💡Teacher’s tips
Using pictures in class is an awesome way to make students engaged and get them talking. Pictures give a huge visual support, create context and help students master new grammar structures or revise the material they’ve learned before.
Here are my top ideas on how you can incorporate esl pictures into your teaching ⤵️
🟡Idea 1 - memory games.
Works best with pictures full of detail and different objects.
Tell students to look at a picture just for 20 seconds. Then cover the picture by using a shape on Miro board and give 1-2 minutes to write down on a piece of paper what they remember.
Once time is up, ask students to take turns and say what things they remember. When students are sharing their ideas a teacher is typing their ideas on a sticky note.
Remember to encourage your students use full sentences (not “a tree“but “there is a tree“), ask them follow-up questions to get more information and make students use various grammar structures that they already know. (e.g. What is the boy doing? Where is the chair?)
To make it even more entertaining and competitive (for group classes) the game continues till students are out of ideas. The last student who named a thing is a winner.
Finally, remove the shape covering the picture and ask students to check their ideas or to name what they didn’t see or mention.
🟡 Idea 2 - guessing games.
Works the best with simple pictures (such as a picture of a bedroom, a park or something else less detailed)
Before showing your students a picture cover one part of it. Ask them to guess what might be hidden there. Plan everything in advance before choosing a picture or a part to hide. Your students’ answers must include familiar grammar structures and vocabulary items. For example, you can use such activities to revise or drill there is/ are, present continuous, prepositions of place. So you have to think your students’ answers through. Try doing the task by yourself first before offering it to students.
Also, the task or teacher’s instructions can vary depending on a task aim. For example, if you want students to use affirmative sentences that’s pretty simple. Just ask them to make suggestions about the pictures and take turns to share answers. However, if you want them to make questions and use short answers you need to think of instructions you’re going to give. In that case, you can show student A a full picture but a picture with a hidden part to student B. Student B must ask questions, A responds using short answers. Then they switch the roles.
🟡 Idea 3 - I spy with my little eye
Students describe things to each other and guess what they are.
Student A - It’s yellow. It’s next to the tree. You can sleep in it.
Student B - it’s a tent.
🟡 Idea 4 - grammar drilling
Depending on what you want your students to say or use, prepare a list of words or phrases in advance. Show students a list of phrases and ask to read out loud. Make sure they know each expression, drill pronunciation of the most difficult ones, simply put - get students ready for speaking.
Get students revise grammar structures they will need in this task.
For example, the main aim is to make questions with has got, can, present continuous. Students revise these structures by looking at a speech pattern or plan and trying to make questions.
Then, when they are ready, Student A picks an object from a picture. Student B asks various questions to figure out what that it. Finally, they switch the roles.
Понравились идеи ⁉️ Дайте мне знать в комментариях 💬
😍Я очень надеюсь, что в скором времени закончу свою первую методичку с кучей идей и activities как вывести грамматику в речь.
Методичка включает подробные teacher’s instructions, методические советы и визуальную опору (карточки и картинки, ссылки на полезные видео) и рассчитана на младших школьников и подростков начальных уровней.
А вам интересен такой продукт? Какие грамматические темы вы хотели бы там видеть? Очень интересно услышать ваши ответы 🌷