DepEd Pedagogy Cards: 50 Teaching Strategies by Key Stage

DepEd’s Pedagogy Cards are 50 short teaching strategies designed by the Bureau of Learning Delivery (BLD) of the Department of Education (DepEd). Each card holds one strategy, and an index sorts the 50 by the eight Learning Design Principles of DepEd Order No. 016, s. 2026, the lesson planning order, and by suggested key stage: 14 cards for Key Stage 1, 14 for Key Stage 2, 12 for Key Stage 3 and 10 for Key Stage 4. DepEd’s Learning Systems Strand published them with its lesson planning guides for School Year (SY) 2026-2027.

The cards are a support, not a rule. No DepEd order requires a teacher to use them, and DO 016, s. 2026 bars schools and offices from adding lesson plan requirements beyond its ILAW framework. A teacher picks a card when it fits the learners and the lesson; a school head uses the cards to give teachers a shared, concrete vocabulary in learning action cells (LACs), walkthroughs and coaching.

Key findings

• There are 50 cards on 51 pages. Page 1 is the index; pages 2 to 51 hold one strategy each: 14 for Kindergarten to Grade 3, 14 for Grades 4 to 6, 12 for Grades 7 to 10 and 10 for Grades 11 and 12 (DepEd’s Pedagogy Cards, index).
• Every card carries one of the eight Learning Design Principles of DO 016, s. 2026 (Table 1). Values and Purpose Integration has the most cards (10) and Social Learning the next most (9); Scaffolding and Inclusion have four each, and no Key Stage 4 card is filed under Scaffolding (Pedagogy Cards, index).
• The cards are optional. DO 016, s. 2026 does not mention them. It says teachers “shall not be required to include components beyond those prescribed in the framework” (para. 10) and that offices and schools shall not require added templates or forms (para. 21).
• The key stages are suggestions. The index heads its rows “SUGGESTED KEY STAGES”, and the cards call themselves strategies “you can plug into any lesson”. DO 015, s. 2026 itself lists exit tickets among formative practices for Grades 4 to 6 (Table 1), while the Exit Tickets card is filed under Key Stage 3.
• Five cards are checks for understanding, and each can serve as one Elicit, Student Response, Recognize, Use (ESRU) cycle of the kind DepEd Order No. 015, s. 2026 asks for. Like all formative assessment, their results “shall not be used for grade computation” (DO 015, para. 15).
• Eight cards print no steps, or only a fragment, under “Try this out!”: Cause and Effect, Feelings Check, Team Roles, Values-in-Action, Deliberate Practice, Perspective Postcards, Triangulation and Empathy Interview (Pedagogy Cards, pages 2, 5, 13, 14, 18, 24, 41 and 44).
• School heads use the cards as a menu, not a checklist. DO 016 encourages “frequent, non-rated, formative” walkthroughs (para. 33), and BLD’s own lesson planning guide says “The principles should be a guide, not a checklist!”

What DepEd’s Pedagogy Cards are

The cards are a set of one-page strategies titled “Pedagogy Cards” and “Designed by the Bureau of Learning Delivery, Department of Education”. Their index describes them as “Bite-sized strategies you can plug into any lesson”, to be turned into “repeatable patterns”, “so planning is faster and learners build familiar routines that support independent learning”.

DepEd’s Learning Systems Strand publishes them on the Lesson Planning page of its Guide to Learning Systems Updates, under the heading “Teaching Strategies”: “These cards serve as a practical guide for your instructional design. Integrate these strategies into your lesson planning to create a more impactful and inclusive learning environment.” The teachers’ orientation handout for SY 2026-2027 points to them after its page on the Learning Design Principles: “Need ideas for building lessons? Use the pedagogy cards”.

Every card has the same parts.

In the four key-stage sections below, each card’s description, “How it runs” and “Watch out for” follow the card, and the eight cards that print no steps say so. The “Needs” and “Example” lines are suggestions, not part of the card, except where a line names the card.

What status the cards have

The cards are DepEd’s own material, but they are not an issuance. DO 016, s. 2026 governs lesson planning, and it does not mention the cards. What the order says about materials from DepEd offices applies to them: teachers may use lesson guides, exemplars and instructional materials from the Central Office and other offices “as reference materials”, remain “fully responsible” for plans that fit their learners, and may modify or adapt them (para. 22).

The principles behind the cards are in the order. DO 016 says the Learning Design Principles “guide teachers and ALS implementers in selecting instructional methods and approaches responsive to their learner needs and contexts” (para. 17). The cards offer such methods; the choice stays with the teacher.

Are teachers required to use the Pedagogy Cards?

No. As of November 14, 2026, no DepEd order or memorandum requires them, and DO 016, s. 2026 rules out making them a requirement at the school level:

• No added components. Teachers “shall not be required to include components beyond those prescribed in the framework” (para. 10). A required “card used” line is such a component.
• No added templates or forms. Regional offices, division offices, schools and community learning centers “shall not require additional or expanded lesson plan templates, supplementary forms, or documentation beyond the simplified standards” of the order (para. 21).
• Not every principle in every lesson. The order says “not all principles are expected to be evident in every lesson”; teachers are encouraged to apply them over time (para. 18). A rule that each lesson use a card, or a card from each principle, asks for more than the order does.
• Support without paperwork. For teachers who need help, “Increased instructional support shall not result in additional documentation requirements, expanded templates, or unnecessary administrative burden” (para. 29).

A school head may still recommend the cards, use them in a LAC session or suggest one in a coaching conversation. Recommending is support; requiring is a new component.

The eight Learning Design Principles behind the cards

DO 016, s. 2026, Table 1, names eight Learning Design Principles, which the order says give DepEd “a common instructional language” for collaborative planning, reflection and instructional leadership (para. 19). The guide to DO 016, s. 2026 explains each principle. The cards fall under them as follows:

DepEd Order No. 014, s. 2026, on learning continuity in emergencies, repeats the eight principles in its Annex B, in slightly different words, and the Guide to Learning Systems Updates says DepEd’s policies “in lesson planning, assessment, education in emergencies, and educational technology are all anchored in these.”

The 50 cards at a glance

The index is a grid of the eight principles and the four key stages:

A few placements are worth knowing before you look for a card. Roses Thorns Buds, a reflection tool, is filed under Clear Goals and Teaching. Check-in Circles, a feelings check for Grades 7 to 10, is filed under Social Learning, while its Key Stage 1 counterpart, Feelings Check, is under Self-awareness and Metacognition. Mentor Feedback Notes describes what the teacher writes, not what learners do. Rubrics for Mastery is under Scaffolding.

Key Stage 1 cards (Kindergarten to Grade 3): 14 strategies

The Key Stage 1 cards lean on routines, pictures, gestures and talk. Most of their inclusion tips let learners point, draw or act instead of write, which suits pre-writers.

Explicit Instruction

Clear Goals and Teaching, Key Stage 1. A new idea is taught in a short, structured sequence: the teacher models (“I”), the class practices together (“We”), and learners try it alone (“You”).

• How it runs: state the goal (“Today we’ll learn ___.”); model three steps aloud with one example; solve another example with the class; check quickly with one or two simple questions or gestures; let learners try two problems on a worksheet with peer support.
• Needs: two or three worked examples and a short practice sheet.
• Watch out for: a pace too fast or too slow for the class; staying too long in “I do” or jumping too soon to independent work; learners copying steps without understanding; using it for a skill learners already know.
• Example: A Grade 1 Mathematics teacher in a Pangasinan school models adding two one-digit numbers with bundles of sticks, works one more with the class, asks learners to show the answer with their fingers, then gives two items for pairs to try.

Roses Thorns Buds

Clear Goals and Teaching, Key Stage 1. A reflection and thinking tool: learners share something good (rose), something challenging (thorn) and something with potential (bud) about a topic, which builds the habit of giving a balanced opinion.

• How it runs: present a topic, story or lesson and ask for roses, thorns and buds; learners write their answers or share with a partner; or the class builds one big rose-thorn-bud board.
• Needs: three symbols on the board, or a board with three columns.
• Watch out for: questions too abstract for young learners. The card’s own concrete prompts are “What part of the story was fun? What part was tricky?”
• Example: After a story about a family preparing for a typhoon, a Grade 3 class in Samar names one thing the family did well, one thing that was hard for them, and one thing the class could still do at home.

Flashback

Active Retrieval and Spacing, Key Stage 1. The lesson starts with learners recalling three things from earlier days, such as facts, words or examples, before anything new; the teacher then links them to today’s lesson.

