Teaching English by the BBC: Using Picture Prompts for Writing Practice
Example Web Site and/or Technical Equipment Required
Website: http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/activities/picture-story
Website Example: http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/picture%20to%20story%20photo.doc
More Ways
Computer, Internet access, projector, (optional) - microphone, Microsoft Word and/or Audacity software
Activity Description
In this activity, students are shown a picture of a man on the telephone and asked to write questions in groups about the photo. This student-centered activity encourages collaboration and teamwork while offering speaking, writing, and grammar practice (question forms, simple present, present progressive), and encourages creativity.
Preparation
Use the picture provided or find a picture that promotes the use of vocabulary and grammar that your class has been studying. Here is a link to one used for this example.
How-To
- Show a picture and have students brainstorm questions about the picture in groups.
- When the students are working together, monitor and help with the question forming. Provide advice and correction if necessary. If students are struggling to think of questions, provide prompts.
- When you feel the students have produced enough questions ask students to ask you the questions orally.
- When you receive a question, ask another group to answer. When they answer (using their imaginations) write their answers on the board.
- When you have exhausted all the questions, have the students work in pairs and tell a story to each other based on the answers given. If they want to change any details tell them that this is fine.
- Change pairs and have the students tell their stories again.
- Now change pairs again. This time ask them to write the story they have told together.
- Monitor and offer advice and help if necessary.
- Post the finished stories on the walls and encourage students to read each others and comment.
- Find more pictures on Pixabay
More Ways
- Have students do their writing on the computer to encourage word processing skills.
- Give each pair of students a different picture. They must write a story based on the picture. If you have a microphone available students could record their completed stories using a free program like Audacity. This could then be played to all students while they look at a copy of all the original pictures. Students could then match the pictures to the recorded stories.
- Alternatively they could read the stories and match them to the pictures.
Levels
- Beginning High
- Intermediate Low