Information Transfer

What have you drawn?

Students listen to the description and draw a picture.

e.g. There are three rectangles and there are short lines between them. There are two small circles under each rectangle. The first rectangle on the right has two smaller rectangles on the top, just above its upper right-hand corner. The first rectangle is touching the big rectangle with its wider side. The second small rectangle is touching the first small rectangle with its narrow side. There is a set of small circles above the upper small rectangle

(the idea is taken from The Great Preposition Mystery by L. Lougheed)

Where are you now?

Students listen to the directions and try to follow the route on the map.

e.g. Listen to your partner’s directions and guess which place you can get to if now you are at the hotel. Go along North Avenue as far as Center Street. Turn right at the corner and walk past the Post Office. Go along Center Street to the bank. Cross the road and go straight on. It is in front of the park, next to the department store. You can’t miss it. (Answer:Art gallery)

Picture dictation.

The teacher talks about the picture, which the students can not see, and asks them to draw it while he/she is talking. The students are free to ask questions about anything they don't understand.

e.g. Look at the drawing in the book. You are going to draw а picture that is like it, but a bit different. First, draw a rectangle like the one in the book. Draw that now. (pause) Now, you're going to draw the two boots. In the book, the bigger boot is on the left. The smaller boot is on the right. In your picture, the smaller boot's on the left, and the bigger boot on the right. Draw that now ... (pause) Now you're going to draw the line of the horizon. That's the line that goes from left to right, over the boots. BUT your line is higher than in the book. Draw your line higher than in the picture. Draw your line quite close to the top of the picture. (pause) Now you're going to draw the two trees. There isn't much space in your drawing, so the trees are much smaller than in the book. Draw the trees now. (pause) Now, you're going to draw the cloud. Your cloud is much bigger than in the book. It fills a lot of the sky to the left of the trees. Draw the cloud now. (pause) Now you're going to draw the path. The path is much wider at the bottom of the picture than it is in the book. In the book, only the boot on the left is on the path. In your picture, the path is wider. The smaller boot is on it, and part of the bigger boot is on it too. Draw the path now. ... (pause) Now your picture is complete. Show it to the other students in the class. Are your drawings the same? (taken from Double Take-2 by J. Collie)

Variant 5. Following instructions.

The students listen to the instructions and carry them out.

e.g. a)Warming-up exercises.

Stand with your feet together behind a chair. Hold the back of the chair with one hand. Slowly bend forward. Start with your neck, then your back, down to your waist and hips. At the same time lift one knee. Touch your knee with your forehead. Lower your knee and slowly stand up straight. Repeat with the other knee. This is very good for your spine!

(taken from Project-3 by T. Hutchinson)

b) What is this?

Take a piece of paper and put it over the bottom of the picture. Put the left side on the number 4. Put the right side of your paper on the letter "M" … "M" as in "mad". What do you see? His eye – the artist's eye. He's looking at you. Now you're going to put your paper over the top of the page. Put the bottom of your paper on the letter "Q" … "Q" as in "question". Put your paper at an angle from the letter "Q" to the number 2. You can't see the top of the page. Your paper goes from 2 to "Q," diagonally. What do you see? His mustache – the artistic, very famous, very unusual mustache. Now, you're going to see the artist. Put the top of your paper on the letter "A," as in "art." Put the bottom on the number 21. The paper goes from A to 21, diagonally. Can you see him? Not yet. Try putting your paper from "С" – as in "crazy" to 19. You might see him now. Now, try once more. This time, put your paper vertically. It goes from "E" for "elegant" to 18. Now you're looking at the artist, and he's looking at you. Can you see him? Imagine the artist is standing behind a door, looking at you. This is what he looked like. The artist is Salvador Dali. He was a famous surrealist artist who lived from 1904 to 1989. Salvador Dali's art was always strange. And now, the artist is looking right at you. (taken from Active Listening, CUP 1996)

c) Colour the picture.