• How it runs: show three cues from past lessons; ask “Who remembers what this is?”; affirm any response, correct or partial, and correct misconceptions; give a quick recap or demonstration; link to today’s lesson.
• Needs: three pictures, words or objects from earlier lessons.
• Watch out for: turning it into a stressful quiz. The card wants mistakes to mean “oras na mag-review” (time to review), not “ay nakalimutan ko kasi mahina ako” (I forgot because I am weak).
• Example: A Kindergarten teacher in Iloilo shows a picture of a carabao, the letter B and three bottle caps from earlier in the week before starting a new counting song.

Quick Poll

Checks for Understanding, Key Stage 1. Frequent, bite-size prompts, such as thumbs up or down, cards, or a one-item poll, catch misconceptions early and show where to reteach.

• How it runs: ask how well learners understand the lesson or the pace; each learner answers with a thumb (up if they understand, sideways if a little, down if they need help) or a printed response card; adjust, reteach or clarify.
• Needs: nothing but hands, or a set of response cards.
• Watch out for: prompts that do not match the objective, and results the teacher does not act on.
• Example: Midway through a Grade 2 lesson on telling time, a teacher in Tarlac asks for thumbs on reading the half hour, sees a row of sideways thumbs, and redoes one example with a paper clock before moving on.

Show Me

Checks for Understanding, Key Stage 1. The teacher asks one simple question; every learner draws or writes an answer on paper or a small board and holds it up, so the teacher sees the whole class at once.

• How it runs: ask a clear, single question; learners write or draw on big sheets of paper or illustration boards; say “Show me!” and scan; reteach or clarify if many are unsure.
• Needs: small boards, slates or scrap paper, and markers or chalk.
• Watch out for: questions too complex for a short answer. Keep them visual and concrete.
• Example: In a Grade 2 class of 48 in Caloocan, learners share 12 boards cut from old cartolina, one per group of four, as the card suggests for crowded classrooms, and draw the next shape in a pattern.

Worked Example

Scaffolding, Key Stage 1. The teacher presents a solved task, shows each step and explains each decision aloud, so learners see a clear path before they try.

• How it runs: present a sample question; show and read aloud the full worked example; think aloud at each decision point; ask “Ready to try?”; let learners solve a similar item with partial guidance.
• Needs: one or two fully solved examples on the board or a sheet. The card’s own picture works 27 + 36 in three steps: add the ones, carry the 1, add the tens.
• Watch out for: giving one example and moving on too fast. Learners need time to notice why each step works.
• Example: A Grade 2 teacher in Bulacan writes 45 + 38 on the board, says aloud why the 13 ones become 1 ten and 3 ones, then gives pairs 26 + 47 with the first step already done.

Team Roles

Social Learning, Key Stage 1. Group work is structured with clear roles such as Leader, Writer, Checker and Sharer. The teacher assigns the roles or lets learners choose, and explains each role and the group’s output.

• How it runs: the card prints no steps. One workable order, drawn from its description and tips: explain the task and the group’s output; assign the roles, or let learners choose them, and explain each one; let groups work, with the Sharer reporting at the end; rotate the roles in later sessions, starting with low-stress roles, as the inclusion tip says.
• Needs: role cards or name tags, and a task that needs all four roles.
• Watch out for: vague tasks and unclear roles; one learner doing all the work; norms the teacher does not enforce consistently.
• Example: In a Grade 3 Science class in Batangas, groups of four test which objects float. The Leader reads the steps, the Writer records, the Checker drops each object again if the group disagrees, and the Sharer reports one surprise.

Multilevel Stations

Inclusion, Key Stage 1. Learners rotate through two or three stations that hold versions of the same task, each with a different level of support or difficulty, so everyone works toward the same goal at a fitting challenge.

• How it runs: prepare two or three versions of the same task (support, practice, extension); assign groups or let learners choose; rotate every 10 to 15 minutes; observe and coach quietly; debrief with “What did you discover?”
• Needs: two or three sets of task materials, space for stations, and a timer.
• Watch out for: labeling stations “easy” and “hard”. The card says to use neutral names or colors.
• Example: A Grade 1 reading lesson in Zamboanga runs a blue station with picture-word matching, a green station with word building from letter tiles, and a yellow station with short sentences to read to a partner. All three practice the same sound.

Feelings Check

Self-awareness and Metacognition, Key Stage 1. A quick routine check-in: learners name a feeling by choosing one of four faces, give a clue (“I feel this way because…”), and pick one help action, such as quiet time, asking for help or “need my buddy”.

• How it runs: the card prints no steps. One workable order, drawn from its description and tips: show the four faces; each learner names a feeling by choosing a face (pointing is enough); learners share a clue, “I feel this way because…”; each picks one help action; the teacher checks in privately with any learner who needs it, as the inclusion tip suggests.
• Needs: four face cards or a face chart.
• Watch out for: using it only after problems instead of as a routine, and judging or shaming a feeling.
• Example: On the Monday after a storm, a Kindergarten teacher in Catanduanes opens with the four faces. Two learners choose the sad face; the teacher talks with each one during seatwork and notes who may need the guidance advocate.

Metacognitive talk

Self-awareness and Metacognition, Key Stage 1. A short “plan-do-check” talk in which young learners say what they will do, how, and how it went, for example “Una, guguhit ako… tapos kukulayan…” (First I will draw… then I will color…).

• How it runs: show the steps of the task as a flowchart or list and ask “What’s our plan?”; do the task together; ask “Did it work? What changed?”; celebrate effort and improvement; repeat next time with less prompting.
• Needs: the task’s steps on the board, in words and pictures.
• Watch out for: too many questions, abstract language such as “be better”, and talks that run long.
• Example: Before drawing a map of their classroom in Makabansa, Grade 2 learners in a Benguet school say their plan aloud with the teacher: draw the door, then the windows, then the tables. Afterwards they say what they would change.

Cause and Effect

Values and Purpose Integration, Key Stage 1. Learners take a real-world issue, such as littering or animal extinction, say its cause and its effect, and choose one action to help fix it. The teacher may use picture cards or examples.

• How it runs: the card prints no steps. One workable order, drawn from its description and tips: show a picture card or example of an issue; ask what causes it and what it leads to; let learners choose one small, safe action to help fix it. The card stops at choosing the action; doing it, and checking on it later, is a suggestion.
• Needs: picture cards or photos of a familiar issue.
• Watch out for: abstract examples, and actions too big for children to do safely.
• Example: A Grade 1 class in Malabon looks at a photo of the clogged canal beside the school after rain, names the plastic wrappers as the cause and the flooded street as the effect, and agrees on a two-minute tidy-up of the classroom after every snack.

Experience Mind Mapping

Values and Purpose Integration, Key Stage 1. Discussion begins from learners’ own experience of a concept. Before the teacher gives a definition, learners share what the idea means to them, and the class works toward an accurate shared meaning.

• How it runs: pose an open, child-friendly question, such as the card’s “What is family for you?”; group the answers into themes and compare them gently with the lesson; build a class meaning map that joins the children’s ideas with the formal content.
• Needs: a board or manila paper for the map.
• Watch out for: leaving misconceptions unaddressed; sharing that becomes storytelling with no link to the core idea; a teacher who does not know the content well enough to clarify facts.
• Example: In a Grade 1 class in Pampanga, answers to “What is family for you?” include a grandmother who raises a learner while both parents work abroad. The class map shows that families come in many forms before the teacher reads the lesson’s definition.

Story - Feel - Act

Values and Purpose Integration, Key Stage 1. Learners listen to a short story, talk about how the characters feel, and do one small action inspired by it.

• How it runs: tell or play a short story; ask “How did the character feel?”; ask “What can we do like them?”; plan a small class act (help, share, thank); reflect with “How did we show care today?”
• Needs: a short story, read aloud or played.
• Watch out for: turning it into a moral lecture. The card suggests asking “How do we know this is kind?” instead.
• Example: After a story about neighbors helping a family repair their roof, a Grade 2 GMRC class in Bohol writes thank-you notes to the school’s utility worker.

Values-in-Action

Values and Purpose Integration, Key Stage 1. A short action, repeated often, practices one clearly defined Good Manners and Right Conduct (GMRC) value until it becomes a habit, such as clean-as-you-go, greetings, helping a peer or waiting for one’s turn.

• How it runs: the card prints only a fragment (“helping routines, classroom stewardship”). One workable order, drawn from its description and tips: choose one clearly defined value and one concrete behavior; practice it in a short routine at the same point each day; reinforce it every time, as the “Watch out for” line asks, and celebrate contributions without public comparisons.
• Needs: a class job chart; the card suggests a printed or posted tarpapel.
• Watch out for: framing a value as punishment or shaming, and reinforcing the routine only some days.
• Example: A Grade 3 class in Antique practices clean-as-you-go after every school feeding meal: each table wipes its own space and stacks its containers before going out.

