Visual texts include maps, photos, videos (including but not limited to short films without words) and art work. An image has so much to observe and our students are very visual, think about the pictures and videos they share on social media. You can usually get students’ attention with a powerful image. In this post, I give ideas for activities to leverage cultural observation with images.
When using photos for cultural input, students also get language input in the form of “teacher-talk”, the language that the teach uses to comment on the image, to narrate what is going on and to ask questions to have students observe. Language and culture are taught together.
These activities focus on different key language functions to engage students at their level and help them to level up!
| Name – resource type | Description | Language function |
| Map Talk – maps | Looking at maps, the teacher and students discuss information gleaned from the map about the country being discussed. Example Idea from Ben Tinsley | Recognize geographic features when reading a map. |
| Project image – photo or art work | With an image projected on the board, the teacher asks true / false questions. In order to use Total Participation techniques, the students could write on white boards, or have to stand up, sit down, touch their head if true. Close eyes if want to really check for understanding. Also, the teacher can narrate about the image on the board (great input) and kids have to say “stop” when they hear something that is not true. Example | Recognize images that correspond to what one hears. Determine whether statements are true or false. |
| What I see – video | Students watch a video and check off from a list the cultural products that they see. Next, students sort items into categories. Or, students can do a matching activity of terms and definitions (both in French) of cultural products. Example | Identify cultural products. Sort items into categories. Match terms and definitions. |
| See – think – wonder – picture or art work | When looking at a picture or a piece of art, students fill out a chart to answer three questions: What do you see? What do you think? What do you wonder? Questions ask students to observe more deeply. Example | Identify names of cultural products, list words to narrate a scene. |
| What do you see? – picture or art work | Game: Students try to name as many things as they can see, in French. They get a point for every word their group can name that others can’t. When the time is up, each team reads their list, by category. If another team has written the same thing on their list, both teams (or all teams who have written it) need to cross that word off their list. At the end, the team with the most words on their list wins. Example | Recall vocabulary from the theme of the unit or from prior units. |
| The IMAGE approach – picture and article | The IMAGE approach is a way to help students develop the ability to connect products to perspectives by asking them to observe a picture, read additional information and generate potential perspectives, then evaluate and reflect on them. Example | Observe, analyze additional information and evaluate and reflect. |
| Scavenger Hunt | For this version of a Scavenger Hunt, print out the slides with the pictures to identify and hang them around the room. Each slide has an answer to a previous question and then a new unrelated question and picture to identify. The students walk around identifying each picture, looking for answers on another slide and then addressing the next question. Example | Identify cultural products from pictures. |
mmemoghtader.com 