Drawing dictation with a twist

Levels: A1+
Aimed at: Young learners/teens
Aims: To encourage speaking in the context of describing a picture/ vocabulary revision – propositions of place/to practise giving instructions/ there is…/there are…structure/to encourage pair work
Time: +/- 15 minutes
Materials: Any drawing (based on the language you´ve studied or want to revise)

Drawing dictation is a fairly popular activity that can stimulate a lot of language and encourage students to speak. In the traditional version, the teacher or a student chooses a drawing or draws something themselves without anyone else being able to see. They then describe that drawing, and the person or people listening try to draw exactly what they hear being explained. They then compare their drawings with the original. This can be followed by points being given to the people whose pictures are closest to the original, or a discussion on what things are different and why.

Source: https://tefltastic.wordpress.com/2011/06/13/picture-dictation/

In the following version of the drawing dictation, the teacher asks for a volunteer and places a previously prepared picture on the student´s back so the whole class can see it. We have recently talked about pirates so the picture shows a desert island.

You can help students with the language by eliciting or presenting useful words and phrases before starting the task. You can easily adapt the level of this activity by making the language more or less complex. Have the words listed on the board.

The students work together, take turns to give instructions and help the volunteer to copy the drawing on the back into the empty square on the board:

 

 

Have them compare the picture with the original and describe any differences.

 

You will have your students doing all of the talking with this simple drawing activity!
Get inspired and check out the below links for some more ideas and alternative uses for picture dictation:

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/drawing-dictation

https://tefltastic.wordpress.com/2011/06/13/picture-dictation/

Happy creating!