The teacher can take the stack of name cards and announce that every child will get a turn, then call on children, beginning with the first card in the stack. The teacher can assure children that they will get called on, so they can put their hands down. Each child can be given the opportunity to pass if he or she does not have anything to say, and the opportunity to come back to them if they think of something later. Anytime the name cards are used, the teacher can draw attention to beginning letters by using the cloze technique. This works best when most of the children are able to recognize their classmates' names.
Children rapidly learn to recognize their own and others' first initial.
Sometimes opportunities will arise in the classroom for children to make decisions. One way to make a group decision is to take a vote. However, often voting with young children is very difficult. When asked to raise their hands, children may raise them halfway, or wave them around, or fail to keep them up long enough for the teacher to count them. Often children do not understand what it means to vote, and so will raise their hand for both options.