Six Memory-Inspired Picture Prompts for Past Tense Storytelling Practice

What does this picture remind you of?

I created this series of picture prompts to encourage students to reflect and tell stories about their pasts. I had my adult ESL students in mind when I made them, but I think they could be used in creative writing classes for native English speakers, as well.

Here are the prompts… Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the page for ideas on how to use them in class:

Teaching Ideas:

• Choose one of the pictures to show to your students. Ask, “What do you see?” List any relevant vocabulary words on the board.
• Tell your students that you would like them to think about a past experience that the picture helps them remember. You might want to write an example from your own life to show students what you have in mind. For example, in the picture of the peppers at the farmer’s market, I might write:
  This picture reminds me of eating with my family on Saturday mornings when I was a child. My father used to eat these big green jalapeno peppers. I remember him often saying, “I’ll give a dollar to anyone who can eat one of these peppers.” I remember nibbling at the tip cautiously, but I don’t think I could ever bring myself to take a bite.
• I would recommend giving ESL students a few possible sentence starters to get them started. For example:
  – This reminds me of ______________.
  – This makes me think of the time when _____________________.
  – This picture doesn’t remind me of anything because _________________.
• Give students a specific amount of time to freewrite. (10 minutes is good.) Tell them that they shouldn’t stop even if they don’t have ideas. (If they don’t have ideas, they might write about why they have no memories about hot peppers, or about why they hate vegetables, about getting lost in a farmer’s market, or about other veggies they’ve tried.)
• This is a good journaling activity. You could use a different picture every day for a week. At the end of the week, you can ask each student to choose one entry that they liked the best. You can have them turn it into a story, edit it, and then share it with their classmates.

Comments? Ideas?

Do you have any other suggestions on how teachers could incorporate these prompts into their classes? I’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments in the box at the bottom of the page.

New Food – A Personal Story Prompt

Here’s a prompt that will help your students tell a past tense story about a personal experience. I would recommend using this toward the end a unit on food. It’s a good way to let students practice some of the food-related vocabulary they have learned.

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In case you can’t see the image above, it reads:

Describe a time when you tried a new food. Think about these questions:

• How did you feel before?

• Who were you with?

• Why did you try it?

• What did it look like?

• How did it taste?

• How did you feel after?

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Here are a few teaching ideas to get you started on your lesson plan:

• Warm your students up by asking them to make a list of a few foods that they remember trying for the first time. Tell them that it might be an unusual food (insects, horse meat, etc.), a grown-up food (coffee, beer…), or new cuisine (Thai food, American food…) or just something that they remember trying for the first time (sushi, cupcakes, broccoli, hot peppers…). You might want to list a few of their ideas on the board.
• Tell your students that they should choose one of their ideas to tell a story about.
• Display the slide above (or write the questions on the board). Tell your students that they should use these questions as a guideline to help them write their story. Remind them to focus on using correct past tense verbs.
• If you’d like to focus on speaking instead of writing, you could ask students to prepare index cards and make a presentation rather than writing out the entire story.
• After they finish, students can present either in small groups, or to the whole class.

Want more?

If you’re looking for more food-related activities, here’s another post you might like: Design a Restaurant Task

Comments

As always, please feel free to share your thoughts and ideas in the comment box at the bottom of the page.

Boom! : A story-starting warm-up prompt

Boom!

Today I have a creative prompt that you can use with students of all ages. It’s so simple and colorful that I think both adults and children would respond well to it. If you’re an ESL teacher like me, it’s a good way to practice simple past and past continuous tenses.

