VOA教育报道2022--Use Photos for Speaking, Writing Activities

Use Photos for Speaking, Writing Activities

Language teachers are always looking for new ways to get their students to practice speaking in class. One way to get students to talk is to show them photographs and ask them to talk about what they see.

Many teachers may already have a collection of interesting pictures to use in class. If you are a new teacher, you can find excellent photos in our "Day in Photos" section. The daily collection includes images from around the world.

Newspaper photos

You can also use newspaper photos.

In 2013, The New York Times' free Learning¹ Network website began publishing a special photo each Monday. The photo does not include any description or information. The Times invited teachers to use the weekly photo to start discussions² with students. The Times calls the section "What's Going on in This Picture?" It suggests that educators ask these questions:

What is going on in this picture?

What do you see that makes you say that?

What more can you find?

Readers can post comments that say what they think is happening in the photo. Later in the week, the Times prints the description of the photo.

Ask at your students' level

Teachers can use photographs to help students practice new grammar points. You can choose to ask questions that they must answer using a verb⁴ tense you are studying or using certain grammatical⁵ forms.

Here are two examples.

Our first photo is from the January 20 Day in Photos. It shows people at a festival in Nicaragua. If you are studying prepositions⁶, you might ask,

What do you see on their heads?

If you want your students to use the past tense, you can ask,

What did they do before someone took this photo?

After a discussion³, you can ask your students to begin a story with a statement⁷ related⁸ to the photo. For example:

Yesterday, I was walking to school and I saw...

Our next photo is from the January 6 The Day in Photos. We see Japanese firemen showing firefighting⁹ methods. They are on long ladders high in the air. Questions about this photo might include:

What are these people doing?

How do you feel about what they are doing?

What do you notice about how they are dressed?

Teacher ideas

In a recent class with teachers, my coworker Anna Matteo and I learned¹⁰ how some English teachers in Bolivia use pictures. Here are their ideas:

Have students write a caption¹¹ or description for the picture. If this photo was in a news story, what would the headline be?

Show only part of a picture and ask, "What do you think this photo is about?" Slowly show more and more of the picture, until all of it is seen. Ask students to write about it and read their stories to each other.

Use a photo of a popular place for travelers. Ask students to make it the center of a tourism marketing¹² campaign¹³. They may make an Instagram post with a few words or a magazine advertisement with words or expressions to help "sell" the place.

Use a picture of a local art or craft¹⁴ and ask students to write about its cultural importance and their own experience with making or using it.

Now you try it

Our final photo today is an historical¹⁵ image taken in the United¹⁶ States during the 1940s. Some men are carrying covered cans. Their clothing and faces are marked with dirt. They are wearing a special hat with a light on the front.

Look at the photo. Choose to be a teacher or student and answer the questions in the comments.

For the Teacher: What questions would you ask about this picture? Tell about two or more activities you would do with your students after viewing the picture.

For the Student: What is happening in this picture? What do you think is in the cans? Where are the men going? Write about the picture.

If you try this activity, you will find the old expression is true in more ways than one:

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Words in This Story

practice – v. to do something again and again in order to become better at it

photograph (photo) – n. a picture made by a camera

sentence – n. a group of words that expresses a statement, question, command, or wish

caption – n. a sentence or group of words that is written on or next to a picture to explain what is being shown

ladder – n. a device¹⁷ used for climbing that has two long pieces of wood, metal, or rope with a series¹⁸ of steps or rungs between them

tourism – n. the activity of traveling to a place for pleasure

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 discussions   

n.讨论( discussion的名词复数 )；商讨；详述；论述

参考例句：

• Discussions are held on an informal basis within the department. 讨论限于在本部门内非正式地进行。
• Her specialist input to the discussions has been very useful. 她在这些讨论中提供的专家建议很有助益。

3 discussion   

n.讨论，谈论；论述

参考例句：

• It is certain he will come to the discussion.他肯定会来参加讨论。
• After months of discussion,a peace agreement is gradually taking shape.经过几个月的商讨，和平协议渐渐有了眉目。

4 verb   

n.[语]动词

参考例句：

• The sentence is formed from a verb and two nouns.这句子由一个动词和两个名词构成。
• These are the finite forms of a verb.这些是一个动词的限定形式。

5 grammatical   

adj.语法的，符合语法规则的

参考例句：

• His composition is excellent except for some grammatical mistakes.他的作文写得很好，只有几处语法错误。
• He can barely form a grammatical sentence.他几乎造不出合乎语法的句子。

6 prepositions   

n.介词( preposition的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She lays a lot of emphasis on the usage of prepositions. 她把重点放在介词的使用上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Prepositions and conjunctions are particles. 介词和连词是小品词。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 statement   

n.陈述；声明；综述

参考例句：

• The government will put out a new statement tomorrow.政府将于明天发布一项新声明。
• Put down your statement in black and white.把你的话用白纸黑字写下来。

8 related   

adj.有关系的，有关联的，叙述的，讲述的

参考例句：

• I am not related to him in any way.我和他无任何关系。
• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。

9 firefighting   

消防

参考例句：

• The firefighting water system reliability was analyzed against the problems existed. 针对消防水系统存在的问题，进行了系统可靠性分析。 来自互联网
• Responsible for firefighting, security and environment protection of all company. 负责消防设备、安全设备及环境保护设备的管理。 来自互联网

10 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

11 caption   

n.说明，字幕，标题；v.加上标题，加上说明

参考例句：

• I didn't understand the drawing until I read the caption.直到我看到这幅画的说明才弄懂其意思。
• There is a caption under the picture.图片下边附有说明。

12 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

13 campaign   

n.运动；竞选活动；战役；vi.参加运动；进行竞选；作战

参考例句：

• The election campaign heated up in that state.该州竞选运动激烈起来了。
• The campaign had begun during his absence.在他不在期间运动已经开始了。

14 craft   

n.工艺，手艺；小船，飞机；行业；诡计

参考例句：

• The harbour was full of pleasure craft.港口满是游艇。
• He's a master of his craft.他有一手好手艺。

15 historical   

adj.历史的，史实的，历史上的

参考例句：

• The book is based on historical events.这本书是根据历史事件写成的。
• We have shared the same historical experiences.咱们有着共同的历史遭遇。

16 united   

adj.和谐的；团结的；联合的，统一的

参考例句：

• The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
• The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。

17 device   

n.器械，装置；计划，策略，诡计

参考例句：

• The device will be in production by the end of the year.该装置将于年底投入生产。
• The device will save much time and effort for us.这种装置会使我们节省大量时间和气力。

18 series   

n.连续；系列

参考例句：

• The students have put forward a series of questions.学生们提出了一系列问题。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。