Running Card Match in class
Card Match turns a set of picture cards into four games: flashcards, a matching game, a memory game and a sorting game. You write the cards once in a CSV, and each student plays on their own device at their own pace.
Before you start
- You've run a standalone activity before. If not, read Standalone sessions with CSV first.
- A few pictures you can link to online. Any image address that starts with https:// works.
- Our example to follow along with: card-match-paper-and-board.csv, which has four paper and board cards.
What Card Match is
In OctoDecks, Card Match runs as the Card Sort activity in Interactive Sessions. Each card has two sides:
- an image card with a picture, a title and a short subtitle, and
- an info card with up to six facts, such as weight, key property and common use.
Every game is about connecting the picture to its facts. Students play on their own, so it works well as a starter, as revision, or as a task for students who finish early.
Write your card CSV
One row per card. The columns are:
titleThe card's name, e.g. Corrugated Card.subtitleA short label shown above the title, e.g. Board.image_urlA link to a picture. Leave it blank and the card shows a grey placeholder.property1_label property1_valueThe first fact. This value is also the Sort Match category, e.g. Category / Board.property2_label … property6_valueUp to five more facts, each as a label and a value. Leave out any you don't need.Download a starting point: blank template or our paper & board example.
property1_value, so give every card one, and use at least two different values. Here that's Paper and Board.Set up the activity
- Open Interactive Sessions and click Card Sort.
- Click Upload CSV File and choose your CSV. You can also paste the CSV text into the box.
- Choose a Game Mode (see the next step).
- Click Start activity and share the room code.
If you start without uploading a CSV, students get a built-in sample set of paper cards.
Choose a game mode
FreePlay lets each student choose a mode and switch whenever they like using ← Modes. Pick a single mode instead if you want the whole class doing the same thing.
The board shows the room code and how many cards are loaded. Students play on their own, so there are no live results to watch. Walk round and look at screens instead.
Paired Deck: study mode
A flashcard deck. Students see the picture, tap to flip the card to its facts, then use the arrows to go to the next card. It's good for first meeting new material, before the matching games.
Face-Up Match: easy
Image cards on the left, info cards on the right, all face up. Students tap a picture, then the info card that goes with it. The counter at the top tracks matches and attempts.
Face-Down Pairs: challenge
A memory game. All the cards start face down. Students flip two at a time and try to find a picture and its matching info card. If they don't match, both flip back.
Sort Match: sorting
Students drag each card into the right category column. The columns come from property1_value in your CSV. Correct cards stay put, and wrong ones bounce back.
Tips for class
- Go easy to hard. Paired Deck, then Face-Up Match, then Face-Down Pairs. Use Sort Match to check they've understood the categories.
- Keep sets small. Six to twelve cards works best. Face-Down Pairs doubles the number of cards on screen.
- Use the attempts counter. Challenge students to finish a mode in as few attempts as possible.
- Save it for next year. Add the pack to My Library (see step 9 of the standalone guide) and launch it with one click.
You're ready to run Card Match
You wrote a card CSV with pictures and facts, chose a game mode and saw all four games. That's the last of the core OctoDecks guides.