As teachers, we are always looking for innovative, creative ideas to motivate the students in our classrooms. When lessons are more engaging and hands-on, students are more excited to come to school and spend the day learning. Using manipulatives is one way to do this!
What are Clip-It Task Cards?
“Clip-It” task cards are a simple way to make phonics and spelling practice more fun and engaging. All you need are some clothespins (or any kind of clip!) to make these task cards hands-on and kinesthetic for your readers.
Each of the resources covers specific phonics and spelling patterns. For example, there’s a set of task cards for students to practice the CH/TCH spelling rule, as well as ones to practice when to use C/K/CK at the beginning, middle, or end of the word. (See the complete list below!)
The sets align with Orton-Gillingham and are perfect for students who are learning Wilson or Barton spelling rules. These task cards are ready to go as supplemental practice for these programs.
All you have to do is print, laminate, and cut! Save them on a key ring or in a card box, and you’ll have ready-to-go activities to reinforce phonics that you can use year after year.
3 Reasons to Use Clip-It Task Cards
There are three main reasons you should use “Clip-It” Task Cards:
1. Engaging & Fun Practice
Task cards, in general, are a fun way for students to practice skills. Add clothespins or fun clips, and they’re even MORE fun! Clip-It task cards are hands-on and engaging. They allow for students to interact with phonics skills in a kinesthetic way.
2. Quick Assessment
These task cards are a great way to do a “quick check” of common spelling patterns. Have students complete a few at the beginning of your small reading group time or during 1:1 conferences to see how they’re doing with specific spelling patterns. Another option is to have students record their answers on the task card log and use that as a quick progress monitoring data point. You could even have them complete the task cards twice, once before the phonics lesson (pre-assessment) and then once after (post-assessment). Some teachers even like to select a few cards from each set to create a custom “assessment set” to put on a keyring and use it as a quick informal assessment of which phonics patterns they need to reteach or review.
3. Versatile
The Clip-It task cards can be used in a variety of ways. They can be used as morning work, literacy centers, fast finisher activity, enrichment, or completed as warm-ups in small groups. These cards are can also be a ready-to-use sub activity or perfect for when you have a parent helper, peer buddy, or student teacher. I even like to use task cards as game cards with popular board games (Candyland, Snakes & Ladders, etc.)
Additional Task Card Features
Print + Digital – The task cards in this collection all include printable and digital versions. The digital version is perfect for remote teaching, flipped classrooms, virtual tutoring, or any form of independent practice on a 1:1 device. It’s formatted for Google Slides, so all you have to do is make a copy and assign it in Google Classroom or Seesaw.
Marking Answers – If you choose the printable option, students can mark the answer with a clothespin or any type of clip or marker. For the digital option, students can mark with a “drag & drop” chip using Google Slides.
Clip Options – Clothespins are a great option, but you can use whatever clips you have! Paper clips, chip clips, hair clips… whatever you have around the house! You can buy these cheaply on Amazon or your local Dollar Tree, but can also just use a dry-erase marker to circle the correct answer if you’re in a pinch!
Recording Log – If you’re looking for some accountability with these task cards, students can record their answers on the print or digital log. This is also helpful if you wish to assign a few task cards each day so the students can keep track of which ones they’ve completed.
Answer Key – Students can use the printable answer key to self-check their answers.
Growing Collection – This collection is “growing” which means new sets are added from time to time. There is no set schedule for when these will be completed, and I’m always looking for suggestions for new sets to add. You can grab the individual sets or purchase the discounted bundle at its current price and have access to all new sets that are added to the bundle in the future. (The price goes up with each set added, so it’s beneficial to grab today before more sets are added!)
- Initial /K/ Clip-It Cards
- Final /K/ Clip-It Cards
- Medial /K/ Clip-It Cards
- Final /CH/ Clip-It Cards
- Floss Rule (F, L, S, Z) Clip-It Cards
- Multi-Syllable Final /K/ Clip-It Cards
- Endings S & ES Clip-It Cards
- Accented Syllables Clip-It Cards
- Schwa Clip-It Cards
More Clothespin Ideas
Clothespins are a simple tool that can make a phonics activity more engaging. If you love the idea of using clothespins as manipulatives, be sure to check out my post on 3 Ways to Use Clothespins for Working with Sounds & Syllables for additional hands-on lesson ideas!
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