How To Make Task Cards

I started buying task cards long before I starting making them.  I found that I started to have preferences for the cards that I purchased and that dictated what cards I would purchase.

• I like cards in which I didn't have to make more than two cuts. I don't want to have to cut around the outside to get rid of the white border that is created because a printer won't print edge to edge. 
• I hate cards in which the color is cut off because a seller put their frame or background paper too close to the edge of the page.
• I love having a cover page for the set of task cards. I usually just have to make one myself for the cards that I purchase.
• I love a mini answer key. Again, I have to create one myself because I have yet to find other sellers that do this.
• I hate when the cards are not aligned or are not all the same size, grrrrr!!

The following are things to consider when you make your task cards. These are all things that I do. Choose how you want your cards to look and pick and choose what works for you.

Number 1

Sometimes the frames looked weird because the seller tried to make the frame into dimensions that did not match the original format. That really bugs me. Having a background in digital scrapbooking and knowledge of such things, it makes me cringe every time I see it. This led me to create TASK CARD TEMPLATES to make things easier for those that wanted to create task cards.

If you haven't tried my templates, here is a freebie that you can try.

Number 2

I really don't like task cards that I purchase and print to have parts of it cut off in the printing process. Yes, I realize this makes me a bit anal but we like what we like. What this means is when I make my task cards, I make sure to keep a border around the edge so that this cut off doesn't happen.  

I've made TASK CARD TEMPLATES that have a perfect 1/4 inch white edge around each card and prevents this cut off from happening.  Here is a link to all of my sets:  TASK CARD TEMPLATES.

You'll notice that the cards I create don't have any of the colored part cut off because of the gap I leave in the border.

Number 3

One of the things I get thanked for doing the most with my task cards is creating a mini cover and answer key. I often have my students self check, so creating the mini key was an obvious solution to me because it could be stored with the rest of the cards and I didn't have to hunt it done when I wanted to use it.

I create 95% of my products in Microsoft Powerpoint because of its ease of use.  One of those features is saving the slides as jpgs.  I save the slides and insert the cover page onto a new page to make my mini cover. If the answer key can be resized with ease, like the one below, I just resize the font and table and insert it into the same slide as the mini cover. If the answer key has something that doesn't easily re-size, I use the jpg like I do for the cover.

Black line only for viewing purposes.

Number 4

A recent discussion come up among sellers about including color or b&w versions of task cards. I asked this question on my FB page and the overwhelming majority wanted the option of both. I LOVE color task cards and my students do too, so up until now that is the only way I had been creating them. All of my task card now have both color and b&w versions of the cards.

So how do you start creating task cards?  Here is a video I put together on how to use my templates. This is the easiest way to get started. You don't have to worry about lining everything up, because I've done it for you.

I also created a video on how to use my Transparent Task Card Templates. 

 These are really nice because you can make frames any color that you want.

If you have any additional questions about how to make task card, feel free to post your questions in the comments and I will be happy to answer them.