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Pictures
DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE


If you teach visual learners, then you should definitely include pictures in your lessons.  You can find pictures in books, catalogues, magazines, newspapers, and online.  If you are artistically inclined, you can create your own!  If you have artistic students, and I know you do, then they will happily draw pictures for you.  I especially like to use funny pictures for a touch of humor.  If you want to include culture, use fine art pictures.  I really like Cubism for my beginner classes when we discuss shapes.  In the following activities students identify pictures and tell which one corresponds to the listening passage.

 

Picture Activities
    Ask Me about My Picture
    1. Display ten pictures with a number above each one. 
    2. Choose a picture but do not tell which one.
    3. Students ask you yes/no questions about the picture you have chosen.
    4. By process of elimination, students turn over the pictures that do not fit the description.
    5. Students then tell you the number of the picture you are describing.

    Color the Picture
    1. Provide students with a drawing that needs to be colored. 
    2. Give instructions on how to color the drawing.

      3. Example:

      Hay un carro amarillo.
      There is a yellow car.

      Hay un árbol verde.
      There is a green tree.

      El niño a la izquierda lleva un gorro rojo.
      The boy on the left is wearing a red hat.

      La niña que está debajo del árbol lleva un zapato azul y un zapato rojo.
      The girl under the tree is wearing a blue shoe and a red shoe.

    3. Repeat each phrase or sentence several times before moving on.
    4. Allow plenty of time for coloring.
    5. This is an effective activity because students take time to reflect and to transfer what they are hearing into what they are doing.  
    6. Provide links for coloring pages.
    Comic Strip
    1. Provide students with a comic strip with one or two cartoons missing. 
    2. Read out a story. 
    3. Students listen and follow along with their cartoon strip. 
    4. Read the story again. 
    5. Students then fill in their comic strip based on what they heard. 
    6. After they are finished, read the story one more time. 
    7. Students write captions and a dialogue for their comics.
    8. Students then share their comics with the class. 
    9. They turn them in for a grade.  
    Crazy Drawings
    1. Collect or draw some fun and crazy pictures.
    2. Describe the image to the class in Spanish.
    3. Students draw what you describe.
    4. Students may ask questions in Spanish as you describe it.

      Example:

      Teacher Says:
      • Draw a circle.
      • To the right of the circle, draw the letter ‘A’. 
      • Below the circle, draw a triangle.
      • In the center of the circle, draw a horizontal line.
      • Draw 5 dots.

      Student Asks:
      • Is the circle big or small?
      • Is the ‘A’ upper case or lower case?

    5. Afterwards, students compare their drawings to the original. 

    Label the Picture
    1. Give students a picture with several activities in it. 
    2. Make a statement with a vocabulary word. 
    3. Students label the picture on their worksheet with the number that corresponds to statement you just made.
    4. You could also post the picture that is labeled with letters and have students write the letter you are describing on their answer sheet.

      Example:

      1. There is a cloud.
      2. There is a finger.
      3. There is a mountain.
      4. It is raining.
      5. There is a flag on the girl’s head.

    Label the Pictures from the Story
    1. Display several pictures that are labeled with a letter. 
    2. Read out a story.
    3. Students listen and write down the letters of the pictures in the order that they hear the story.

    Let’s Play Detective!
    1. Pair students.
    2. One student is the police detective.  The other is a witness to a robbery.
    3. Assign each witness a photo with a number. 
    4. The witness was hit over the head during the incident and is temporarily blind and therefore cannot visually identify the suspect.  As a result, the witness must identify the suspect by providing a detailed description to the detective. 
    5. Give the detective a piece of paper with pictures of the suspects to cross off as they are eliminated. 
    Mystery Picture Description
    1. Display ten pictures with a number above each one. 
    2. Describe a picture but do not tell which one. 
    3. Students have to tell you the number of the picture you are describing. 

    Mystery Picture Description with Partner
    1. Put students in pairs. 
    2. Give each pair a set of pictures. 
    3. Students spread pictures out on their desks so that they are all visible. 
    4. Describe a picture.
    5. As students listen to each sentence, they must turn over the pictures that don't fit the description until only one is left.

      Example:

      Hay una chica.
      There is a girl.

      Ella es baja.
      She is short.

      Ella es joven.
      She is young.

      Ella es rubia.
      She is blond.


    Number the Picture
    1. Post several pictures with vocabulary items students are learning. 
    2. Number each picture. 
    3. Pictures can be on a handout, transparency, large flashcards, or in a Power Point presentation
    4. Read out statements with the vocabulary items.
    5. Students then write the number of the picture you are describing.

      Example:

      1. Hay una chica.  La chica lleva una camisa rosada y tiene pelo largo y castaño.  La chica tiene un gato. 
      2. Hay dos chicos y una chica.  Los chicos juegan con una pelota roja.
      3. Hay dos chicos que juegan con una pelota.  Tienen una pelota de fútbol.