Key Stage 2 cards (Grades 4 to 6): 14 strategies

The Key Stage 2 cards add more structure and more learner independence: frames for reasoning, quick quizzes, journals, and group formats in which each learner has a job.

Claim-Evidence-Reason (CER)

Clear Goals and Teaching, Key Stage 2. A thinking and writing frame: learners make a claim, back it with evidence, and explain why the evidence proves the claim. The card says it works in science, language and Araling Panlipunan alike.

• How it runs: present a short prompt, question or observation; model a CER aloud, labeling each part; learners write their own short CER on a worksheet; share and discuss a few samples, pointing out clear reasoning.
• Needs: a CER frame on the board or a worksheet.
• Watch out for: evidence too complex for learners, and claims that are only opinion. The card advises modeling clear examples first, and its inclusion tips give stems in English and Filipino: “I think that… because…” and “Ang aking pahayag ay… sapagkat…”
• Example: After pouring the same amount of water into cups of garden soil and sand, Grade 5 Science learners in Nueva Ecija write: claim, garden soil holds more water; evidence, less water dripped out of it; reason, its smaller particles leave smaller spaces that hold the water instead of letting it drain.

Recall Warmup

Active Retrieval and Spacing, Key Stage 2. A five-minute daily warm-up quiz that mixes new concepts with older ones from the last week or month.

• How it runs: mix three old and two new questions; learners answer alone or in pairs; reveal and discuss the answers; revisit one weak area, explaining the wrong and right answers; move into new content.
• Needs: five questions on the board or a quarter sheet.
• Watch out for: too many or too hard questions, late feedback, and treating it as a high-stakes test.
• Example: A Grade 6 Mathematics teacher in Misamis Oriental opens each day with three items from earlier lessons on fractions and two from yesterday’s lesson on ratio. The first item is always one every learner can answer, as the card’s inclusion tip suggests.

Stoplight

Checks for Understanding, Key Stage 2. Learners raise a green, yellow or red card, or use thumbs, to signal how well they understand, during or after a lesson.

• How it runs: introduce the code: green, “I understand”; yellow, “I’m unsure”; red, “I’m lost”; pose a checkpoint question and learners show their color; reteach, regroup or move on; end by celebrating progress.
• Needs: three colored cards per learner, cut from old folders or colored paper.
• Watch out for: “Ignoring the signals!” The card says the power is in how the teacher responds.
• Example: In a Grade 4 English class in Cebu, a third of the class shows yellow on using commas in a series. The teacher regroups those learners at the front for one more example while the greens start the exercise.

Deliberate Practice

Scaffolding, Key Stage 2. Short, focused repetitions on one clearly defined micro-skill build fluency, with immediate feedback and difficulty adjusted as needed. The card counts small gains as “big wins”.

• How it runs: the card prints no steps. One workable order, drawn from its description and tips: name one micro-skill; show a model of it; run short timed rounds; give feedback after each round; adjust the difficulty; log progress and celebrate small gains.
• Needs: a timer and a simple progress log.
• Watch out for: practicing the wrong sub-skill, and drill without feedback. The card stresses that the key word is “deliberate”.
• Example: Grade 4 learners in a Laguna school practice the multiplication facts for 7 in two-minute rounds. Partners check each other, and the teacher moves a learner to the 8s only after two clean rounds.

Scaffold Ladder

Scaffolding, Key Stage 2. The teacher gives visible supports, such as sentence starters, visuals and verbal hints, then removes them one at a time until learners can do the task with little support.

• How it runs: present the full scaffold and practice with all the supports; remove one support each round, which raises the difficulty slightly; reflect with “Which step can we now do without help?”
• Needs: supports that can be removed one at a time, such as a list of steps or a paragraph frame.
• Watch out for: keeping supports too long or removing them too early. The card says both can block learning.
• Example: A Grade 6 English class in Quezon City writes a paragraph with a full frame on Monday, a frame with only the topic sentence starter on Wednesday, and a blank page with a checklist on Friday. A learner with dyslexia keeps a printed copy of the frame, as the card’s inclusion tip allows.

Jigsaw

Social Learning, Key Stage 2. A topic is split into parts. Small groups each become “experts” on one part, then teach it to others, and the teacher debriefs to tie the parts back into one topic.

• How it runs: split the topic into three or four parts; each group studies one part with a guide or visuals; re-form mixed groups so each member teaches a part; peers take notes or complete a summary chart; debrief the key points as a class.
• Needs: a short reading or guide for each part and a summary chart.
• Watch out for: too much content per group, and too little time for the cross-sharing.
• Example: A Grade 5 class in Albay splits a lesson on natural hazards into typhoons, floods, earthquakes and landslides. Each expert group studies one, then each new group fills a chart on what to do before, during and after all four.

Pasa-pasa Prototyping

Social Learning, Key Stage 2. Teams start a creative output, such as a poster, model or idea, and pass it to another group to build on. After a few rounds, each team gets back its original work, “evolved by many hands”.

• How it runs: each group starts a task or design (5 to 10 minutes); pass the work clockwise; each new group adds to it or improves it; repeat for two or three rounds; return the work and reflect: “How did others grow our idea?”
• Needs: paper, cardboard or a shared slide for each group.
• Watch out for: groups working on unrelated projects or turning competitive, and groups erasing others’ work. The card’s rule is “build on, not replace.”
• Example: Grade 6 learners in a Negros Occidental school each start a layout for a vegetable plot on manila paper. Three rounds later, each group’s plan has a compost corner, a water source and labels added by others.

Think Pair Share

Social Learning, Key Stage 2. Learners think about a question alone, discuss it with a partner, then pairs share highlights with the class.

• How it runs: pose an open question; learners think silently (30 seconds); pairs discuss (2 minutes); call on two or three pairs to share; summarize common ideas on the board.
• Needs: an open question and a timer.
• Watch out for: pairs talking off-topic, and skipping the “share” step that reinforces the learning.
• Example: In a Grade 4 class of 55 in Davao City, seatmates pair up on why a market vendor lowers her prices at closing time before the Mathematics lesson on discounts. The card’s sentence frame, “I think… because…”, is on the board.

Choice Board

Inclusion, Key Stage 2. Learners choose one of several tasks, such as drawing, writing, performing or building, that target the same competency through different strengths, and the class showcases the different outputs.

• How it runs: display the task options (the steps suggest four); state the common goal and the rubric; learners pick and plan their choice; monitor and help; showcase the outputs together.
• Needs: a board of options and one rubric that fits them all. The card’s own sample is a nine-option board in three columns, Know, Think and Do / Create, on the competency “Nasusuri ang mga hamong pang-ekonomiya ng Pilipinas mula 1987 hanggang sa kasalukuyan”, with tasks such as a news “Data Detective”, an interview with an adult who has worked abroad, and a comic strip about a family with a parent overseas.
• Watch out for: options of unequal rigor. Every option must still meet the same objective.
• Example: A Grade 6 Araling Panlipunan teacher in a Pangasinan school adapts the card’s sample board to the class’s own competency. Learners choose between the interview, the comic strip and a poster, and all three are scored on the same rubric.

Learning Log

Self-awareness and Metacognition, Key Stage 2. A weekly written or visual journal, ideally at the end of the week, in which learners note what they learned, what was hard and what they will try next, and reread earlier entries.

• How it runs: set aside time, ideally at the end of each week; learners reread earlier entries and the teacher celebrates the progress they share; prompt: “Now let’s look back on what happened this week. What did you learn? What was hard? What’s your plan?”; learners write or draw two or three sentences or pictures.
• Needs: a notebook or a three-column sheet: I learned, I found challenging, Next, I will try.
• Watch out for: long essays and grading handwriting.
• Example: Grade 5 learners in Iloilo spend the last ten minutes of each Friday Science period on their logs. One learner writes that she still mixes up evaporation and condensation; the teacher starts Monday with a two-minute picture review of both.

Mentor Feedback Notes

Self-awareness and Metacognition, Key Stage 2. When returning work, the teacher writes a brief, personal note that pairs feedback with belief in the learner. The card’s model line is “bilib ako sayo kaya ko binibigay itong feedback sa’yo.” (I believe in you, which is why I am giving you this feedback).

• How it runs: review the work and note one strength and one area to focus on; write or say “I’m giving you these comments because I know you can reach this level”; offer one actionable next step; give learners time to reflect on or answer the note; celebrate improvement in the next draft.
• Needs: sticky notes or space in the margin; a phone for audio notes for struggling readers.
• Watch out for: generic praise such as “Good job!” and comments that only correct.
• Example: Returning Grade 6 Filipino essays in a Leyte school, a teacher writes on one: strong opening; next, add one example from your own barangay to the second paragraph. The learner revises it the same week.