Here are a few ideas for you:

• Use this as a do-now or warm-up prompt. Display the image on your Smartboard or projector, and ask students to write silently for 5 minutes. Then ask them to share their mini-stories in small groups.
• Or have students write in small groups and share their stories with the whole class.
• If you want to make the exercise more structured, try telling students to write 5-sentence stories (or 7-sentence stories or 10-sentence stories…). Each sentence should have a different verb. Here’s an example: (1)First I saw a bear. (2) Then I slammed the door shut. (3)The bear heard the noise. (4)  He ran in my direction. (5) Finally, I called 911, and waited…
• If you have a lot of visual learners in your class, you might even ask them to draw their stories into a comic panel organizer. After they finish drawing, they can either tell their stories to a partner, or write captions under each picture.

What do you think?

How would YOU finish the story? And if you’ve tried this activity with your students, how did they answer the question? Please share your favorite ideas in the comment box at the bottom of the page.

And if you have any other ideas on how teachers could use this prompt, please share those, as well.

The Moment Before… – A Picture Prompt

What happened before?

Here’s a joyful, open-ended prompt to get your students speaking, writing, or practicing whatever grammar point you’ve been working on. Below are some of my ideas on how you might incorporate it into your lesson plan.

• Start by asking students to describe what they see in the picture. List new vocabulary on the board. (Some words that you might want to introduce: to cheer, to applaud, to clap, to laugh, auditorium, uniform, joyful)
• If you’re teaching high school you might ask students to make inferences based on what they can see in the photo. (For example, I infer that the students go to a private school because they are wearing uniforms.)
• Use the question at the top of the picture to practice past tense or present perfect with “just” (What has just happened?) You might have students respond individually and then compile a class list of responses. This can be done as a quick speaking warm-up, or extended into a longer lesson if you want to practice writing… Maybe have students listen to each other and then write all of their classmates’ ideas into a journal.
• Another idea is to have your students work with partners or small groups and come up with a list of 5-10 possible things that might have happened just before the picture was snapped.
• If you want to extend the lesson, you can ask students to choose one of their ideas and write a story about it.

What ideas do you have?

The suggestions above are just a handful of my own ideas, but like I said, this prompt is open-ended. Do you have any other suggestions on how to use this prompt in class? Please join the conversation and share your thoughts in the comment box at the bottom of the page.

Flowers on the Ground – a creative picture prompt with a storytelling worksheet

Hi everyone! Lately I’ve been experimenting with new ways to use picture prompts in class and turn them into longer, full-blown lesson plans. Along with the prompt above, I’ve created a worksheet which you can download, print, and hand out to your students. (If you happen to try it out, please let me know how it goes. That would help me figure out whether to make more like it in the future.)

This creative prompt can be used to practice both speaking and writing skills, and it gives students the chance to work both on a team and individually. Your class is going to use a simple picture to build vocabulary, brainstorm ideas, create a character and finally, write a full-blown story.

As usual, my focus is on teaching ESL, but I think that English (ELA) and Creative Writing teachers might be able to use this prompt, as well.

Lesson Plan Ideas:

1. Divide your class into small groups (3 0r 4 students per group works well).
2. Display the picture on the projector, and/or hand out copies of this worksheet:
   flowers on the ground worksheet
3. Discuss the task with the students. Explain that students need to brainstorm a list of possible reasons why the flowers ended up on the ground. I would recommend giving a couple of reasons of your own as examples (A girl got angry at her boyfriend and threw his gift on the floor. / A clumsy man accidentally dropped them as he was opening a door…)
4. Give groups time to come up with a list. While students are working, you can help students with difficult vocabulary and list new words on the board.
5. Ask groups to share back two of their favorite reasons with the rest of the class.
6. Ask students to choose one of the ideas on their lists and turn it into a story. This can be done independently if you want your students to practice writing, or as a team, if you’d like to put more emphasis on speaking and teamwork. Again, you can use the worksheet to give your students some guidelines. If you don’t have access to a printer, you can write the following questions on the board:
   a- Who dropped the flowers?
   b- What happened in his/her life before he dropped the flowers?
   c- How was he/she feeling?
   d- What caused the flowers to drop?
   e- What happened after? How did his/her feelings change?
7. Students share their work. I would recommend sharing in small groups if students wrote their stories independently, and sharing as a whole class if they wrote their stories in groups. It’s fun for students to see how many possible crazy stories came out of the same simple picture.

