Using Photos With English-Language Learners

"A picture is worth a thousand words."
-- Unknown
Though the origin of this popular adage is unclear, one thing is clear: using photos with English-Language Learners (ELLs) can be enormously effective in helping them learn far more than a thousand words -- and how to use them.

Usable images for lessons can be found online or teachers and students can take and use their own.

The activities presented below connect to multiple Common Core Standards including the following ELA Standards:

Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
Develop the topic with relevant, well-chosen facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples.
Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
Picture Word Inductive Model
The Picture Word Inductive Model (PWIM) is one of our favorites. In it, students first brainstorm twenty words related to a picture, then put those words into categories and add new ones that fit those categories. Next they complete a "cloze" (or fill-in-the-blank) activity with sentences about the picture which they then put into categories of their own. They convert those sentence categories into paragraphs, and, finally, arrange the paragraphs into essays. Lastly, a title is chosen.