Silent Action Cards

The teacher silently displays large word cards with decodable action words (stand, sit, wave, jump, point) or body-part nouns (nose, hand, knee). Students read silently and perform the action. No teacher speech.

A young-learner phonics activity blending sight-word recognition with TPR.

Procedure

1. Prepare a set of 12–15 large cards, each printed with one decodable action word or noun.
2. Teacher holds up one card silently.
3. Students read it silently and perform the matching action.
   • jump → they jump.
   • nose → they touch their nose.
4. Move through cards briskly — 3–4 seconds per card.
5. After a full pass, shuffle and go again faster.
6. Increase stakes: students who perform the wrong action sit out one round.

Why It Works

• Reading without pronouncing: isolates decoding from the production anxiety of speaking.
• Direct meaning-action link: pronunciation mediates comprehension; this strips the middle step.
• Immediate teacher feedback: if students perform the wrong action, the teacher sees exactly who is struggling and with which word.
• No teacher voice: forces students to access the text directly, not listen for a cue.

Good Card Sets

Action verbs (decodable, high-frequency)

• sit, stand, jump, hop, wave, clap, turn, point, run, walk, stop, look

Body parts (short decodable)

• nose, hand, foot, leg, hair, ear, eye, chin, arm, neck

Two-card combinations

• point + nose → students point to their nose
• stand + hop → stand up and hop

Variations

• Race version: first student to do the correct action after the card is shown scores a point.
• Two cards at once: teacher shows two cards; students do the first then the second in order.
• Phonics focus: all cards target one sound (ch: chair, cheek, chin, chop).
• Flash: show card for one second only; forces fast recognition.

Tips

• Cards must be clearly printed. Blurry or small cards force guessing from silhouette.
• Mix words students know well with words they're just learning — the known ones build confidence and pace.
• Pair with spoken version afterward: same cards, students now say the word and do the action. Scaffolds reading → speaking transition.

Source

British Council LearnEnglish Kids resource bank; widely used in phonics programmes such as Jolly Phonics and Read Write Inc.