Comments

If you liked this activity, or if you have any questions about it, please take a moment to leave your comments in the box at the bottom of the page! I’m still new to blogging, so your feedback is super-helpful to me!

Night Walk – A descriptive writing lesson about sounds in your city

I thought up the idea for this lesson plan one evening after my IPod battery died in the middle of my walk. In case you’re having trouble seeing the image above, it reads:

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Night Walk

On summer nights, my neighborhood is mostly quiet. Crickets buzz, air conditioners whir, and my feet pat, pat, pat against the pavement. There is a low hum of traffic in the distance, and glass dishes clink against tabletops. It smells like dinnertime. Muffled chatter floats from inside of kitchens. A scruffy stray cat on a lawn meows softly, and a kid on a porch shrieks:
“A cockroach!”
“Kill it!”
“YOU kill it!”
“Eeee!”
But mostly it’s dark and quiet, just me and my shoes on the pavement: Pat, pat, pat, pat, pat.

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When I was in middle school, my teacher gave us a descriptive writing exercise once a week. She would announce a one-word topic, and we would have a certain amount of time to write a paragraph with as many specific sensory details as possible. Then we would all read them aloud, and “ooh” and “ahh” over each other’s use of descriptive adjectives. That’s kinda what I have in mind for this lesson, although I have some ideas on how to scaffold it for English language leaners. I haven’t tried it with my own students just yet, but here’s what I plan to do:

Step 1:

Display the passage above on the projector, and/or print out a copy of the text for students to look at. I would recommend using the PDF Worksheet which I created to go along with this lesson. Read the passage aloud to the class, and have them underline any words that are used to describe specific sounds.

Step 2:

Make a class chart of sound words from the paragraph, and sources of each sound. For example: Sound – buzz / Source – crickets.

Step 3:

Brainstorm a list of things in your current neighborhood that make sounds. You might give students a few minutes to come up with their own lists of sources in groups. After they finish, you can help them think of descriptive verbs for each source.

Step 4:

Ask students to write their own descriptive paragraph about the sounds that they hear when they walk through their neighborhood. You could either ask them to write about their current neighborhood or about their native countries. I would give them some time to begin writing independently, and then ask them to finish and self-edit it for homework.

Step 5:

Allow students to share their work with classmates. You can deicide how you’d like to do this. You might have everyone read their passages aloud to the class, or just ask a few students whose passages are the most descriptive. Sharing could also be done in small groups. Another idea is to have a writing gallery walk. Everyone can tape their passages to the wall, and then students can walk around, read each other’s writing, and leave comments on post-it notes for their peers to read.

In case you missed it above, click here to view and download my PDF worksheet for this lesson: Worksheet

Comments:

What do you think about the activity above? Do you have any ideas on how it could be improved? I may add a worksheet to this post if anyone is interested, so please let me know if that would be helpful to you.

Have you tried this, or a similar descriptive writing activity with your class? I’d really like to hear about it!

Please feel free to chime in and post your comments in the box at the bottom of the page.

A Bunch of New Thought Cloud Picture Prompts – comics in the classroom

Last week I posted about a few strategies for using thought cloud prompts in your ESL classes. (Here’s a link, in case you missed it.) Today I’m back to follow up with a bunch of new picture prompts to help you bring comics and bubbles into your classroom. I plan to come back an update this post with specific ideas on how to use each one in your classes. In the meantime, if you have any ideas and would like to contribute, please feel free to leave a comment in the box at the bottom of the page or send me an email at inyourcountry1@gmail.com.

