Task Cards Teaching Resources
Explore hundreds of task cards created by teachers for your elementary classroom! This collection of curriculum-aligned teaching resources touches on every subject from ELA to math, science to social studies and beyond.
This collection of printable task cards can help stimulate curiosity and motivate your students to participate actively in their learning!
Not familiar with task cards, or just looking for fresh ways to use them in the classroom? Read on for a primer from our teacher team!
What Are Task Cards?
A task card is a small card or piece of paper that presents students with a specific learning task or activity to complete.
Perfect for adding to your learning stations or centers, the cards typically contain a question, problem or activity that requires them to apply their knowledge and skills to solve or respond. The idea is to promote independent learning and allow kids to work at their own pace.
They're also invaluable for differentiating instruction as you can provide different levels of challenge or content to meet individual student needs. You'll notice many of the Teach Starter sets of task cards have varying difficulty levels.
Best Ways to Store Task Cards
We know task cards are invaluable tools for teachers — it's why our teacher team invests time in creating cards that will get your students engaged in learning! But we also know you end up with a LOT of task cards as the school year goes on. So how do you store them all?
Here are some tips from our teacher team to keep track of all those task cards!
- Punch a hole in each pack of task cards, and use binder rings. This makes it easy for students to flip through the cards in your centers without losing any along the way. The one drawback to this solution is that the cards can get frayed quickly, so you might want to laminate the cardstock before adding them to the ring.
- Use photo storage boxes. Most task cards are sized similarly to small photos, making photo storage boxes perfectly sized for your cards! Don't forget to label each box with the type of task card so you can find them easily next school year when it's time for this particular unit!
- Use note card holders. Did you print your task cards to fit on note or index cards? There are storage holders designed just for those items that will double as simple task card storage!
- Plastic zipper bags. Store individual sets of task cards in plastic zipper bags or sandwich bags, and use a permanent marker to label each bag with what the card is all about or use different colored bags (there are often fun colors in the stores around the different holidays) so that kids know exactly which bag takes which card set. You could even bring the binder ring into the mix here by punching a hole in each bag, then looping the bags on the binder ring.
- Use binder clips. Teach Starter Senior Resource Producer (and Georgia teacher) Randi Smith uses binder clips to organize her task cards, writing the subject of the cards on each clip.
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Coding Robot STEM Challenge Task Cards
A set of 10 STEM challenge cards using a coding robot.
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Forms of Energy – Science Experiments for Kids
Investigate mechanical, electrical, light, thermal, and sound energy with this set of science activities for kids.
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Family and Culture Poetry Writing Prompts
A set of 16 illustrated poetry task cards to help students write about their family and cultural celebrations.
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Prime & Composite Numbers – Task Cards
Demonstrate an understanding of prime and composite numbers with this set of 24 task cards.
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What Are Needs and Wants? Task Cards
Use these free Needs and Wants Task Cards to practice identifying things that are needs and things that are wants.
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Capitalization Task Cards (Grades 2-3)
Reinforce capitalization for proper nouns, the pronoun ‘I,’ and the beginning of sentences in text with this set of 24 task cards (extension included).
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Context Clues Scoot Activity
Use context clues to determine the meaning of an unfamiliar word.
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Measurement Math Center - Standard & Nonstandard Units
Create an easily differentiated measurement math center with a printable measurement task cards.
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Perseverance or Not? Scenario Cards
Get students to explore real-life examples of perseverance with this set of 16 scenario cards perfect for developing students' social-emotional skills.
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Emoji Equation Riddles - Determine the Unknown
Build problem-solving and critical thinking skills with printable Emoji Math Riddle task cards.
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Main Idea Task Cards
Practice finding the main idea and supporting detail in a passage with these task cards.
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2-Digit Subtraction Using Bar Models- Task Cards
Review and assess your students’ subtraction skills with a set of 2-digit subtraction task cards focusing on the bar model strategy.
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Understanding Exponents – Task Cards
Practice rewriting, comparing, and evaluating expressions with exponents with this set of task cards.
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Cause of the Seasons – Task Cards
Demonstrate an understanding of what causes the seasons with this set of 24 task cards.
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Comparing and Ordering Decimals Task Cards
Have students practice comparing and ordering decimals to the thousandths place with this set of 16 task cards.
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Playdough STEM Challenge – Task Cards
Use this set of STEM challenge cards to foster critical thinking and problem-solving by building various items with playdough.
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Back to School Problem Solving Task Cards
Use this set of 20 task cards when teaching behavior expectations during your back-to-school lessons.
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How to Walk Like a... Instruction Cards
Help your students transition quietly through the hallways with this set of 4 instruction cards.
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Grade 4 Magazine - "What's Buzzing?" (Issue 1) Task Cards
A set of five literacy rotation task cards to be used in conjunction with issue 1 of Teach Starter's Grade 4 "What's Buzzing?" magazine.
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The Gas Has Mass Task Cards
A set of four task cards that explore the physical properties of gases.
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Number Talks - Geometry Task Cards
Build geometric reasoning with this set of 24 task cards.
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Number Talks - Data Analysis Task Cards
Build data analysis skills with this set of 26 task cards.
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What's the Value? - Money Task Cards
Practice identifying coins and their values when added together with this set of 40 money task cards.
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What's the Matter? Task Cards
An activity for students to use when learning about the properties of solids, liquids, and gases.
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Math Problem Solving Cards - Grades 2 and 3
A set of 30 problem solving questions covering a range of mathematical concepts.
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Would You Rather...? Question Cards
Would You Rather use this set of 31 question cards or eat a can of worms?
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Printable Joke Cards for Kids
Print jokes for kids cards to use as an indoor recess activity.
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Comprehension Task Cards - Finding Word Meaning In Context
A set of comprehension task cards to help students find word meaning in context when reading.
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Math Brain Teasers – Grade 2 Word Problems
Challenge your second-grade students to solve these brain teasers with a set of 24 math word problems.
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Fast Finisher Task Cards (Lower Elementary)
Keep your fast finishers busy with this set of task cards targeted to lower elementary students.
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Story Ideas - Character, Setting, and Complication Cards
Help your students choose a topic to write about with this set of 36 character, setting and compilation task cards.
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Open-Ended Math Word Problems - 5th Grade/6th Grade
Boost your students’ problem-solving skills with rigorous open-ended math problems for 5th and 6th grade students.