This is a great post-reading, listening activity which I just recently learned from Andrew Olimpi, and it is very similar to Picture A/B Listening Matching but just with more pictures. This does require that you use pictures/screenshots so there is definitely some prep before.
Pre-Activity
- Create 8-10 pictures/screenshots which illustrate sentences from a reading.
- Place 3-4 of them on a Google Slide/Powerpoint.
- Label each picture with a letter AND then include an additional letter choice as "None of the above"
- Write sentences or use sentences from the reading which describe what are in the pictures AND write some sentences which do NOT describe the pictures. Six sentences is a good number.
- Do the same for 2-3 more slides.
Activity
- Project the first slide.
- Read the first sentence and tell students that they are to write down which picture has been described. Let them know that "None of the above" is an option.
- Continue reading sentences and have students write down their choices.
- After the first slide is finished, review answers.
- Continue the same with the second and third slide
Example from Latin 2 last week:
Sentences (with answers)
- Gaius ad templum Iovis advenit ad implorandam victoriam in Circo Maximo. C
- In templo Iovis erat magna statua dei. A
- Noster parentes semper ad hoc templum advenerunt ad imprecāndam victorīam Romanam contra hostes. D
- Cum Gaius vidisset statuam Iovis, exclamavit A
- Cum noster parentes essent victorīōsi in pugnando bello contra hostes, advenerunt ad hoc templo ad honorandum te. B
- In muris, Romani scribunt, “Scorpius est optimus!” et picturas Scorpi pingunt. D
Observations
- This activity actually went very quickly, and I was able to do three slides of six sentences each (18 total) in about 10 minutes.
- I like the "None of the above" option, because students had to listen carefully and to look at the pictures closely to see if that was the answer.
- Students need to be somewhat familiar with the pictures beforehand so that they know what the pictures are communicating, I had used these pictures the day before in a digital Picture/Sentence Matching assignment.
- I used this as a practice for the next day's Picture A/Picture B Listening Assessment. (formative). Because students were very familiar with listening/picture matching aspect and had practiced the sentences earlier but in a different way, they did quite well.
Thanks, Andrew, for this activity!
Thanks for sharing this lesson. I’m looking for ways to incorporate more speaking and listening into my courses, and this looks like a useful exercise.
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading, I had a few follow-up questions. Both relate to how one could extend these exercises in more literature-focused programs, in which I’ve generally found myself:
1. Here you use simpler drawings for the students to interpret; we’re all limited artists, of course. In that vein, have you used any AI generated artwork to try to create more complex images? I’m brainstorming ways to broaden/liven up student engagement with classical texts, especially narrative texts (Vergil, Caesar, even some of Pliny’s letters), either through speaking-listening exercises such as this, or by reading the text with accompanying imagery. Have you or your students toyed around with this software at all, and how do you think about these tools in relation to CI instruction?
2. In what ways have you (or might you) adjust this assignment for upper-level Latin learners, who might be able to take on some of the instructor’s role in producing sentences? That is, for students who can both interpret and express themselves, whether orally or in writing.
Thanks again. I look forward to reading more.
I’m really interested in this activity because of its potential at both lower and higher levels of Latin! Some of the sentences employed here are more complex, but I wonder if the picture format could also be used as practice and assessment for, say, prepositional phrases in the early levels, e.g. selecting pictures that would fit in templo or in templum. Perhaps it could even include some “nonsense” prepositional phrases, like ad aquis, to make use of your “none of the above” option. I especially like how this activity would help students get used to and understand the importance of correct Latin pronunciation at an early stage in their studies.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, while I love the stick figure drawings (and know kids definitely do!), I imagine this could also work with paintings or other artwork of, say, famous myths, allowing for some reception study. In the past I’ve had students put paintings of different stages of a myth in order, discussing in English why they think particular images depict certain events in the mythological story. I like how your activity would encourage students to think aloud and ask and answer questions in Latin while interacting with the art!