)
What is something typically [Home Culture]? On the other side of the paper, what is something that is typically [Target Culture]?

Level 4+/AP/IB: any of the above, plus:
What do you think is the greatest challenge the world [/Home Culture/Target Culture] is currently facing?
What is a new technology you can think of that would positively change the world of the future?
What one stereotype about [Home Culture] do you think is absolutely false? On the other side of the paper, what is one stereotype that you think is true about [Home Culture]?
What is one aspect of [Target Culture] that you find very different from [Home Culture] and would love to incorporate into [Home Culture]?

What if I want to learn more?

Again, Card Talk has evolved over the years, so see the posts above from Ben Slavic to check out “Circling With Balls.” Here’s a video of him talking about it from his TPRS training series.

Cameron Taylor created this document that gives a rundown of how to do Card Talk. It looks like Cameron also gives the instructions for the activity in the L2 – NEAT! And I just found this video of him delivering those instructions!

Brett Chonko has this awesome video here that shows him in the first day of the school year doing Card Talk with students. He also peppers in a lot of talk about what students can expect from a “CI” class, and even does Write and Discuss on the first day! #pro

Here’s Tina Hargaden doing Calendar Talk, moving into Card Talk, and then doing a Write and Discuss. So…much…clapping…! And here’s another video where she sets Card Talk up with her class.

Here’s AnneMarie Chase doing Card Talk with her class. She is an expert at going sloooow, and she uses lots of artful questioning to include the class in the conversation.

What do you think? Do you feel ready to use Card Talk? Comment below and send me any questions you might have!