Conversation Cards - Let's talk - FLIP IT!

Let’s talk conversation cards – FLIP IT!

When the going gets rough, flip it and use Let's talk cards. Here are 48 cards that will help you through tough times in the classroom.

Tired teachers? Flip it and make your life easier.

Bored students? Flip it and engage them with unexpected texts and photos!

Same old questions? Flip it and blow your students' minds with thought-provoking queries!

Predictable tasks? Flip it and get them working in gripping activities!

Awkward silence? Flip it and Let's talk!

These cards are for B1 students and above/one-to-one lessons/ pairwork/groupwork or self-study.

How to use “Flip It”?

“Let’s talk: Flip It” conversation cards are double-sided. Each card contains four parts:

1) A photo that is connected with the topic but is not necessarily an obvious choice. The photo may be used before the students read the text underneath. They might predict why it was chosen for that particular topic, speculate about the metaphors it might contain, and offer their interpretations. The photo might also be analysed and referred to while/after reading the text and/or answering the questions when the students have thought about the topic thoroughly.

2) “Leap of faith”: a short text under the photo. Each text deals with a pair of opposites in the title of each card and “flips” them, i.e. they are compared, contrasted, and/or reversed. Some of the texts are serious, others are humorous but all of them are supposed to get the students thinking about the topic, give them ideas and vocabulary for the discussion that follows, and make them see another perspective they might not have been aware of before. You may use the text only as a starting point for the discussion questions on the other side of the card or you may analyse it in more detail e.g. by asking questions about the reversed roles/concepts/ideas, pre-teaching some of the vocabulary, or making the students look up some of the words.

3) “Flip it over”: a set of six questions in which the students are asked to discuss different aspects of the “flipped” pair of opposites. They work in pairs or small groups, with time to prepare or without. The discussion may be as guided as you think your students need at that moment, i.e. you may insist on certain phrases to introduce opinions and arguments, agree and disagree etc. You may also ask the students to write more questions connected with the topic and either discuss them themselves or swap them with another pair/group.

4) “Land it”: a series of five follow-up tasks connected with the “flipped” pair. Some of the tasks ask the students to do something creative, e.g. write or design something. Others will require doing some research on the topic first and expressing their opinion. You may give the students freedom to choose the form in which they will present their findings, or decide yourself what form would be most appropriate for the students taking into account what you want them to practise. Your students may also come up with their own ideas for follow-up tasks.

A list of 48 “Flip It” cards:

Students and teachers

Animals and humans

Youth and old age

Men and women

Rich and poor

Married and single

Politicians and voters

Soldiers and civilians

Writers and readers

Journalists and the public

God(s) and humans

Doctors and patients

Starvation and overindulgence

Dressed and naked

Free and imprisoned

Artists and the rest of the world

Drunk and sober

Couch potatoes and the sports obsessed

Childlessness and large families

Homeowners and the homeless

Life and death

Nature and industry

Online and offline

Clean and dirty

Past and future

Optimism and pessimism

Night and day

Advertisers and consumers

Work and unemployment

Tourists and locals

Sea and mountains

Walking and driving

People with disabilities and without

Music and silence

Cowardice and courage

Knowledge and ignorance

Rebellion and conformity

Monolingual and multilingual

Good and evil

Success and failure

The truth and lies

Compliments and insults

Happiness and sadness

Change and the status quo

Love and hatred

Beauty and ugliness

Earth and space

Us and them