[fishead soup]

I find students have a lot of curiosity about the foreign teacher. This activity helps stimulate the students interest.

First take some photos. They should be anything from vacation photos weddings or hometown and family.

I find most young students can be pretty rough with photo albums so this is what I do. Get the pictures color photo copied. You should have a least three to four photo per color photo copy. Then get them laminated.

First practice some typical wh questions on the board.

Then put the students into groups of four to six. Walk around the classroom encauraging the students to ask questions to you.

Every now and then have students exchange photo cards.

[stanley]

Fishead Soup - thanks for the idea. I have decided, instead of photocopying the photos, simply to blutac them on to a piece of A4 and then slide them into a clear plastic wallet. - Saves photocopying and students get to see original photos without handling them directly. I shall also be asking the children to bring in their own family photos to share with the class.

[simplyesl]

That's a great idea. I might get the students to bring in a photo of theirs and get the other students to make up a story/questions about the picture.

[susan53]

I use photos a lot with adults too. At beginner's level I use them in much the same way as you've mentioned - show them a photo and get them to ask questions about who the people are, where it is etc. However at intermediate level I make it more complex. I show them a series of photos which tell the story of something which happened to me, and then ask them in groups to see if they can guess what was happening. Each group invents the story, based on what they can see in the photos, and then tells the whole class what they think (speaking practice). I then tell the real story so that they can compare it with their own ideas (listening practice).
I find the students find it really motivating because they know it's a real story and happened to me. For the next lesson I then ask them to bring in two or three photos of something which happened to them and we repeat the process.