Draw a picture, but someone else is talking - English conversation games and activities for lower level students

49 ESL Conversation Games & Activities - Jackie Bolen 2020

Draw a picture, but someone else is talking
English conversation games and activities for lower level students

Skills: Speaking/Listening

Time: 10-15 minutes

Level: Beginner to Intermediate

Materials Required: Picture to draw (alien, monster, etc.)

This is a fun way to practice body parts or descriptive words (big, small, long, etc.) and I guarantee that everyone will be laughing throughout this activity. It's serious on the interaction and the thing I like best is that it gives students a reason to talk to each other because of the information gap.

The students sit back to back and one person is the “talker” while the other one is the “drawer.” The person talking describes something that they’re looking at to their partner (a face, body, city, monster, alien, etc.) and that person draws what they hear. The results are usually hilarious and fun to show to the rest of the class!

Teaching Tips:

Some useful functional language to practice with this activity is asking for clarification. Consider pre-teaching some language surrounding the topic such as the following:

✵ How... (long, tall, etc.)?

✵ What do you mean?

✵ I didn't understand, could you say it again?

✵ What did you say? I couldn't hear you.

This activity can get quite loud so it's best to ask students to spread out in the classroom, if possible. I also don't recommend it for very large classes as it will be difficult for students to hear each other over the dull roar.

Procedure:

1. Two students sit back to back but close enough to talk to each other.

2. Give student A a picture of some kind, based on whatever you are teaching. I usually put something up on the PowerPoint and have the drawer sit with their back towards the screen. A paper handout works well too.

3. Student A describes the picture to student B who must draw it, without looking at the original picture. Student B can ask some questions to student A to clarify if necessary.

4. Compare the original picture with the drawing and laugh a lot!