Speaking tasks are some of the most useful things students do at school, and some of the most stressful. Most of that stress comes from not knowing how to prepare. A student who has written good note cards and rehearsed with them a few times usually gives a far better speech than one who has a perfect script and reads it with their head down. EasyPalmCards gives your class a simple way to get from a draft to a set of cards they can actually hold and use.
Speech assignments students can deliver
Whether you are running persuasive speeches in English, oral presentations in humanities, a class debate, a book report or a student council campaign, the preparation is the same: plan the points, cut them down to prompts, and rehearse. Students paste their draft or start from a template, and the editor splits it into cards that fit the page. They can rehearse in flash card mode or with a timer, then print.
Because the text has to fit on a card, students are nudged towards short prompts instead of full paragraphs. That one constraint does a lot of the teaching for you.
Run a class and see who studied
A share link is perfect when you just want students to have a copy. When you also want to know who used it, create a class. Students join with a code, every set you assign appears on their My classes page, and you see who opened and who studied each set before the lesson. Flash card sets open in Learn, Test, Match and spaced repetition; speech sets open in a one-card-at-a-time rehearsal view.
Classes are built for younger students too: no extra personal details are collected when a student joins, teachers see first names with a last initial, and nobody in a class sees ads. One class with up to 5 students is free. See how classes work.
Share a class template link
The quickest way to set up a speaking task is to make one example or scaffold set and share it with the whole class. Each student then makes their own copy, so nobody starts from a blank page and your example stays untouched.
- Build an example or scaffold set Start from a teaching template or the oral presentation template. Fill in a model card or two, and leave headings such as Hook, Point 1 and Conclusion for students to complete.
- Share and copy the link Choose Share in the editor and copy the link. It looks like www.easypalmcards.com/editor/card/ followed by a code.
- Post it where your class looks Put the link in Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams or your LMS, along with the task sheet. The helper at the top of this page writes the instructions for you.
- Students tap "Duplicate & edit" Opening the link shows your set in a read and rehearse view. "Duplicate & edit" gives each student their own editable copy. Your set is never changed.
- Students print or rehearse They replace your example with their own notes, then print their note cards or rehearse on screen with the timer.
Want the cards right on your class site instead of a link? Embed the set on Google Sites, Canvas, Moodle or a blog, so students can flip through it without leaving the page. The embed has no ads.
Lasting share links come with Gold. Without Gold you can still make an anonymous share link that works for 7 days, which is enough for most assignments. Viewing, duplicating and printing are free for students.
Printable class sets
Some classes work better on paper. Open any set, choose Print, and set the number of copies in your print dialog to make a set for each student or group. Cards are laid out on US Letter by default, with A4 and US Letter both available, and printed with guides so students can cut them out quickly. Printed sets work well for revision games, sorting activities (put the speech back in order) and for students who don't have a device at home.
For blank cards, the free index card template prints empty cards students can fill in by hand during a lesson.
Templates for debates and oral presentations
Templates give students a structure without writing the speech for them. The debate template sets out a position card, contentions built from claim, reasoning and evidence, and a rebuttal card. The oral presentation template covers an opening, main points with evidence and a conclusion. There are also templates for research presentations, book reports, student council speeches and exam revision. See them all under teaching templates.
Teaching students to write good cue cards
Left alone, most students copy their whole speech onto cards in small writing and then read it. A few clear rules change that. These are worth putting on the board before students start:
- Number your cards. If they drop or get shuffled, they go straight back in order.
- One idea per card. A new point means a new card, and each card break becomes a natural pause.
- Dot points and keywords, not full sentences. Each line should bring a whole sentence back to mind. The exceptions are quotes, statistics, and the first and last lines, which are worth writing in full.
- Keep text minimal. A half-empty card is easier to glance at than a full one.
- Big, readable text. Students should be able to read the card at arm's length without lifting it to their face.
- Delivery marks. Short notes in brackets, such as [PAUSE], [SLOW DOWN] or [LOOK UP], remind students how to say a line, not just what to say.
The writing lesson plan walks a class through these rules with a model note card, a worksheet and a peer check.
Free teacher resources
These are free to use with your class, with no sign-up. The lesson plans print cleanly with a worksheet on its own page.
- Lesson plan: how to write note cards. A 50 to 60 minute lesson that takes a paragraph of a speech and turns it into a good card.
- Lesson plan: delivering a speech. Pace, pauses, eye contact and using cards as prompts, with timed rehearsal rounds in groups.
- Speaking speed test. Students read a passage aloud and see their words per minute.
- Debate timer. Speaker times and warning bells for class debates.
- IELTS speaking practice. Timed prompts that also work well for EAL/D and ESL speaking practice.
- Index card template. Blank printable cards for handwritten activities.
The Classroom plan
The Classroom plan ($79 USD a year) gives you up to 10 classes and 40 students, with Gold included for you: saved sets, lasting share links, the AI tools and clean PDFs. While students are in your classes, their flash card progress is saved to their account so it follows them from school to home. Start with the free class and upgrade from My classes when you need more room.
Need it for a whole department or school? Tell us how many teachers and students you have and we will reply personally. Email us about a school plan.