5 Ways to Use One Set of Ilustrations

In preparing a CI unit involving a story, sometimes I like to incorporate my own illustrations of a story into my lessons. I think that it adds another level of comprehensible input for students, as well as aids in engaging students. At the same time, however, I also do not wish to create a series of illustrations if I am only going to use it just once for five minutes in a unit. I want to get maximum benefit from my time creating them. As the brain craves novelty, here is a way to use one set of illustrations in five different ways in a unit. This will require you drawing a set of pictures only once, in addition to using a photo scanner.

NOTE - if you do not feel like you are good enough of an "artist," then you can always have a student illustrate for you. By no means am I a skilled illustrator, but I can definitely draw stick figures, and as the great Sally Davis once told me, "Everyone can draw stick figures."

1. First, create a series of illustrations for Find a Sentence. This set of pictures will serve as your basis which can be used for the other four activities. N.B. - I actually will try to illustrate each sentence in the story (which could be as many as 15), so there may be a 2nd page of pictures, but for Find a Sentence, I will only use one of the pages.
2. Now scan each of those frames individually. Now that you have each picture scanned individually, create a slide presentation of your story with the text and corresponding picture. This can be used to project the story as a review.
   
   
3. Duplicate that slide presentation but now use it as a Cloze Sentence activity.
   
4. Now duplicate that slide presentation of the story but remove the text. Print that slide presentation (in color if possible) for a Picture Story Retell. 
5. Using the original page(s) of pictures, now create a Sentence Picture Relay of the story.

For me, Telling a Story with Pictures and then Cloze Sentences would be early in a unit, Find the Sentence would be in the middle, and both a Sentence Picture Relay and Picture Story Retell would be at the end - all in combination with other activities.

Observations

1. I have found that when using the same pictures of a story for different activities lends to their comprehensibility, since students become very familiar with them and what the illustrations are communicating.

Guess the Word/Hot Seat

This is another fun vocabulary activity involving whiteboards - I learned this at my first Rusticatio in 2010:

1. Divide the class into 3 teams
2. Pick one student from each team to sit in front of the classroom with their backs to the classroom board - the three students are facing their teams. I usually ask for volunteers so that no one feels like he/she is "on the spot" without his/her permission.  The rest of the class has whiteboards.
3. On the classroom board, write a known vocabulary word
4. The class will then draw a pictorial representation of that word on their whiteboards but not show the 3 students. If a student does not know the meaning of the word, he/she can look at a neighbor's whiteboard. Students may not use letters, numbers or any symbol found on a computer keyboard.
5. On cue, have all of the students show the 3 students their pictures
6. The 3 students guess the Latin vocabulary word. First one who guesses the correct word gets a point for his/her team.
7. Variations: instead of pictures, have students write one-word synonyms or antonyms in Latin. Depending on ability, have students write definitions of the vocabulary word in Latin sentences.

Observations

1. This is a very low-stress, highly engaging and competitive activity. 
2. Because students are drawing their own interpretation of the vocabulary, it helps to personalize the acquisition process
3. In order for the students to guess the word, the picture needs to be comprehensible. Sometimes, the simpler the picture is drawn, the better.
4. Because the 3 students are looking at a variety of pictures to guess the word, they are receiving multiple comprehensible messages.
5. Pick vocabulary words which can be easily understood from a picture. Sometimes, "concept" words, e,g, dignitas, are difficult to draw.

One Word Picture

One of my favorite CI activities is One Word Picture, because it does not require any real preparation on my part as the teacher, and the burden for this activity is actually on the students. All I have to do is simply ask questions in Latin in order to keep the activity going and to draw what students tell me. Here is the setup: 

1. Take a vocabulary word and draw it on the board. This works great if you are trying to introduce a new vocabulary word.
2. Define the word for students in English in order to establish meaning. Hopefully, the meaning of the word is obvious from the picture.
3. Now tell your students in English, "Now I need you to tell me what to draw/add to this picture, but I will only do it if you tell me in Latin. intelligitisne? ita? tunc incipiamus!"
4. Begin to ask students simple questions in Latin to elicit responses, and based on what they say, add to the picture. For example, if you are starting with a vir, ask "qualis vir est? ubi est vir? quid vir agit/facit?"
5. Take comprehension timeouts to ask students in Latin about the new picture which has been drawn, pointing to various parts. Students are the ones who created the picture, so they should have not have a problem answering. Example: in pictura est vir - qualis vir est? (mortuus). estne vir vivus an mortuus? (mortuus). estne vir vivus? (minime)
6. Whenever things start to slow down in One Word Picture, in order to regain momentum, I will always say "_____ aliquid portat - quid _____ portat?" Once you get a response and add it to the picture, then you can start all over again with questions about this new addition. Example: vir aliquid portat - quid vir portat? (avis). vir avem portat - qualis avis est? quid avis agit/facit? quid avis portat?
7. Depending on the level of your students, you can start asking "why" questions to come up with a story. This is an intermediate level skill and actually requires a great amount of language production for students, so be careful.
8. At the end, ask students to describe the entire picture back to you in Latin, as you point to various parts of the drawing. Due to sheer number of repetitions and because it is a visual representation of the word, they should not have a problem telling you about the picture
9. Depending on your comfort level with CI, what you have drawn based on student input transitions very easily to now telling a TPRS story to the class.
10. If you think your students are up to it, turn it into a timed-write where students need to write a story about what is happening in the picture.

Why this activity works

• it is low key and non-threatening. No one is being put on the spot.
• because students are the ones creating the picture, it is a compelling activity; therefore, they have a degree of ownership. It is okay to say no to certain suggestions if you do not think it is appropriate or if you do not know how to draw it. I had students want me to draw puella obstupefacta est, and although I commend them for having internalized the phrase, that is way beyond my basic drawing ability - what does obstupefacta est look like?
• it is a simple comprehensible activity, and if you keep restating what you are drawing and asking questions about various parts of the picture, you will get in a TON of repetitions.
• you are creating an actual picture for students, and students are relying on the visual image instead of words for cues.
• because you the teacher are doing the drawing, most likely, that in itself is enough to keep students engaged. I myself cannot draw my way out of a paper bag, but I remember Sally Davis saying, "Everyone can draw stick figures," so that it is what I do.

Below is an example of a Word Picture which I did with one of my Latin 2 classes a few weeks ago. It simply started with a picture of a rex;

After 10 minutes of simply asking questions, below is the final picture:

Here is what they came up with in Latin: in pictura est rex. rex caput filiae Metellae consumit. Metella est laetissima, et portat corpus suae filiae. rex pecuniam portat. rex est in taberna. rex ursae cantat. ursa saltat. subito, mortuambulans intrat. mortuambulans est ebrius et vinum portat. taberna est pro Monte Vesuvio. Mons Vesuvius displodit. e Monte Vesuvio venit hippopotamus et infans. dea est in caelo. dea est Isis et volat in caelo.

And I did not have to do anything other than just ask questions and draw.