Empathy Map

Values and Purpose Integration, Key Stage 2. Learners picture another person’s attitudes and behavior by answering what the person says, thinks, does and feels, on paper or a digital board. The card ties it to Filipino pakikipagkapwa.

• How it runs: introduce a character or person from a story, the community or a real issue; ask “What might they see? Hear? Feel? Need?”; fill in the map as a group; discuss what surprised learners; connect to values or action: “How can we help or understand better?”
• Needs: a four-part map on manila paper. The card’s description names says, thinks, does and feels; its steps and tech tip name sees, hears, feels and needs. Either set works.
• Watch out for: oversimplifying or stereotyping the other person. The card’s reminder: “we imagine to understand, not to judge.”
• Example: A Grade 4 class in Navotas maps a fisher whose boat stays docked during the closed fishing season, then lists ways the class can help, such as joining the barangay’s donation drive for the families.

Perspective Postcards

Values and Purpose Integration, Key Stage 2. Learners draw or write a four-sentence postcard from another person’s point of view, such as a classmate, a community helper or a story character.

• How it runs: the card prints no steps. One workable order, drawn from its description and tips: choose the person, with a character picture if it helps; write or draw the four sentences as that person, using sentence starters or a writing buddy; share the postcards in a class gallery.
• Needs: postcard-size paper, sentence starters and pictures of the characters.
• Watch out for: caricaturing the person.
• Example: Grade 5 learners in a Cotabato school write postcards as the barangay health worker who visited during a measles vaccination drive, describing the day from her side of the clinic table.

Why it Matters Wall

Values and Purpose Integration, Key Stage 2. Learners write or draw why each lesson matters to them, to others or to their community, post it on a classroom wall, and return to the wall each week.

• How it runs: end the lesson with “Why does this matter to us?”; learners write or draw an answer; post it on the wall or a digital board; review and connect the entries weekly; celebrate meaningful ideas.
• Needs: wall space and small papers.
• Watch out for: shallow answers such as “Because teacher said so”. The card advises modeling a real reflection with local examples.
• Example: After a Grade 6 lesson on percentages in Marikina, one note reads: so I can check if the 20% off sign at the mall is true. On Friday the class sorts the notes under “for me” and “for us”, the two tags the card’s tech tip suggests.

Key Stage 3 cards (Grades 7 to 10): 12 strategies

The Key Stage 3 cards ask adolescents to reason with examples and evidence, to work in teams on real problems, and to give and use feedback. Four of the twelve are Social Learning cards.

Concept Unpacking

Clear Goals and Teaching, Key Stage 3. Learners examine a key idea through examples and non-examples, refine the definition through discussion, and sum it up in a class statement or visual map. The card says local examples work best.

• How it runs: present the key term; show two or three examples that fit, then two or three that do not, and ask “Why not?”; discuss and refine the definition, then summarize it.
• Needs: pictures or objects for the examples and non-examples.
• Watch out for: skipping the non-examples, and examples so similar or so obvious that learners do not really compare.
• Example: A Grade 7 Science teacher in Rizal shows salt dissolved in water and vinegar as solutions, then halo-halo and sand in water as non-examples. From the comparison, learners refine their definition: a solution is a mixture that looks the same throughout.

Readiness Quiz

Active Retrieval and Spacing, Key Stage 3. A short quiz of three to five questions, before or in the middle of a lesson, confirms the prior knowledge the lesson needs, so weak areas are retaught before new material.

• How it runs: quiz learners with three to five review questions; discuss the results; reteach or model weak areas at once; try one new example that applies the prior skill; move on once readiness is shown.
• Needs: three to five items, on paper, on the board or read aloud as true-or-false.
• Watch out for: treating it as a graded test. The card says such quizzes “should inform teaching, not penalize gaps.”
• Example: Before factoring, a Grade 8 Mathematics teacher in Pampanga gives four items on multiplying binomials. Half the class misses the middle term, so the teacher reteaches it for ten minutes before starting the new lesson.

Retrieval Grid

Active Retrieval and Spacing, Key Stage 3. A grid of questions from earlier lessons, on a wall or board. The class picks boxes to answer, and the grid fills up over the term.

• How it runs: show the grid of questions or hints with space for answers; pick boxes or let learners choose; answer and discuss briefly; point out links between the questions; build a new grid for the next lesson, or add a row each week.
• Needs: a grid on manila paper or a slide. The card’s sample is a Science grid of nine questions, among them the smallest unit of matter that keeps an element’s properties and the change of a solid directly into a gas, color-coded by when each was taught: last lesson, last week, two weeks ago and last month.
• Watch out for: the grid becoming trivia. The card says to tie every question to the learning competencies and say why the answer matters.
• Example: A Grade 9 Science class in Batangas keeps a grid on the side wall. Each Monday the teacher adds a row, and learners pick two older boxes to answer before the new lesson.

Exit Tickets

Checks for Understanding, Key Stage 3. A quick check at the end of the lesson, on a paper slip, a short digital form or a 30-second oral answer, asks: “What’s one thing you learned? What’s unclear? What’s your next step?” The next lesson is adjusted to the answers.

• How it runs: give the three questions; learners answer in three minutes; sort the answers into themes; adjust the next day’s review; share class highlights.
• Needs: paper slips and a box; the card’s low-tech tip is green, yellow and red bins.
• Watch out for: “Collecting tickets but not using the data”. Feedback helps only when it shapes the next lesson.
• Example: A Grade 10 Araling Panlipunan teacher in Iloilo City reads 42 slips during the next vacant period, finds 15 still unclear on the difference between emigration and immigration, and opens the next day with that comparison.

Rubrics for Mastery

Scaffolding, Key Stage 3. Rubrics make expectations concrete and observable, so learners can move from basic to advanced work with guided feedback.

• How it runs: introduce the rubric and explain each level with examples; analyze a sample work together (“Where does this fit?”); learners draft their own work aiming for the next level; give focused feedback in the rubric’s language; learners reflect: “What’s one move I’ll do next time to reach higher?”
• Needs: a rubric with three or four levels and one or two sample works.
• Watch out for: using rubrics only for grading. Criteria must be clear and modeled.
• Example: Before a Grade 9 English performance task on persuasive speeches in a Cagayan de Oro school, the class scores last year’s anonymized sample against the rubric. Each learner then names one criterion to raise in their draft.

Check-in Circles

Social Learning, Key Stage 3. A quick start-of-class check-in question gauges the class’s energy or mood; a few learners may share before the lesson begins.

• How it runs: show or say a prompt, such as “What color are you today?”; learners share briefly in groups of two to four; groups listen and acknowledge without trying to fix; optionally, a few volunteers share patterns with the class.
• Needs: a prompt on the board.
• Watch out for: making sharing mandatory, or letting it run long. The card wants it “brief, safe, and light.” Its inclusion tips allow a learner to pass and ask groups to keep what they hear confidential.
• Example: On the first school day after a week of class suspensions for heat in a Nueva Ecija high school, a Grade 8 adviser opens with “Choose your weather today” before the Science lesson.

Gallery Walk

Social Learning, Key Stage 3. Learners display their work around the room or online, walk around to review each other’s work, and leave constructive comments.

• How it runs: groups display their outputs on walls, tables or screens; the teacher models useful comments; learners rotate in small groups, reviewing quietly and leaving notes; groups return to read the feedback and discuss improvements; they revise and reflect: “What idea did we get from others?”
• Needs: wall or table space, and sticky notes or comment sheets.
• Watch out for: vague or judgmental comments. The card’s models are “This part is clear because…” and “Maybe you can add…”.
• Example: In a Grade 10 Science class in Bacolod, groups post infographics on ways to save electricity at home. A learner who uses a wheelchair reviews photos of the posters on a tablet at her desk, the card’s “digital rotation instead of physical walk”.

Real-world Team Work

Social Learning, Key Stage 3. Small groups with assigned roles solve a multi-step problem with real-world limits and end with a tangible product shown to an audience.

• How it runs: present a real-world problem tied to the lesson; assign team roles, success criteria and a scope (time, format); guide the teams through research, planning and creation, with checkpoints; have them present or publish the product to an audience; reflect: “What did we learn about teamwork & solving real problems?”
• Needs: a real local problem, a rubric, and checkpoints on the calendar.
• Watch out for: fake or dull problems, and unclear criteria or milestones, which let groups drift or leave one learner doing all the work.
• Example: Grade 9 learners in a Pangasinan school design a rainwater catchment for the school garden within a set budget, then present it to the school head and the Parent-Teacher Association.

