Using Pictures to Teach Writing

Benefits of Pictures

• Shared experience in the classroom• Common language for the classroom• Variety of tasks• Focus of students’ interest

General Strategies with Pictures

• Whole class discussion• Give audience for those who are writing• Pair work• Real communicative tasks - authentic materials brought by students• Impetus for enhancement or additional work

What do you see?

What do you see?

What do you see?

What?

• One picture• Picture sets• Diagrams, tables, graphs, charts• Maps

Examples of Activities

• Description• Comparison and contrast• Paragraph assembly• Sentence combining• Paragraph completion• Controlled composition• Guided composition• Questions and answers

What?

• One picture- multiple techniques- sequencing of tasks

• Picture sets• Diagrams, table, graphs, charts• Maps

One picture-multiple techniques

• Description• Description, comparison, contrast• Paragraph assembly• Sentence combining• Paragraph completion• Controlled composition• Guided composition• Role-play• Questions and answer• Beyond picture

One picture-multiple techniques

Your task is to identify which technique can be used for individual, pair, small group or big

class work?

One picture-sequencing

• Big group• Small group• Pair work• Individual work

• What is the best sequence?

Picture Sets

• for guided and free writing (depends on students’ ability)

• provide subject matter for narrative exercises• activities for using picture sets can be

conducted by using sequencing guidelines in the previous slide

Diagrams, Tables, Graphs, Charts and Maps

• provide visual framework• provide real information• suitable for communicative tasks• more information presented, more potential

tasks available

Others

• For the others follow Raimes