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And now for the prompts

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1. Sometimes you just find yourself alone, gazing at the sunset, dressed in a bunny suit…

2. What’s going on in this vintage children’s book illustration?

3. Did I brush my teeth this morning?

4. What’s wrong?

5. How does my hat look?

6. One day a Hollywood talent agent will walk down this block…

7. French fry crumbs!

8. My arm is tired.

9. Is it lunch time yet?

Comments

If you try any of these out in your classes, please let us know in the comment box below. I’m super-interested in hearing what you did, how your students reacted, and whether you’d like to see more of these in the future.

Thought Cloud Prompts for the ESL Classroom (and beyond)

What ‘s on That Guy’s Mind?

Thought clouds can be a great tool for introducing new topics, writing stories, and practicing grammar tenses in your ESL classes. They’re good for brainstorming, expanding vocabulary, and encouraging creativity. I’ve created a list of several strategies for putting them into action in your own classrooms. As an ESL teacher, my focus is on using them with English language learners, but teachers of other subjects (especially creative writing) may find some ideas here, as well.

Strategy #1: The Warm-up / Do-Now Prompt:

When I introduce a new topic, I find that pictures with thought clouds can be helpful in (a) brainstorming vocabulary and (b) giving students the opportunity to share their opinions and past experiences on the topic.

Try using this picture to warm up for a lesson on travel or public transportation.

If I were beginning a unit on travel or public transportation, for example, I might display the picture above, of a man standing alone in a bustling train station (I think it’s Grand Central Station in New York City). First I would ask the whole class, “What do you see in the picture?” I would list new, relevant vocabulary words on the board.

Next, I would give students a couple of minutes to write a sentence or two into the bubble. When they were finished, I would go around the room and ask students to share their ideas.

Finally, I would bring in some discussion questions related to both the picture and the lesson that we are about to begin. (I would probably have students discuss the questions in small groups, and then report back to the rest of the class.) For example, for this picture I might ask:

• Have you ever travelled alone? Tell us about your trip.
• Do you like traveling alone? Why or why not?
• Did you ever get lost while you were traveling?
• Do you usually feel overwhelmed when you go on vacation? Why or why not?
• Do you prefer to travel by train, plane,  bus or car? Why?

Of course, the questions would vary depending on the level on the class and the topic of the lesson.

Strategy #2: The Tense Practice Prompt

After teaching a new tense, you can put a new grammar structure into action by describing and analyzing photos. For example, to practice the present continuous, I might show students the curious vintage photo below, which was taken in a doll factory:

I might ask:

• What do you see in the photo?
• What is the man doing?
• What is he wearing?
• What is he thinking?
• What is he planning to do this evening?

I find that creative students tend to enjoy this type of activity. Less creative students, however, may look at you blankly, and say, “…uh…I don’t know…” In response to the questions about his plans for the future. That’s something that you may want to keep in mind when planning.

Strategy #3: The Storytelling Prompt

Some pictures tell a story. By asking a few good questions, you can help students use their imagination to flesh out that story and make it their own. Take a look at the prompt below:

This photo can be used to tell a story and practice mixed tenses. What happened before and after the accident?

This picture tells a simple story and can easily be used with lower-level ESL students. A young woman looks up at the camera, distraught, while an ice cream cone melts on the concrete near her feet. What exactly happened?

After my students fill in the thought bubbles on this photo, I ask the following three questions, which give students the opportunity to practice present, past, and future tenses:

1. What happened just before the photo was taken?
2. How does the woman feel in the picture? Describe what you see in detail.
3. What happened next?

My favorite approach is to write the first part of the story (Questions 1 and 2) as a whole class. After we’ve come up with a detailed story together, I either divide students into small groups, or have them work individually to write the end of the story. After they finish writing, everyone shares their endings.

Comments, Please!

Have you used thought cloud prompts in your classrooms? Would you like to see more of these in the future? I’d love to hear from you! Please leave your comments in the box below.

Sell It! – The Balloon Chair – A Creative Writing and Speaking Prompt

This post has moved to its new home on my new site. You can find it right here:

Sell It – The Balloon Chair