Picture Talk - The Game

Picture Talk is another great use of Game Based Learning.  Rules to following when designing a "game lesson" :  Everyone is a participant, Learning happens by doing, It feels like play, Opportunities exist for students to fail and the teacher can reframe, Feedback is immediate, Challenge is constant, Everything is interconnected.

Picture Talk Rules:

1. One describer comes to the front of the room.
2. The describer looks at the pre-drawn image.  They instruct the class on how to draw the image without saying what exactly to draw.  For a shapes lesson the student could only use shapes, dimensions, and locations.  For identifying objects, student could only mention object and its location in the TL.
3. The copiers (students) are not allowed to speak.
4. When all copiers are finished the drawer reveals the image to see how many copiers (students) got it right.

On the left are the three images I used for French Three and their lesson on shapes and dimensions.  The right side is the images I used for French One in their lesson on objects and directions.

The modification I made was that the drawer could only use French!  Even at the novice low level, this was doable and assessed speaking skills and listening skills.

Alyssa leading the picture talk of the chair scene.

Lesson Roll Out:
1.  I modeled the first drawing.
2.  I asked for student volunteers to lead the next few drawings.
3.  Then I divided the class into two teams to compete against each other.  Each team had a poster and a pack of markers.  Taking turns, one member from each team draws the object on the poster in its correct color.  Points are awarded to the team/teams who correctly draw the item.  The team with the most points at the end of the game is the winner.

To end the activity with a competition, the teams competed in drawing the objects in the correct color and in the location I mentioned : On the table, there is a blue cellphone.