Working with a Picture

Purpose: To help low beginning learners with vocabulary building, reading and spelling.

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Materials: A picture from class text or other picture related to theme learners are working on; look for a picture that is clear and fairly simple.

Preparation: Make copies of the picture, one for each learner, or work with an overhead transparency.

Procedure:

1) Working in pairs, students tell each other some things they see in the picture.

2) Then ask students to tell the whole group what they see in the picture. As they do this, teacher or tutor writes the words on the board. 

3) Tutor says each word; class repeats. Or try any number of other options for repetition:

• Half the class at a time
• One row or one group at a time
• Students with glasses, students without glasses, etc.

4) Students copy the words from the board, writing the words where they belong on the picture, if they have a copy, or just writing them in their notebooks. Encourage them to make a quick drawing for each word when appropriate.

5) In pairs, students take turns reading the words to each other.

6) Erase the words on the board. Teacher says a word and, in unison, students spell out each word as teacher writes it back on the board.

Variations:

• Spell some words incorrectly and ask learners to correct them.
• Have a student-led dictation where each person takes a turn reading a word while others write it. Ask students to work in pairs to correct their own work.