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The vast majority of the material on this page is not shared on downloadable pdf form. The reasoning behind this is twofold. First of all, there might be copyright infringement issues concerning the mass production of printable copies of photos whose artists are trying to make a living. The second reason is based on the environmentally-friendly approach, we can use our screens to talk about the photos during the lesson and a worksheet is not really necessary for this activity. Allow me to add here that all the photo collections suggested on this page were created by artists that I really admire and I was happy to see that the majority of my students approved of these choices. So, below you will find links redirecting you to other pages where you can find photos as part of artistic projects and you can use them in multiple speaking activities for the English lessons.
What I have noticed throughout the years is that a striking photo or an unusual topic will engage the students regardless of their age and language level. In my opinion, it is important for students to feel that they are using the language to have a real conversation exchanging ideas and not just repeating specific lexical or grammatical items for the purpose of the lesson. When students are really immersed into the visual input, they will try to find ways to express their ideas despite their lack of vocabulary and this will count as a genuine language production. It is imperative to stress out that the students must feel there are no right or wrong answers regarding guesses based on photos. Otherwise they will be reluctant to express their ideas for fear of judgement.
You can have a look at my blog post about “how to use images in the classroom” and also you can download this pdf with questions that you can ask your students during speaking activities with photos. Last but not least, I have written down some suggestions about before and after-speaking activities, you can find them here.
A meme is an idea, behaviour or style that spreads from person to person within a culture, often with the goal of conveying a specific phenomenon or meaning. Supporters of the concept regard memes as cultural analogues to genes in that they self-replicate, mutate and respond to selective pressures. They evolve through the process of variation and mutation. Memes are a great way to engage students in speaking activities since they are widespread and their style appeals to different personalities. The educational material about memes is in a pdf form so you can download and print it just by clicking on the “download” button below each image. The suggested level for these activities is B1 and beyond. You can also find a set of questions to use during the speaking lesson with memes here.
Virtual tours of museums and galleries became quite trendy during the covid quarantine and there are a lot of educators that have adopted this method and they still use it to engage the students in speaking activities. It can be very entertaining as the learners participate in an activity that is not part of their daily routine and at the same time they enjoy the benefits of a variety of topics for conversation. As a teacher, you need to do some planning beforehand so that you can help your students stay focused on the task. If you have bigger groups of students, one idea is to assign different sections of the museum to different teams and then discuss everybody’s findings in the end. You could even organise a treasure hunt for specific artefacts they need to look for. Visiting virtual museums is a unique way to bring other cultures into your classroom and make the lesson more vibrant and memorable. Click on each image below to start the virtual tour.
