Here is a lesson on pictures. It always goes down well. It gets the students sharing and talking about pictures they have taken and memories they have connected to the pictures. It also includes a video listening about selfies and some vocabulary connected to pictures and photography. It finishes off nicely with students becoming models and photographers. The lesson idea actually came about when I found a left over copy of a class exercise that someone had done. It was a picture of a group of people arranged to have their picture taken. I assumed the task was to arrange others into the correct positions without showing them the picture. I had no idea which book it came from and looked all over for it. Only after I created this plan did I find the book, but I never did look at the activity.
All materials including this lesson plan in PDF format and a PPT can be found at the bottom of the post.
1.Show Ss the last picture you took and ask them in pairs to discuss what, where, when, and why you took this picture. After getting ideas in feedback tell students the answers. Then ask them to show the last picture they took and explain the where, when, when, and why
Obviously for this task you will need to make sure Ss have some kind of phone that has the ability to take pictures. You can check this before you start the first part by asking everyone to hold up their phone.
2. Show Ss the old Instagram logo and ask if they prefer the new or old logo. Then ask everyone who has IG to put their hands up. Ask Ss to share the pictures they have on their account. After a few minutes ask them to choose the one they think is best. Ask Ss to stand up and show their best picture to everyone in the room. In feedback take a vote, and ask some students for the story behind their chosen picture
It's possible one or two students don't use IG. Share your own IG account username on the board for those who don't want to share or for those who don't have an account to look at.
3. Put Ss in pairs or groups and ask them to ask the following questions: Do you like having your picture taken? Have you got any pictures that remind you of a good time? What kind of pictures do you have in your house? Do you prefer taking pictures with a camera or a phone? Why? After Ss get some feedback
Make a note of the students who do not like to have their pictures taken. They can be the photographers for the final activity. Also, it's a good idea to include a picture of you that reminds you of a good time here. I used one of me when I was a teenager on holiday in Spain.
4. Ask Ss if there were many selfies when they shared their Instagram accounts. There will always be a few in the class that love a selfie. Then ask generally what people think of them before moving onto opinions about selfie sticks and if anyone owns one. Explore opinions before telling Ss they are going to watch a short video about selfie sticks. It's their job to watch the video and do the the two listening tasks. 1. True / false and 2. A gap-fill
In feedback clear up any language unsure language and ask if their were any tweets they agreed with.
5. Show Ss the two pictures on the slide. It's clear that we all know selfie, but ask Ss if they know what word the other picture is showing. It's a photobomb. Tell Ss you are going to give them a list of definitions that are all connected to pictures and photography. Explain it's their job to work together to come up with the word for each definition. Demo the definition for photobomb.
These words aren't difficult, so don't be alarmed by the size of the list. There might be around 5 words they don't know which are then cleared up in the next part. Also, some kind of memory game would be useful depending on how difficult the words are for your students.
6. Show Ss the questions on the next slide all containing a word from the list to allow Ss to talk about them in groups or pairs
If time allows, in feedback you can use the internet to search some of the answers.
7. Depending on the time, ask Ss to brainstorm some expressions they might need if they were a photographer. If you're short on time, you can ask Ss to stand up, and then call out some commands and then pass it over to your students. After you've gone through the most important ones, split the class into groups, each with a photographer. Give each photographer a picture and tell them they need to arrange their models to be exactly like the picture you've given them without showing it. After a group does finished the picture, swap pictures, and photographers. One time you can tell a photographer to be as creative as they like.
Students will need to leave the class and find some space. Lightly monitor, encourage the use of the correct language. There will be mistakes in the language they use, you can make notes of this and bring it up later or another time. That picture I was talking about at the start, and the one I use is from 63: Taking a group photo: Games and Activities for Teachers – Peter Watcyn-Jones but you can use any.
8. If possible, ask Ss to send their pictures to an email so you can then display the pictures on the board. Go over the pictures they were given and judge how good a job they did. You can then finish on a vote for the best picture.
I hope you and your students enjoy the lesson.
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