Pictures are universal and as the old saying goes, they are worth a thousand words. That may be why they work so well in the world language classroom. They can be a way to tell a story, teach vocabulary, or use as a conversation starter. But did you know that pictures are a great way for students to show what they know and understand?
Comic Strip
Students can show what they know and understand by creating a comic strip. Comic strips are great to use after a story or any lesson that gives information to students. Students can simply draw and caption the comic strip to show understanding. You can even turn that interpretive task up a notch and have students narrate the comic strip. Just have students add a QR code or short URL to the scene to explain what is happening.
Have students exchange comics with a peer and “read” each other’s stories.
Group Art
Sometimes it is less intimidating for students to work in a group. After a lesson, hang butcher paper for each group around the room. Place students in groups and have them draw what they understand. Or if it is a story with several scenes, assign one scene to each group. Group work allows students to work collaboratively and if the work is done in the target language, it allows for interpersonal communication practice.
After the art is drawn, have the group give a brief description of what they drew. The presentation should connect back to the lesson.
Class Murals
Until recently I didn’t know there was a name for this drawing activity. I just called it a class drawing. But according to Martina Bex, this activity is called a cooperative mural. Which sounds way cooler than a class drawing. Use this after a story talk, movie talk, or picture talk. Draw a grid on the board and call one student up to draw a scene from the story. This can be any seen it does not have to be in sequential order from the story you told. Give the student 1 – 2 minutes to draw. Then ask the student and the class questions about their picture. Continue this circle of drawing and discussing until the whole story has been illustrated and discussed.
As an extension activity, have students illustrate their favorite scene from the story. Then split the students into groups of three and have them describe their seen to each other giving them each one to two minutes of discussion time.
I hope you enjoy these three ideas for using drawing in the classroom to show understanding. Remember drawing is a good stress reducer for students and it is also a great way to quickly check for understanding.
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