Say Things About a Picture

Groups race to say as many sentences as possible about a displayed picture in two minutes, with a secretary tallying each utterance.

Procedure

1. Put students into groups of 3-4. Each group elects a "secretary."
2. Tell students you will display a picture and they should say sentences about it. The secretary writes a tick for every sentence said (does NOT write them out). The secretary can also contribute sentences.
3. Display a detailed picture and say "Go." Time exactly two minutes.
4. Stop. Ask groups how many ticks they have.
5. Repeat with another picture. Groups must try to beat their previous score — if they got 15, they need at least 16.

Tips

• Use pictures with plenty of detail and activity. Any teacher-sourced image works — the more going on, the better.
• The combination of ticks + time limit + beating their own record turns a routine exercise into a game. Competing against themselves is less stressful than standard competitions.
• For younger learners, one minute is enough.
• Beginners can say words or brief phrases instead of complete sentences.
• To practise specific grammar, limit responses: e.g., prepositions of place only, present progressive actions only, or There is/are sentences.
• Follow-up homework: write out at least ten sentences about one of the pictures.