Bukas Daloy Sarado

Social Learning, Key Stage 3. A three-phase process for brainstorming and deciding as a team: bukas (open), generate many ideas; daloy (explore), group and refine them; sarado (close), decide and plan next steps.

• How it runs: open with a silent or free brainstorm (“All ideas welcome!”); explore by clustering, combining and discussing themes; close by voting, prioritizing or choosing one idea to develop; document the final idea; reflect: “How did collaboration make our idea stronger?”
• Needs: sticky notes or small papers, and a board divided into three parts.
• Watch out for: judging ideas too early, or staying stuck in brainstorming. Keep time balanced across the three phases.
• Example: A Grade 10 section in Mandaue uses it to choose one class project on single-use plastic in the canteen, with roles of Facilitator, Recorder, Builder and Synthesizer, as the card’s inclusion tip suggests.

Peer Support Loop

Inclusion, Key Stage 3. Learners tutor each other on hard concepts in pairs or threes, rotating the roles of tutor (explains), student (responds) and checker (verifies).

• How it runs: introduce a challenging concept; form pairs or triads with the three roles; switch roles and repeat; summarize the class’s insights together.
• Needs: cue cards with tutoring and feedback language, such as “First we …” and “This means …”.
• Watch out for: peers passing on wrong information. The teacher circulates and checks.
• Example: In a Grade 8 Mathematics class in General Santos, triads solve linear equations. The checker compares each answer with the answer key on the teacher’s desk, and roles rotate every two items.

Triangulation

Self-awareness and Metacognition, Key Stage 3. To build research skills, learners compare three short sources, such as a text, a chart and an image, fill a grid with what the sources agree on, where they conflict and what they leave out, and then draw a conclusion.

• How it runs: the card prints no steps. One workable order, drawn from its description and tips: give learners three short sources, such as a text, a chart and an image; read each, with leveled or audio versions where needed; fill the three columns: where the sources agree, where they conflict, and what they leave out; draw a conclusion from the grid.
• Needs: three short sources and a three-column grid.
• Watch out for: sources that are too long, or that all say the same thing.
• Example: Grade 10 learners in Tacloban compare a news report on a recent flood, the weather bureau’s rainfall chart for that week and a barangay photo of the creek, and conclude what the evidence shows about why their street flooded.

Beyond Self Reflection

Values and Purpose Integration, Key Stage 3. A structured reflection links a subject lesson to people or issues beyond the learner: the community, the environment or future generations. The card says linking content to kapwa deepens purpose.

• How it runs: ask “Who benefits or is affected by this topic?”; learners reflect alone, then in pairs; discuss patterns of impact; ask “What does this show about pakikipagkapwa?”; end with a one-line takeaway (“This matters because…”).
• Needs: the prompt and sentence frames.
• Watch out for: forcing sensitive issues or pushing one moral view. Keep it exploratory and inclusive.
• Example: After a Grade 9 Science lesson on electric circuits in Puerto Princesa, learners list who is affected when the island’s power is rationed: the fish vendor’s freezer, a neighbor’s nebulizer, the learners’ study hours.

Key Stage 4 cards (Grades 11 and 12): 10 strategies

The Key Stage 4 cards treat senior high learners as near-adults: projects with milestones, inquiry with sources, peer review and planned study. No Key Stage 4 card is filed under Scaffolding; Worked Example, Scaffold Ladder and Rubrics for Mastery, from the earlier key stages, can serve that principle in senior high school too.

Different Definitions

Clear Goals and Teaching, Key Stage 4. The lesson begins with several definitions of a key concept, such as formal, visual, personal and applied ones, and ends with learners applying it in a short example or reflection.

• How it runs: start with the key term and show at least three definitions (the card’s ideas: a formal definition, counter-examples, a definition from another discipline, how an everyday person might define it, a visual); learners find connections and contrasts and write a class definition; they apply it in a short example or reflection.
• Needs: three or more definitions on a slide or the board. The card’s sample defines employee rights in the workplace three ways: formal, personal and values-based.
• Watch out for: jargon, and conflicting definitions left without a synthesis.
• Example: Before work immersion, a Grade 12 class in Valenzuela compares the three definitions of employee rights on the card’s sample, then writes one class definition and one right each learner will check for at their workplace.

Guided Inquiry

Clear Goals and Teaching, Key Stage 4. Learners investigate a question and build a claim from sources or data they have analyzed, then defend it with evidence. The teacher guides with leveled texts, organizers and other ways to take part in the discussion.

• How it runs: present a clear, focused inquiry question; provide leveled sources and a graphic organizer for notes; guide learners to build claims backed by their sources; hold a structured discussion where claims are shared and challenged respectfully; reflect: “What evidence strengthened my argument the most?”
• Needs: a packet of leveled sources, printed for offline use if needed, and an organizer.
• Watch out for: questions that are too broad, sources that are too hard, and unclear norms. The card says to model how to use evidence and how to listen.
• Example: A Grade 11 General Science class in a Quezon province school investigates whether the water from the barangay’s deep well is safe to drink, using the municipal health office’s test results, a short reading on coliform and their own observations of the well.

Spaced Review

Active Retrieval and Spacing, Key Stage 4. Key ideas from earlier lessons are reviewed at growing intervals, after two days, two weeks and two months, and each short review connects to the current competencies.

• How it runs: pick three to five core concepts per lesson or unit for long-term retention; revisit them in short activities after two days, two weeks and two months, varying the format (quiz, poster, discussion); connect each review to the current competencies; reflect on progress and plan the next review.
• Needs: a review calendar.
• Watch out for: repeating material in the same format each time.
• Example: A Grade 11 General Mathematics teacher in Cavite marks the lesson on simple and compound interest in a review calendar: a three-item quiz two days later, a poster task two weeks later, and a loan problem two months later.

Milestone Checkpoints

Checks for Understanding, Key Stage 4. In long projects, planned milestones let learners assess themselves and get teacher feedback to revise their work. The card’s question: “For the next part of this project, what do I need to stop doing, start doing, and continue doing?”

• How it runs: in a long task, set two or three milestones where progress is reviewed with checklists or rubrics; give feedback and allow revisions; learners write their stop, start and continue reflection for the next phase.
• Needs: a project timeline with dated milestones and a checklist or rubric.
• Watch out for: waiting until the end to give feedback.
• Example: In a Grade 12 research class in Lipa, the teacher checks the research question in week 2, the instrument in week 5 and the data in week 8. For a learner with a disability, the card suggests shorter, more frequent checkpoints.

Structured Feedback

Social Learning, Key Stage 4. Learners give each other structured, constructive feedback, for example in a “Glow and Grow” format, and the card says the teacher must let learners give feedback privately.

• How it runs: teach the feedback language (Glow, what works; Grow, what to improve); remind learners to comment on specific parts of the work; exchange drafts and give feedback, written or oral; revise and reflect before submission.
• Needs: drafts to exchange and a short rubric or sentence stems.
• Watch out for: unclear norms or rubrics, feedback nobody checks before it is used, and judgmental comments. The card says to model respectful feedback first.
• Example: Grade 11 Effective Communication learners in Baguio exchange speech drafts in pairs, write one Glow and one Grow on a half sheet, and revise before delivering to the class.

Inclusive Capstone

Inclusion, Key Stage 4. A culminating project in which learners apply the lesson to a real challenge or creative solution, choosing a format, such as a report, video, prototype, performance or community action, under universal design for learning (UDL).

• How it runs: identify the competencies the capstone will show; present the project options with rubrics and exemplars; set milestones with check-ins; support with mini-lessons on research, planning and revision; showcase the projects in a class expo or digital portfolio.
• Needs: a menu of formats, a rubric that defines quality across formats, and a timeline.
• Watch out for: vague criteria, unrealistic timelines, and skipping the content teaching learners still need.
• Example: Grade 12 learners in a Davao del Sur school show their competencies on community health through a written report, a phone video essay, a slide presentation or a barangay clean-up. A learner who is blind presents an audio report scored on the same rubric.

Advanced Metacognition

Self-awareness and Metacognition, Key Stage 4. Learners are taught how to learn: to plan, monitor and adapt their study strategies using feedback and data.

• How it runs: teach strategies explicitly, such as error analysis with “If-Then” plans (learners review common mistakes and plan what to do) and strategy experiments (learners try two study methods, such as rereading and self-testing, track which they remember better, and reflect on the results); model the language of thinking and self-assessment in every class.
• Needs: quiz results learners can look at, and a log for their study experiments.
• Watch out for: treating metacognition as buzzwords without modeling or follow-through, and leaving learners without timely feedback or data.
• Example: Grade 11 learners in a Tuguegarao school study one set of formulas by rereading and another by self-testing for two weeks, then compare their quiz scores and choose their method for the next unit.

