Using pictures in ESL classroom is fun for the students and a great help for the teachers too!
However, using images for lessons can be tricky because it can lead to the opposite effect of what we may pretend with them.
First of all, we need to decide what we want to achieve by showing specific pictures in the classroom.
We may need to introduce a topic, exercise a particular grammar structure, revise vocabulary, develop speaking or listening skills, debate over a topic, etc.
Then we realise we have a lot of options and we have to choose…
Believe me or not, that is my favourite part!
Then we only conclude whether it was a good choice or not by the time there’s no coming back, and that is usually the lesson itself!
But then, what may happen, if it wasn’t indeed the best choice?
Using Pictures In ESL:
9 Things Will Happen If Pictures Are Not Well Chosen
1# Students will not relate
2# Interaction and communication will not happen
3# Photograph or picture context will not be recalled
4# Words will be forgotten (if the lesson is about vocabulary)
5# Content of the lesson will be relegated to short-term memory
6# There’s no immediate and repetitive use in students’ day-to-day lives of the lesson’s content
7# Words and grammar structures will not be reused
#8 Successful learning will not take place
#9 Teacher’s work will be forgotten
Activities Using Pictures In ESL
You can find here on my website several FREE downloadable resources with pictures to:
- explore vocabulary about feelings – 13 Smart Strategies To Start A (Remote) School Year
- practise the Conditionals (Summer, Life After Covid, Back To School, Business Situations, Halloween) – Free Downloads
- brainstorm – Why Celebrating Fun Days Of The Year In ESL?
However, I have prepared three more activities which are picture-based:
- REMEMBER ALL-OR-NOTHING
- DAYTIME STORIES
- CAPTIONS’ FACTORY
I hope you like them.
You can adapt them to different levels, use them when teaching in social distancing or at school.
1. Remember All-or-Nothing
- Great for practising speaking as well as memory.
- Put your students into teams (“social distancing friendly activity” – being part of a team as a piece of a puzzle).
- Show them the picture (projector).
- Give them 15 seconds to memorize all the details in the photo.
- Ask them different questions.
- Finally, proceed to the next photo.
Download the FREE PDF of these 8 worksheets HERE!
2. Daytime Stories
- Great for practising speaking skills, to develop creativity and students’ imagination.
- Put your students into teams (“social distancing friendly activity” – being part of a team as a piece of a puzzle) or pairs.
- Ask them to create a connection between the four pictures and imagine a storyline (they may change the order of the pictures).
- Ask students to show their pictures to their classmates in a story succession while narrating it.
- Students can later perform their story with some sketches.
You can get these FREE worksheets by clicking HERE!
3. Captions’ Factory
- Great to introduce and explore vocabulary.
- First, show students an example: students must think of 5 words related to the picture and should come up with an appropriate creative caption for what they are seeing.
- Set a time limit.
- In the end, students read out loud.
- Alltogether they vote for the best or most appropriate caption.
I have prepared a 16-FREE-PDF page document for you to download! Or a 20-page one right HERE.
So, because some experts think the most catchy photos have a little “weirdness” about them, try to find some with that memorable “element”!
Including people and some kind of movement are two things which you might consider when choosing a photo too.
You can find a pretty amount of pictures in my Pinterest account in the album ESL Teaching and Photos. It has more than 30 sections of different themes and topics with “weird” images ready to be explored!
Have a look and follow me there too!
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Never forget that pictures and images are a creative inspiration to our students!
If you need more ideas about this topic, read my related posts:
- Guaranteeing 3 Excellent Ways Of Using Pictures In ESL
- What Is The Best Way To Teach Vocabulary?
- How To Learn New English Words Every Day
- Number 1 Way To Introduce English Vocabulary
- Ways To Introduce English Vocabulary
Finally, more related posts:
“Taking an image, freezing a moment, reveals how rich reality truly is.” — Anonymous