teach-vocabulary-cards

name

teach-vocabulary-cards

description

Turn English vocabulary lists, passages, textbook screenshots, reading pages, or unit word banks into polished vocabulary-learning materials that end in a real speaking or writing output: teacher preparation cards, interactive HTML guides, active-vocabulary selections, topic videos, student cards, and classroom slides. Use for primary ESL, A1–B1/KET/PET, Oxford Discover, Power Up, original reading, middle-school vocabulary, professional English, or adult vocabulary study when the user wants explanations, pronunciation, collocations, examples, practice activities, transferable expressions, and an observable final output task.

Teach Vocabulary Cards

Create visually pleasing vocabulary materials that move learners from recognition to usable language.

Workflow

1. Extract the vocabulary.
   • Read typed lists directly.
   • Inspect screenshots or pages and preserve the visible order.
   • Correct only clear OCR errors; mention uncertain words.
2. Confirm or infer learner level, audience mode, context, desired outputs, and output location.
   • Use teacher mode for lesson preparation and primary/KET classroom work.
   • Use adult mode for self-study, professional English, networking, interviews, travel, or workplace communication.
   • Default to teacher mode, A2/KET, Chinese-speaking learners when context is absent.
   • Default to 5–10 words per set.
   • Avoid blocking questions when the context makes a safe default possible.
3. Group words into teachable semantic scenes and choose a cumulative teaching order.
4. Write each card using references/vocabulary-card-spec.md. For a passage or speaking goal, distinguish active expressions from recognition-only words.
5. Design the final output before rendering. Read references/final-output-task.md and define one concrete speaking or writing product that reuses the target language.
6. Search for one current, simple YouTube topic video using references/video-selection.md. Add three short viewing questions. Skip only when the user declines online video or internet access is unavailable.
7. If HTML is requested or useful, create structured JSON following references/data-schema.md, then run scripts/render_teacher_guide.py with --audience teacher or --audience adult, plus output-task and optional video arguments.
8. If student cards or slides are requested, read references/classroom-slides.md and use the installed presentation skill. Keep one word per slide.
9. Verify every artifact.
   • Check spelling, pronunciation, level, collocations, and sentence naturalness.
   • Open or render visual outputs and fix clipping, weak contrast, broken images, or cramped layouts.
   • Ensure relative image paths remain valid beside the HTML.

Content decisions

• Explain a word through a concrete situation, not a circular dictionary definition. Match examples to the selected audience.
• Select high-value teaching points. Do not force equal depth when a word is transparent or low priority.
• Teach chunks and collocations before isolated translation.
• Make three example sentences genuinely different: easy, real-life, exam-style.
• Design three-minute activities that require little setup and make learners produce the target language. In adult mode, prefer recording, personalisation, retrieval, scenario-building, and sentence-frame practice.
• Always finish with one cumulative output. A vocabulary artifact without a final speaking or writing product is incomplete.
• Make the output observable: specify audience, purpose, length, required target language, and a success check.
• Explain Chinese learner errors concretely: meaning contrast, grammar pattern, pronunciation, countability, or collocation.
• Use British pronunciation and KET/PET conventions by default; state another variety if chosen.
• Never invent a pronunciation, word family member, or collocation to fill a slot.

HTML output

Use the bundled template rather than rewriting the page from scratch unless the user requests a different art direction.

python3 scripts/render_teacher_guide.py \
  --data /absolute/path/cards.json \
  --output /absolute/path/teacher-guide.html \
  --audience teacher \
  --title "Unit 4 Vocabulary Studio" \
  --hero "Amazing<br>Celebrations" \
  --level "A2 · KET" \
  --output-title "Introduce a celebration" \
  --output-instruction "Use 3–5 sentences to describe a celebration to a classmate." \
  --output-frame "It takes place…" \
  --output-frame "People usually…" \
  --output-sample "The festival takes place in May. People usually…" \
  --video-id "YOUTUBE_VIDEO_ID" \
  --video-title "Topic video title" \
  --video-summary "Why this video suits the learners" \
  --video-question "Question one?" \
  --video-question "Question two?" \
  --video-question "Question three?"

For adult self-study, pass --audience adult. Tailor the output to the learner's real goal, such as a 30-second introduction, a 3–5 sentence project explanation, a networking exchange, or a short recording. The renderer always creates an output module; explicit output arguments replace its safe generic defaults.

Local file:// output must show a styled YouTube watch button rather than loading an iframe; hosted HTTP(S) output may embed the video.

Keep the image folder next to the HTML and use relative paths in img. The output includes responsive layouts, search, topic filters, expand/collapse, and print/PDF styling.

Deliverables

Name files clearly and place related assets together:

output-folder/
├── vocabulary-teacher-guide.html
├── vocabulary-teacher-guide.json
├── vocabulary-classroom-cards.pptx   # when requested
└── vocab-assets/
    ├── word-1.png
    └── ...

Lead the handoff with clickable links and a concise description of what was verified.

Explicitly confirm the final output task in the handoff.