Post Exam Reflection

Self-awareness and Metacognition, Key Stage 4. After a test, learners analyze their performance, its causes and their next actions (“What went well? What confused me? What will I do next?”), and the teacher summarizes class trends and revisits them before the next test.

• How it runs: after an assessment, hand out a reflection sheet with the three prompts; ask a few learners to share insights; gather themes from the sheets; remind learners of the themes before the next test.
• Needs: a three-column reflection sheet.
• Watch out for: collecting reflections with no follow-up. The card says to schedule a short revisit to check whether the plans were used.
• Example: After the first summative test of the term, a Grade 12 class in Ormoc finds that many lost points on reading graphs. The teacher adds two graph items to the next week’s warm-ups.

Empathy Interview

Values and Purpose Integration, Key Stage 4. Learners interview someone from their community about a real need, then sum up what they learned. The teacher helps with question banks, role-played interviews and the option to interview people learners know better.

• How it runs: the card prints no steps. One workable order, drawn from its description and tips: pick a real need in the community; build questions from a question bank; role-play the interview; ask the person’s consent, then interview (or interview a family member or school staff, as the card allows); sum up the insights and one action.
• Needs: a question bank, a notebook or voice recorder, and a consent script.
• Watch out for: ignoring the community member’s consent or context, and extractive or disrespectful topics and methods. The card’s tech tip asks for secure storage of recordings for privacy, and its inclusion tip offers anonymized reporting.
• Example: Grade 11 learners in a Bulacan school ask a barber and a sari-sari store owner how the heat affects their work and customers, then propose one shaded waiting area the barangay could set up.

Purpose Pitch

Values and Purpose Integration, Key Stage 4. Learners pick an idea or skill from recent lessons and present, or record, a one-minute pitch on how it helps others or connects to a personal, social or national purpose. The card says this fosters malasakit (care).

• How it runs: learners pick one idea or skill from recent lessons; reflect: “How does this help others or my future?”; write or outline a one-minute pitch, then present or record it; reflect as a group: “What kind of learners—and citizens—do we want to be?”
• Needs: a timer, or a phone to record.
• Watch out for: turning it into a performance or grading it on eloquence. The card says to focus on sincerity and thought.
• Example: A Grade 12 learner in an electrical installation class in Cebu pitches why checking for exposed wires at home protects younger siblings, and records it for the class portfolio.

Using a card outside its suggested key stage

A card may be used in any key stage where it suits the learners. The key stages on the cards are suggestions: the index heads them “SUGGESTED KEY STAGES”, and the cards describe themselves as strategies “you can plug into any lesson”. DO 016, s. 2026 leaves the choice of method to the teacher, guided by “learner needs and contexts” (para. 17).

DO 015, s. 2026 shows the overlap. Its table of formative practices by key stage lists learning logs, exit tickets and quick quizzes for Grades 4 to 6, and structured peer feedback for Grades 7 to 10 (Table 1). The Exit Tickets card is filed under Key Stage 3 and the Structured Feedback card under Key Stage 4.

Read across the index, many cards are one idea at four ages. The progressions below follow the cards’ own descriptions.

To move a card down a key stage, shorten it, make it concrete, and let learners answer by pointing, drawing or speaking: an Exit Ticket in Grade 2 can be one drawn face and one spoken sentence at the door. To move a card up, hand more of it to learners and raise the demand for evidence: a Grade 10 Think Pair Share can end with each pair writing a claim and its evidence. These adjustments follow from the cards’ own inclusion tips and descriptions; no card or order prescribes them.

Adapting the strategies for different classes

Each card’s “Tips for inclusion” already gives adaptations. The table gathers the ones that matter most for five common situations, with the governing rules.

For learners with disabilities, the line between the two kinds of adjustment matters. DO 016, s. 2026 defines accommodations as changes in “time, materials, devices, quantity of tasks, or learning environment” and modifications as changes to “learning objectives, content, or performance expectations” (para. 4(i)). Most of the cards’ inclusion tips are accommodations. A modification comes from the learner’s IEP, not from a card.

Some tech tips involve photos, recordings and online forms. Keep learners’ personal data out of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, as DO 015, s. 2026 requires for assessment (para. 31(e)), and follow the Empathy Interview card’s own advice on consent and secure storage.

Using the cards in distance learning and emergencies (DO 014, s. 2026)

DO 014, s. 2026 sets four levels of learning continuity. The Learning Design Principles apply at every level: the order says they define quality teaching “across subjects, grade levels, and modalities” (para. 18). What changes is what learners can safely do. The guide to learning continuity in emergencies explains the levels and the school’s continuity plan.

The fit of each card to a level is a reading of the cards against DO 014’s table; the order names learning experiences, not strategies. DO 016, s. 2026 adds that teachers prepare alternative resources for home-based learning for Hinay situations (para. 7(b)(i)), and DO 014 asks school heads to make sure teachers know the learning experiences for each level in the school’s continuity plan (para. 34).

For the El Niño of 2026-2027, DepEd Memorandum No. 064, s. 2026 directs school heads to “activate LACs and professional learning networks” to reorient teachers on, among other things, “quick learning checks or rapid formative assessment techniques” (Encl., Sec. 5.2.4). The five Checks for Understanding cards are ready material for those sessions.

Where a card fits in an ILAW lesson plan

A card is a strategy inside the plan, not a part of it. The ILAW framework of DO 016, s. 2026 has four elements: Intentions, Learning Experience, Assessing Learning and Ways Forward (para. 7). The cards’ own wording shows where each tends to sit.

No card belongs to Intentions, which come from the curriculum. The Clear Goals and Teaching cards help make an intention visible to learners; Explicit Instruction opens with “State the goal”.

A plan needs no new heading for a card. Annex B of DO 016 serves “only as a reference tool and shall not be interpreted as a required national template” (para. 11), and its Flow prompts already follow the principles, from “make the objectives clear for the learners” to “invite learners to reflect on why this matters to them”. A teacher who uses a card can say so in a line of the flow, in their own words:

After the second worked example, Show Me on mini-boards: “Draw the next shape.” If more than about a third are wrong, reteach with the pattern blocks before pair work.

That line shows a check placed during the lesson and what the teacher will do with it, which is what the rubric in Annex A looks for (“Assessment strategies are integrated throughout the session”). How to write the rest of the plan is in ILAW Lesson Plan: How to Write One, With Samples.

The cards and formative assessment under DO 015, s. 2026

DO 015, s. 2026 says “Formative assessment shall be embedded in daily instruction” (para. 14) and that teachers “shall apply formative assessment processes, such as the ESRU cycle” (para. 16). Annex A sets out the four stages: the teacher Elicits thinking with a question, task or cue; the Student Responds verbally, in writing or through performance; the teacher Recognizes what the response shows; and the teacher Uses it to adjust instruction, give feedback, ask a follow-up question or scaffold (Annex A, para. 4).

Read against those stages, each check card runs one ESRU cycle:

Readiness Quiz and Recall Warmup run the same cycle at the start of a lesson, and the reflection cards (Learning Log, Post Exam Reflection, Rubrics for Mastery, Structured Feedback) serve what DO 015 calls assessment as learning: goal-setting, self- and peer assessment, reflection and progress tracking (para. 17; Annex A, para. 8).

Three rules from DO 015 shape how a school uses these cards:

• Not for grades. “Formative assessment shall be used to monitor learning progress but shall not be used for grade computation” (para. 15). The cards agree: Readiness Quiz warns against “Treating quizzes as graded tests”, Recall Warmup against high-stakes use, and Rubrics for Mastery against using rubrics “only for grading”.
• Records the order names. Each instance of formative assessment, “whether spontaneous (informal) or planned (formal), shall be documented through observation notes, learner outputs, and teacher reflection logs” (Annex A, para. 6), in “manageable documentation systems” (Annex A, para. 2). Exit slips, learning logs and reflection sheets are learner outputs; a Show Me or Stoplight check leaves only what the teacher notes. For Kindergarten to Grade 3, teachers “shall not be required to record every formative interaction” (Annex C, para. 4(b)). A separate log of cards used is not among the records the order names.
• Fit the key stage. Formative practice “shall be developmentally appropriate” and teachers may adapt strategies to learners’ levels and contexts (para. 18).

The guide to DO 015, s. 2026 covers the grading side, from weights to transmutation.

How school heads use the cards in learning action cells

LAC sessions still run under DepEd Order No. 35, s. 2016. As of November 14, 2026, the guidelines on the improved implementation of LAC sessions, including their scheduling, that DepEd Order No. 009, s. 2026 promised (para. 22) have not been issued. DO 016, s. 2026 names LAC sessions as primary venues for “peer learning, sharing effective practices, aligning competencies, and co-creating lesson plans” (para. 37(a)), and DO 015, s. 2026 asks schools to support formative assessment through “collaborative planning, coaching, LAC sessions” (Annex A, para. 2). The guide to DepEd learning action cells covers the whole LAC policy.

