Oliva Fernandez, Marketing
Director, Adult and Higher Education
Learn More about Picture This! (Part 1)
(This article is excerpted from a review by Carol Martin, who
Carol Martin teaches ESL for Garden Grove, California Adult Education and Computer VESL for Huntington Beach, California Adult Education. She is an ESL Technology Specialist and has worked as a curriculum developer, certified mentor teacher, and consultant. … )
Picture This!, by Tim Harris and Allen Rowe,
is a two-level multi-skills course for beginning students who need
effective communication in English. The course uses innovative
strategies to teach the fundamentals and provide opportunities for free expression. Picture This! places your students on the fast track to fluency.
Stories and conversations are presented using common, often humorous, life experiences that students can relate to. There is a strong emphasis on oral skills including listening, speaking, conversation, and pronunciation.
Each chapter begins with a conversation between characters or a short cartoon story that presents new vocabulary and grammatical structure. Students repeat conversations and apply vocabulary and grammar to produce their own conversations after guided practice to master language basics. Written practice reinforces grammar, conversational structure, and life skills.
Basic vocabulary and grammatical structure are presented before being practiced. Sometimes the subject matter meanders within a chapter, as in Book 1, Chapter 6, where the topics listed are apartments, furniture and rooms, food, and eating habits.
The grammar in each book is presented and practiced through controlled listening, speaking, reading, and writing practice, as well as less-structured open-ended activities which prepare the student to use those structures in daily life. The grammar in Book 1 is very basic mostly present tense and present continuous, as well as teaching basic adjectives, nouns, and prepositions. Book 2 reviews the structures presented in Book 1 and presents future “going to” and past tense.
Oliva Fernandez, Marketing
Director, Adult and Higher Education
Learn More about Picture This! (Part 2)
Life skill lessons are included regularly throughout Book 1,
and less often in Book 2 as the higher level graduates to more
open-ended communication and writing skills. It may be important to
note that life skills are presented in places throughout the chapters
which are not designated at the top of the page as “Life Skill,” so
there is really more life skill practice than a couple of pages per
chapter. …
Listening skills are sharpened in a variety of ways, including
vocabulary presentation, repetition, and dictation. Speaking practice
within a chapter begins with vocabulary and dialog repetition, then
progresses to more open-ended communication like student-generated dialogs based on dialog models.
Writing practice: While writing is limited to practicing key
structures in Book 1, the writing practice in Book 2 becomes more
specific and formal. Writing lessons are included throughout; each
writing lesson is detailed and useful, providing examples as well as
practice for the specific writing issue.
The charts at the end of each chapter are quite handy. Included are
vocabulary listed by part of speech, “expressions” (oral usage), pronunciation, and detailed grammar charts. These are useful when teaching, as well as for the student who reviews the lesson as homework.
Each book has two multiple-choice tests, one halfway through, and the other at the end of the book. Teachers who want to practice
standardized test taking skills can have students bubble in a Scantron form as an answer sheet.
At the end of every chapter there is an audio-supported pronunciation presentation and practice. Pronunciation activities are varied and worthwhile and include lessons such as differentiating
similar sounds, ending sounds, stress, and intonation.
Picture This! also includes an audio program (three CDs for each level) with stories, conversations, most grammar practices, life skill presentations, and pronunciation practices. The Teacher’s Edition
is interleaved, which means there is a copy of the student book page
next to the teaching notes for that page. It includes warm-up, language and culture notes, expansion activities, and answer keys.
Picture This!
lends itself most distinctly to the adult education ESL student. The
purpose of the book is to help students master the basics so they can use the language effectively. Grammar structures are practiced
regularly, but are generally very basic. The text may need to be
supplemented to conform to specific standards.*
_________
*Lifeskills and Test Prep is a perfect partner to the series.
Previous < <
