Use Element Playing Cards for Chemistry Classroom Management

As I write this blog post, we are coming upon the end of July. Which means back to school will be happening in the blink of an eye. And as we approach the beginning of a new school year, I wanted to share a classroom management strategy that I use with my high school chemistry students from day 1. Let me tell you about how I use element playing cards as a built in tool for my classroom management.

What You Need.

And How to Set Up in Your Classroom.

You will need element playing cards. I suggest these element playing cards. I use these cards because they contain group names (alkali metal, etc.), which is part of my strategy. I have four seats at each of my tables in my classroom, so I use the following categories:
alkali metals
alkaline earth metals
transition metals
noble gases
I pull an element from each of those categories for each table. I would highly suggest laminating the cards for durability. Once they are laminated, you will tape the cards to the seat locations at the table. Repeat for all seat locations in your classroom.
But how do you use them for classroom management and classroom procedures? Keep reading to see my tips on how to use these cards every day in your classroom. Yes, every day. And usually multiple times per class period.

Material Retrieval.

I have a picker set up to randomly pick alkali metal, alkaline earth metal, transition metal or noble gas. You can use any wheel picker or spinner of your choice. Recently, I’ve used Classroomscreen, as there is a free version and there are no ads. But whatever you like will work. As long as it saves the four options so you can pull it up every day and re-use it.

I “spin” the picker and a category will randomly be pulled. I use this frequently to have students retrieve materials that are not stored at their tables. It might be something like “Alkali metals…go get one for each person at your table.” Or “noble gas, go get a whiteboard for each person at your table.” I like this for many reasons. It saves time from me moving around the room and handing out materials. No more delivered copies. And since all tables have a student doing it at the same time, it can save you valuable class time. Another big reason I like this method is that it gets students out of their seats, so we are introducing movement…but in an organized way. It randomly picks, so each student gets the opportunity to get up. You won’t get the same student getting up all the time.

Plus…the students actually seem to like it. It becomes sort of a game. “I haven’t been picked yet.” Or “I never get picked.” I try to play it up. “The wheel decides,” or “alkali metal, you’ve been chosen.” And if you have a table of three, be prepared for all sorts of nose-goes or other methods in case the empty seat is chosen.

Partner Turn & Talk.

This is a great way to ask students to turn and talk with a partner. You might better know this as shoulder partners or face partners. Well, my tables are like octagons or something. They’re lab tables and I have no other seats for my students. So instead of saying shoulder partners or face partners, I’ll spin a picker (different from the one used above) to pick partners. There are three options:

Transition & Alkaline Earth. If this gets picked transition and alkaline earth talk while alkali and noble gas talk.
Transition & Alkali. Transition and alkali talk while alkaline earth and noble gas talk.
Transition and Noble Gas. Transition and noble gas talk while alkali and alkaline earth talk.

This switches up the partners, so that students are working with different people. It might also invite a little movement, if the partners picked are across the table from each other. In this instance, I have my students stand and move so they can talk with each other. So that they’re not talking at each other from across the table.

What if you only have three people at a table? If you have an odd number of students, you’ll have a group of three. But if I have an even number, I try to strategically place students in seats so that maybe a seat at Table A can talk to a seat at Table B, or something like that. So I might have two tables of three, and pairs will usually be formed between those two tables of three based on how the wheel spins.

Partner Selection.

Maybe you need students to have partners for an activity. Or a game. Or even a lab. Whatever you are doing, you can use the element cards to choose partners. This would be done exactly the same way as in a partner turn & talk. It’s just for a longer time period, since you’re doing some sort of activity or game.

Starting a Rotation.

Sometimes we might do an activity where students are going around their table. Jot thoughts comes to mind. In this structure, I want one student to start the rotation. You can pick which student will start the rotation by spinning the wheel. If it chooses the noble gas, the noble gas begins the rotation, and then you can have students take turns around the table by telling them to go clockwise or counter clockwise.

Assign Roles.

Maybe you are doing a POGIL activity, or some other activity where students are assigned roles. Maybe you assign roles in labs. You could easily use the element cards to assign roles to students. The transition metal might be assigned to be the group manager. Maybe the noble gas is the group recorder. You get the idea. Simply throw the roles up on your screen or whiteboard, and each student will assume that role.

Thanks so much for reading! I hope you find this post useful. Element playing cards are a one-time set up that can make a bug difference in your classroom. Students have expectations on classroom procedures, they get to work with a variety of students, and you save valuable classroom time! Do you use face and shoulder partners? Maybe you should update those to be chemistry themed for your chemistry classroom! Let me know if you use any of these strategies in your chemistry classroom on Instagram (@unbroken_bond) by sending me a DM or tagging me in your posts. Pin the image below to revisit this post later. Happy teaching!