A DO 35 session moves from a stimulus, such as a practicum, a workshop or coaching, to collaborative discussion and then to action planning; members then try the strategies in class and report back, and the school head supports them with class observations (paras. 18 and 19). A card fits that cycle well: it is short enough to demonstrate, concrete enough to try next week, and its “Watch out for” line gives the group something to look for.

A sample LAC session built on two cards

The session below is one way to use the cards; DO 35 sets the three parts, and the timings are a suggestion. Suppose walkthrough notes in a junior high school show that most teachers check understanding only with a quiz at the end of the period.

1. Look at the evidence (10 minutes). The school head shares the pattern from the walkthroughs, with no teacher named, and two samples of learner work that show a misconception nobody caught.
2. Stimulus (15 minutes). A master teacher runs Show Me and Stoplight with the teachers as learners, using a real item from Grade 8 Mathematics.
3. Discussion (25 minutes). Teachers in learning-area groups find one point in next week’s lesson where a check fits, and decide what they will do if half the class shows red. They adapt the cards for their own learners, such as group boards for a class of 50 or private signals for shy learners.
4. Action planning (15 minutes). Each teacher writes one line in their own lesson plan’s flow and picks the day they will try it.
5. Follow-up. The school head and the master teacher do short, non-rated walkthroughs focused on that check. At the next session, teachers bring what the check showed and what they changed.

Other uses fit the same pattern: a session on one principle across key stages (for example, the retrieval ladder from Flashback to Spaced Review, so elementary and secondary teachers see how a routine grows); co-planning a shared lesson around a card, which DO 016 recognizes as “valid evidence” of preparation when every teacher understands the plan (para. 28); or a session on the eight cards that print no steps, in which teachers write the steps for their own classes.

DO 35 lets teachers set the content “under the general guidance of the school head or LAC leader”, through a needs assessment (para. 14). The cards answer a need; they are not a syllabus to cover in order.

Walkthroughs and coaching conversations with the cards

DO 016, s. 2026 encourages “frequent, non-rated, formative walkthrough observations” of about 10 to 15 minutes (para. 33), with coaching on the “Intentional application of Learning Design Principles” and the use of evidence of learning, not solely on whether documents are complete (para. 32). The steps of the visit and the conversation are in the guide to DO 016, s. 2026.

The cards help in three ways:

• A shared vocabulary. The principle names on the cards are the order’s “common instructional language” (para. 19). Feedback that names the principle and the strategy, such as asking what the teacher did after a Stoplight check showed eight red cards, is specific without being a verdict.
• A focus for a short visit. Ask the teacher which strategy to watch, and watch the learners: whether everyone answered, and whether the teaching changed after the check.
• The teacher’s own warning. Each card’s “Watch out for” names the usual mistake, so the coach can point to the card instead of to the teacher.

A short example. A Grade 9 teacher in a large Cavite high school uses Exit Tickets daily, but the slips pile up unread in a box. In the coaching conversation the school head asks what the last set of slips said; the teacher has not had time to read them. They look at the card together, and its warning is the first line: “Collecting tickets but not using the data”. The teacher decides to sort the slips into three piles during the last five minutes, while learners copy the homework, and to open the next lesson with the biggest pile. The school head offers a ten-minute visit at the start of that lesson. The coaching steps behind this exchange are in the guide to instructional supervision.

What this means for school heads

The cards give a school head material for instructional leadership without adding paperwork. In order:

1. Know the cards and the principles. Read the index and the cards of the key stages your school serves, and the eight principles in DO 016, Table 1. Indicator 3.2.1 of the Philippine Professional Standards for School Heads (PPSSH) expects “knowledge and understanding of teaching standards and pedagogies within and across learning areas to provide technical assistance to teachers”.
2. Introduce them as optional. Share the cards in a LAC session as a menu teachers may draw on, with the Lesson Planning page of the Guide to Learning Systems Updates where teachers can find them.
3. Check your school’s forms. No school template may ask for the card or strategy used; the rules are under Are teachers required to use the Pedagogy Cards?.
4. Build LAC sessions from evidence. Start from walkthrough patterns and learner work, pick one or two cards that answer the need, and follow up in classrooms (DO 35, paras. 18-19).
5. Coach with the cards. In non-rated walkthroughs, watch the strategy the teacher chose and what learners did; agree on one next step (DO 016, paras. 32-33).
6. Plan for disruptions. Make sure teachers know the learning experiences the school’s learning and service continuity plan sets for each level (DO 014, para. 34), and agree which cards suit the Hinay and Hinga levels.
7. Collect what worked. At the end of each term, ask teachers which strategies helped which learners. DepEd’s checklist for school heads lists “Identify effective teaching practices” in the End-of-Term Block.

Records to keep. None beyond what the orders already name: the teachers’ own lesson plans, archived at the school (DO 016, para. 37(e)); the formative records DO 015 names (Annex A, para. 6); and the LAC plan, minutes and members’ notes under DO 35. Notes from a non-rated walkthrough are the coach’s own; no order sets a form for them. DepEd’s checklist for school heads also says to “Stop practices that return to compliance-heavy processes”.

What school heads should not do with the cards

A LAC may still agree on its own short record of what members tried and what learners showed, as DO 35 allows (Sec. IV, items 35.3 and 35.6); that record belongs to the LAC, not to the lesson plan.

PPSSH strands this serves

At Career Stage 2, indicator 3.2.2 reads “Provide technical assistance to teachers on teaching standards and pedagogies within and across learning areas to improve their teaching practice”, and 4.5.2 reads “Implement professional development initiatives to enhance strengths and address performance gaps among school personnel.” The domains are explained in PPSSH Domain 3: Teaching and Learning and PPSSH Domain 4: Developing Self and Others.

How the NASH may test this

The items below are original practice items, scored 3 (Relational), 2 (Multistructural), 1 (Unistructural) or 0 (Prestructural). An option that breaks a rule scores 0.

Question 1

Indicator 3.2.2, Teaching standards and pedagogies. Career Stage 2, Situational, Moderate.

You are the school head of a large elementary school in a city. After an orientation, your teachers like DepEd’s Pedagogy Cards. A master teacher proposes two rules for the next term: every lesson plan will name the card used, and walkthrough observers will use a checklist of the cards to count which ones each teacher uses. Your walkthrough notes show that most teachers check understanding only through a quiz at the end of the period. What is the most appropriate action?

• A. Keep the cards optional and the lesson plans unchanged, but use the checklist of cards during non-rated walkthroughs so that the school can track each teacher’s strategies.
• B. Approve both rules for the next term and add the count of cards used to each teacher’s rating, so that every teacher applies the cards in each lesson.
• C. Keep the cards optional, take up two checking cards in a learning action cell for teachers to try in class, and focus walkthroughs on what learners show.
• D. Give each teacher a printed set of the cards and post the eight principles in the faculty room, so that teachers can choose strategies for their own classes.

Answer and explanation: Question 1

Best answer: C. Points: A = 2, B = 0, C = 3, D = 1.

• A (2 points, Multistructural). It keeps the cards optional and adds nothing to the lesson plans, but a checklist that counts strategies turns the walkthrough into a compliance check and leaves the end-of-period gap unaddressed.
• B (0 points, Prestructural). The first rule adds a component the lesson planning order bars: teachers may not be required to include components beyond the ILAW framework. Putting the count into teachers’ ratings also turns walkthroughs the order describes as non-rated into a rating.
• C (3 points, Relational). It keeps the cards optional, uses a learning action cell and classroom try-outs to answer the gap the walkthroughs found, and keeps walkthroughs focused on evidence of learning.
• D (1 point, Unistructural). Making the cards available is useful, but it gives teachers no support on the gap the walkthroughs found.

Why. This aligns with Career Stage 2 expectations because indicator 3.2.2 asks the school head to provide technical assistance on pedagogies. DepEd Order No. 016, s. 2026 bars components beyond the framework (para. 10) and added forms (para. 21), and describes walkthroughs as “frequent, non-rated, formative” (para. 33); its Table 1 says checks for understanding shall not be limited to the assessment portion of the lesson. The option that keeps a strategy checklist complies on paper but turns coaching into counting and misses the learners’ need.

Indicator 3.2.2: Provide technical assistance to teachers on teaching standards and pedagogies within and across learning areas to improve their teaching practice.

Sources: DepEd Order No. 016, s. 2026, paras. 9, 10, 21, 32 and 33 and Table 1; DepEd Order No. 35, s. 2016, paras. 18-19; DepEd’s Pedagogy Cards; DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2020.

