Sample Lesson Plan

Drawing and Describing Images                        

Instructor           Byron Harris

Class/Level        Adult ELLs - Intermediate ESL 3/4

Time                  60 Minutes

Topic                 Speaking (and listening) with pictures of animals as prompts.

Skill(s) in Focus

Students must use words to communicate an image well enough for another student to (try to) draw the image through speaking, listening, and writing

Goal(s)

- Student “describer” uses at least FIVE different words (size, shape, type, color, specific characteristics) to provide information to the other student to draw (speaking).   Student “drawer” follows the descriptions and draw the images as described on a whiteboard (listening). The “on deck” drawer writes down the clues  so the drawer has a reference (listening/writing)

- Each of the two on the board can ask pertinent questions to help the drawer get the thing on the board or pull out info from the describer (listening, speaking).

- Have some fun! If the two on the board can guess what it is, all the better!

Objectives

By the end of the lesson, students will have done and be able to do again:

1. Use descriptive words of something (animals in game, but more generally persons and things) to convey an image.

2.  Identify the meaning of the words to be able to draw an image or act on the descriptions.

3.  Compare what's been said with what may be missing and needed to comprehend the picture. Muster questions to fill the gap. 

4. Write down terms being offered up on a whiteboard accurately.

Materials

A variety of whiteboard markers of different colors. Color pictures of animals gathered from the internet. Index cards with set questions. Sheets with body parts of people and animals.

Class Description

Warm-up 

(pairs for ten minutes): 

1. Teacher discusses what we will be doing (a game about animals and body parts, colors, shapes). 

2. Students pair off and ask each other prepared questions (on twenty or so cards) about things in the room, clothes folks are wearing, shapes of things. All questions point to the size, shape, color, texture scope, and characteristics of things, animals, people. 

3. When they finish the set questions, they can ask their own.

4. Stragglers pair up as they arrive or work with teacher depending on sequence. 

5. Teacher works with those coming in late or wanders from table to table interacting and monitoring.

Review of Terms 

(whole group fifteen minutes): 

Objectives #1/2

Going over Terms (ten minutes)

1. Teacher goes over types of animals, basic seven colors, size, scope. The groundwork for this will have been done in earlier classes so this is review.

2. Teacher describes basic animal description words. The only real no-no is naming classification s i.e. mammals, birds, fishes, etc. But one can say fins or gills, beaks or hoofs, fur or hoofs, etc. One can describe colors as well as shape (necks of giraffe or stripes on a zebra work fine). An animal's temperament may be offered as in dogs are friendly (mostly), wolves are fierce. Are they predators or prey? Do we consume them as food? 

3. The teacher goes through body parts and talks about paws, hoofs, legs, ears, teeth, etc. Go over the sounds certain animals make. No way to be complete but a prod to be creative. 

Good Questions (five minutes) Objective #3

4.  Talk through some good questions to ask if the drawer gets stuck ("how long, tall, etc.", "what do you mean by..." , "I don’t understand...", "can you repeat...", "can you give me more detail about"). End by go over the rules of the game to follow….

Play Drawing game 

(two groups on either side of the room, twenty-five minutes):

Objectives #1/2/3 (hopefully 4)

Practice (five minutes)

1.  Teacher leads role play with some examples with animals that everyone can see the picture.  Teacher makes descriptions of what they see as student draws. Then try with a few students in each of the three roles and Teacher coaches each role a bit.  

Play (twenty minutes)

2. Divide students into two groups each on one of the two whiteboards. 

3. Teacher rotates the students between watching, being on deck to draw, drawing, and describing. The describer must hold the picture in a book out of sight of the drawer (but not those watching), Again the describer cannot say what it is but can give general guidance (it breathes, has wings, cold-blooded). 

4. The on-deck drawer writes down the clues as the drawer, well draws. 

5. If two groups proves to be too much, the Teacher can condense the groups into one game. 

6.  Rotate after two minutes as teacher manages time and whether folks are following rules. If they blurt out the names of animal or someone peaks on picture, then just rotate roles and move on without blame or shame.

7. Depending on class size, there are enough pictures, it should time out that everyone plays each role twice and watches plenty of times. If one game ends up being best, then maybe each student only does each role once. 

Wind-down 

(whole group ten minutes): 

Objectives #3

1. The Teacher and students talk through what the students found easy or hard.

2. Have each student comment or ask a question about the game. 

3. Review the questions the drawer could ask, focus on what someone can ask when needing more information.  

4. Everyone gets some sort of treat as they all win in this game. 

5. At the door as the they leave, the Teacher has each student describe an animal that wasn't in the game and see if the teacher can guess.