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Listen and draw

Listen and draw is a classic, super simple listening activity where the teacher reads a description of a picture which students have to draw. It requires careful processing of language and produces a clear outcome where there is no absolute requirement for a 'right answer'. A practical consideration when  running the task include ensuring that students don't just copy from their neighbour and so avoid listening carefully at all. My primitive solution to this was to get students to place a bag on the table between them to create a barrier.

To do this task successfully I would suggest choosing images which are clear, not too simple, not too cluttered, and which include known vocabulary. A bonus would be if the image contains interesting cultural input, such as a famous building, a style of house or food items on a table. Or how about a famous art work?  If there is going to be any awkward vocab, this can be pre-taught. In any case, you will need to pre-teach some key chunks to do with where items are situated on the page - see the slide below.

Another key point is to make sure you go at a pace which is right for the class, building in any repetition as needed. Keep an eye on how successfully the class is working and give any support, including the occasional translation, to make sure the students get success. You might allow students to put their hands up to ask for clarification: "Where is the ....?"

Once the drawing is complete, students can compare with a neighbour.

To prolong the listening practice you could then read out true/false statements which the class must answer by looking at their picture. Alternatively, just give false statement which students must correct in writing on paper or on a mini-whiteboard.

At this point it would seem natural to move to some oral work if the class is able to do so. You could hand out printed pictures which students could use to do their own 'listen and draw' task in pairs. Or simple tell students to describe to each other the picture they first drew. This gets them to recycle language they have been hearing.

Below are some slides I used for a resource on frenchteacher.net, on the Y10-11 page (CEFR A2). the images are all copyright-free from pixabay.com.









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