Question 2

Indicator 4.5.1, Professional development of school personnel. Career Stage 1, Conceptual, Moderate.

Walkthrough notes in a junior high school show that many teachers end lessons without finding out which learners understood. The school head plans to use DepEd’s Pedagogy Cards in learning action cell sessions. Which approach best reflects how professional development should address this gap?

• A. Have master teachers demonstrate several checking cards at each session, since learning action cells are venues for sharing effective practices among teachers.
• B. Choose one or two checking cards that suit those lessons, have teachers try them in class, and bring the learners’ answers to the next session.
• C. Give each teacher a full set of the cards to study during vacant periods, since the cards are short and can be learned without colleagues.
• D. Schedule all fifty cards as session topics for the year in index order, and require each teacher to submit proof of using every card in class.

Answer and explanation: Question 2

Best answer: B. Points: A = 2, B = 3, C = 1, D = 0.

• A (2 points, Multistructural). Demonstrations and sharing are a sound stimulus, but without trying the strategies in class and reviewing the results, the session stops short of action.
• B (3 points, Relational). It ties the session to the observed gap, moves the strategy into classrooms, and closes the loop with evidence from learners, which is how a LAC session is meant to work.
• C (1 point, Unistructural). Access to the cards is one element, but self-study alone leaves out the shared practice and classroom follow-up that change teaching.
• D (0 points, Prestructural). It ignores the needs-based design of learning action cells and demands proof of use, which the lesson planning order rules out: schools may not require documentation beyond its standards, and added support may not bring added documentation.

Why. This aligns with Career Stage 1 expectations because indicator 4.5.1 asks the aspiring school head to understand how professional development addresses performance gaps. DepEd Order No. 35, s. 2016 has each session end in “individual and group action planning in order to implement agreed activities in the classroom” (para. 18), with members reporting back and school heads observing classes (para. 19). The demonstration-only option has the right stimulus but stops before the classroom application that DO 35 requires.

Indicator 4.5.1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of professional development in enhancing strengths and in addressing performance gaps among school personnel.

Sources: DepEd Order No. 35, s. 2016, paras. 14, 18 and 19; DepEd Order No. 016, s. 2026, paras. 21, 29 and 37(a); DepEd’s Pedagogy Cards; DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2020.

Nothing in this guide reproduces or predicts examination content.

Frequently asked questions

How many DepEd Pedagogy Cards are there?

There are 50 strategy cards and an index page, 51 pages in all. By suggested key stage, 14 are for Kindergarten to Grade 3, 14 for Grades 4 to 6, 12 for Grades 7 to 10 and 10 for Grades 11 and 12. By principle, Values and Purpose Integration has 10, Social Learning 9, Self-awareness and Metacognition 7, Clear Goals and Teaching 6, Active Retrieval and Spacing 5, Checks for Understanding 5, Scaffolding 4 and Inclusion 4 (Pedagogy Cards, index).

Are the Pedagogy Cards required in DepEd lesson plans?

No. They are optional strategies from the Bureau of Learning Delivery, and DO 016, s. 2026 does not mention them. The order says teachers shall not be required to include components beyond the ILAW framework (para. 10), and schools and offices shall not require added templates or forms (para. 21).

Can a teacher use a card meant for another key stage?

Yes. The index presents the key stages as suggestions, and the cards call themselves strategies for “any lesson”. DO 016, s. 2026 leaves the choice of method to the teacher, based on learners’ needs and contexts (para. 17). Simplify a card for younger learners and hand more of it to older ones.

Where can teachers find the Pedagogy Cards?

DepEd’s Learning Systems Strand links them, as “Teaching Strategies”, on the Lesson Planning page of its Guide to Learning Systems Updates, beside the lesson plan guide, the three-term budgets of work and the Opening Block guides.

Do the Pedagogy Cards count as checks for understanding in a lesson plan?

Five cards are checks for understanding: Quick Poll, Show Me, Stoplight, Exit Tickets and Milestone Checkpoints. Quick Poll, Show Me and Stoplight work during the lesson, which meets the Table 1 rule of DO 016, s. 2026 that checks “shall not be limited to the assessment portion of the lesson plan”; Exit Tickets close a lesson, and Milestone Checkpoints run across a project. Their results guide teaching and are not used to compute grades (DO 015, s. 2026, para. 15).

Sources

DepEd issuances

• DepEd Order No. 016, s. 2026, Guidelines on Lesson Planning and Learning Design, June 4, 2026: paras. 4(i), 7, 9 to 11, 14, 15, 17 to 22, 28, 29, 32, 33 and 37; Table 1; Annexes A and B
• DepEd Order No. 015, s. 2026, Revised Guidelines on Classroom Assessment, Grading System, and Awards and Recognition for the K to 12 Basic Education Program, June 4, 2026: paras. 14 to 18 and 31(e); Table 1; Annex A, paras. 2 to 8 and 16; Annex C, para. 4(b)
• DepEd Order No. 014, s. 2026, Guidelines on Learning Continuity in Emergencies, June 4, 2026: paras. 13, 18 and 34; the table of learning continuity levels; the definition of check-in guides; Annex B
• DepEd Order No. 009, s. 2026, Guidelines on the Implementation of the Three-Term School Calendar in Basic Education, April 16, 2026: para. 22
• DepEd Order No. 010, s. 2024, Policy Guidelines on the Implementation of the MATATAG Curriculum, July 23, 2024: the Instructional Design Framework, which DO 016 cites for the principles (para. 17)
• DepEd Order No. 35, s. 2016, The Learning Action Cell as a K to 12 Basic Education Program School-Based Continuing Professional Development Strategy for the Improvement of Teaching and Learning, June 7, 2016: paras. 14, 18 and 19; Sec. IV, items 35.3 and 35.6
• DepEd Memorandum No. 064, s. 2026, Anticipatory Action, Preparedness, and Protective Measures for the 2026–2027 Super El Niño, October 26, 2026: Encl., Sec. 5.2.4
• DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2020, National Adoption and Implementation of the Philippine Professional Standards for School Heads, September 7, 2020: indicators 3.2.1, 3.2.2, 4.5.1 and 4.5.2

Laws

• Republic Act No. 11650, Instituting a Policy of Inclusion and Services for Learners with Disabilities in Support of Inclusive Education Act, March 11, 2022 (the IEP, as cited in DO 016, para. 15)

DepEd materials that support the orders (not issuances)

• DepEd, Bureau of Learning Delivery, Pedagogy Cards: the index (Learning Design Principles by suggested key stage) and the 50 strategy cards, SY 2026-2027
• DepEd, Learning Systems Strand, Guide to Learning Systems Updates, Lesson Planning page: “Teaching Strategies” and “Learning Design Principles”
• DepEd, Learning Systems Strand, Teacher Orientation Worksheets and Handouts, SY 2026-2027: the Learning Design Principles page
• DepEd, Learning Systems Strand, 3-Term Calendar Checklist for School Heads, SY 2026-2027: Instructional Block and End-of-Term Block
• DepEd, Bureau of Learning Delivery, “Revising DLLs and DLPs to ILAW”, lesson planning guide

Learning Systems reforms, SY 2026-2027

• DepEd Learning Systems Reforms: SY 2026-2027 Guide
• DepEd Three-Term School Calendar 2026-2027: DO 009 Guide
• DepEd Opening Block: The First Weeks of Term 1
• From Curriculum to Lesson: Unpacking and Budget of Work
• DepEd ILAW Lesson Plan, DO 016, s. 2026: School Head’s Role
• ILAW Lesson Plan: How to Write One, With Samples
• DepEd Pedagogy Cards: 50 Teaching Strategies by Key Stage (this post)
• DepEd Grading System, DO 015, s. 2026: School Head’s Role
• DepEd E-Class Record and SF9 for SY 2026-2027
• DepEd Learning Continuity in Emergencies: DO 014, s. 2026
• DepEd Flexible Learning Program (FLP) Explained
• MATATAG Curriculum and Strengthened SHS in SY 2026-2027
• Strengthened SHS Electives: Full List by Cluster
• Work Immersion Guidelines 2026: DepEd Order No. 023, s. 2026

Written by Mark Anthony Llego for NASH Reviewer. Sources: DepEd’s Pedagogy Cards (Bureau of Learning Delivery); DepEd Orders No. 016, s. 2026, No. 015, s. 2026, No. 014, s. 2026, No. 009, s. 2026, No. 010, s. 2024 and No. 35, s. 2016; DepEd Memorandum No. 064, s. 2026; DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2020 and the PPSSH; Republic Act No. 11650; DepEd’s Learning Systems orientation materials for SY 2026-2027.