- Key words: vocabulary, speaking, prepositional phrases
- Learner English skill level: Beginner
- Learner age level:
- Preparation time:
- Activity time: 60 minutes for all activities plus instruction time
- Materials: pencil and paper
Working as a novice ESL teacher I used to spend enormous amounts of time reinventing the wheel. Here is a little game I thought I invented but now know better after seeing similar exercises in a couple of different books. The whole thing, from start to finish, takes about 50 minutes with a class of 40 students.
Start by drawing a box (or frame, or square, or whatever) on the blackboard. Then dissect it, having the students repeat (in unison) after you as you point and describe the different parts of the box. After saying something like:"This is a box," the students will say: "that is a box."
Then go over the parts of the box having the students repeat after you as you point saying: "the corner of the box," "the center of the box" etc.
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| A box |
Then get fancy with it.
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| A box |
Then get like Gray's Anatomy complex with it.
Ideally you've already taught some spatial relationship prepositions (like those you saw after clicking the link. If not this would be a good time to go over a few for the purpose of this exercise.
Next distribute a sheet of paper to each student (have the students ask for the paper, if time allows, saying something like: "May I have a sheet of paper") or ask them to take out a sheet of blank paper. Then take out a sheet of paper yourself and quickly draw a simple picture like this (or better yet, draw it ahead of time):
Then describe that picture to the class using the prepositional phrases you introduced earlier when illustrating the box. Say: "Draw a box," "First draw a box," or "There is a box" (or you could omit drawing a box altogether and use a sheet of paper instead of a box right from the start). The students then draw a box. Next tell them to draw a cloud in the center and so on until you've described your entire picture and the students have replicated it on their sheet of paper according to the description they've just heard. Once you're done, show your picture to the class and ask to see their pictures to see how well they did and if they have a good grasp of the target language you are introducing.
Next have the students break off into pairs and repeat the same drawing exercise you have just modeled. You can have them try it with the scripted version first (either using "First draw" or "There is") before moving on to draw and then describe their own pictures to their partners who will do their best to replicate it based on what they have heard.
Monitor the class to see if they have a basic understanding of the concepts and end the session by recapping the phrases they've learned for a picture perfect lesson.