        3   1       2 

    Picture and Vocabulary Discussion
    1. Post a picture on the overhead projector, in a PowerPoint presentation, or on the board.
    2. The picture should be colorful, interesting, culturally related, and should contain an action.   Use pictures of school, kids, community, countries, vocabulary, famous people, art, etc.  I like to include funny pictures for a touch of humor.  Give links with funny pictures.
    3. Describe the picture and students listen. 
    4. Tell the names of the objects in the picture and describe what is happening.   Describe the picture with actions, gestures, emotion, and point to objects in the picture to make the meaning clear.    
    5. Then point to the items again and ask students lots of yes/no, either/or, and short answer questions about the picture.  Students also identify elements of the picture by pointing or describing certain aspects of the picture. 
    Example:

    Show a picture of a cat and ask the following types of questions in Spanish:
      Yes/No
      Teacher: Is it a cat?
      Students: Yes. (Some students may say “Yes, it is a cat.” I encourage them to answer in complete sentences but I do not require it from beginners.)
      Teacher: Correct class.  It is a cat. (I always repeat a complete sentence back to them).
      Teacher: Is it a dog?
      Students: No (or no, it is not a dog).
      Teacher:  That’s right.  It isn't a dog.  It is a cat.
      Either/Or
      Teacher: Is it a cat or is it a dog?
      Students: a cat. (Some students may say “It is a cat” but I will accept “a cat”)
      Teacher: Very good.  That is correct.  It is a cat.
      Short Answer
      Teacher: What is it?
      Students: a cat (or It is a cat).
      Teacher: What is the cat’s name?
      Students: Fluffy (or His name is Fluffy)

    Open Ended

      Teacher: What does the cat look like?
      Students: It is brown.  It has a fluffy tail.  It is big.
      Teacher: What does Fluffy like to eat?
      Students: Chicken, fish, cat food, meat, insects

    1. Choose volunteers to point to the items on the board as you randomly name them.
    2. Then provide a worksheet where students match the word with a picture of the item.
    3. Give students a different worksheet with the same picture items. 
    4. Read a paragraph in Spanish describing the picture.  
    5. Students circle the items mentioned. 
    6. End with a listening quiz of the new words. 

    Picture Folder Description (Variation of Picture Pair Work)
    1. Pass out a picture folder to each student. Show example of foldable picture folder.  It is tri-folded like a greeting card.  Two folds on outside with picture in middle. 
    2. Without showing their picture to their classmates, students describe the picture in as much detail as possible orally or in writing. 
    3. Afterwards, each student orally describes his/her picture to the class without showing it.
    4. Students take notes of the description in Spanish. 
    5. After hearing all of the descriptions, display each picture in the front for all to see and number each one. 
    6. Students then tell who described which picture.
    Picture Pair Work
    1. Pair students. 
    2. Give each student a different picture to describe.
    3. Student A describes his/her picture to student B. 
    4. B draws the picture as described by A. 
    5. Then A draws a picture that B describes. 
    6. After they are finished, they compare their illustrations to the actual drawing. 
    7. Afterwards, have a class discussion on what expressions were needed to complete the activity.  
    8. Do this after illustration activity where you describe a picture for students to draw and discuss needed vocabulary for describing the picture. 
    Picture Puzzle
    1. Pair students.
    2. Give Student A a picture.
    3. Give Student B the same picture that is cut into puzzle pieces.
    4. Student A describes the picture so that Student B can correctly reassemble the puzzle.

    Picture Search
    1. Pass out a detailed picture to each student. 
    2. Give students directions in Spanish to search for an object in the picture. 

      Example:

      • Circle all the hats in the picture.
      • Put a star on top of every tree.
      • Draw an N on top of each cloud


    Who is the Criminal?
    1. Have students identify the criminal. 
    2. Gather photos of up to eight people for the line-up and number them 1-8.
    3. Describe the criminal.
    4. For each descriptive sentence, students check under which suspect the sentence applies. For example, the teachers says, "It is a man." (Students put a check mark under each man: 3, 5, 6, 7, 8.) He is wearing glasses. (Students check whoever is wearing glasses, that is under 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6.)
    5. In the end, the person with all the check marks is the criminal.
    6. Have a handout with pictures of the criminals labeled. 
    Wrong Description
    1. Show students a picture. 
    2. Read out an erroneous description of the picture.
    3. Students must correct the statements.


Resources
I have found many useful pictures in catalogs, magazines, newspapers, comics, and textbooks.  In addition, there are many clip art images you can find online and in software packages. You can even create your own illustrations if you have an artistic flair. 

Links

Clip-art for Foreign Language teachers -  This site contains free clip art for foreign language instruction.  I have used clip art from this site many times.  There is a large collection but no large that it is overwhelming. 

UVic's Language Teaching Clip art Gallery - This website has over 3,000 images that you can use for basic language vocabulary.  The clip art is free.

Microsoft Clip art - This is by far my favorite source for clip art.  It includes clip art, photos and sounds and it is all free!

Task Magic Primary Pictures - Here you will find some really cute clip art made for a French class but you can use it for a Spanish class as well since the pictures either have English or no writing at all. 

MES English Flashcards - This wonderful ESL site has a lot of flashcards with pictures that you can use in class. 

Realia Project - You will find a large database with many culturally related pictures for use in a foreign language class.   

Free Clip Art Castle - You can download lots of free clip art here! 

Classroom Clip art - There is a lot of free clip art on this site.  Just make sure you have your pop up blocker turned on because there are quite a few pop ups!  In any case, it has some nice pictures worth checking out. 

Google images - You can find just about any image imaginable!  Just be sure to follow copyright guidelines when using Google images. 

Books

TPR Instructor's Graphics Book by Ramiro Garcia

Chalk Talks by Norma Shapiro and Carol Genser

Software


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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