A Thousand Words

A Thousand Words

The common saying “A picture is worth a thousand words” should not be forgotten. In this age of media, images and their associations play a critical role in how we view the world. The impact of the more visually oriented world means that denotations and connotations are extremely important to understand. Symbolism is the shared method of communication that can sometimes even transcend language. Using visual cues with our teaching is the undeniably valuable.
Purposes:
  • To activate prior knowledge
  • To assess known vocabulary
  • To associate potentially new vocabulary
When you introduce a new topic, include an image to use as a discussion point. Maybe the vocabulary for concrete objects appears in the image. Maybe an action or hidden concept can be revealed through the image. Maybe you can create a short passage that incorporates important concepts and vocabulary into the image. Helping the student see what is being discussed will aid the student in understanding, for ELL and non-ELL students alike.

For example, comparing these two images can help develop a discussion on poverty in a social studies course.

Or this image could be used to discuss shapes, angles, construction, and architecture.

Most importantly, we need to adapt to how today’s youth see the world in images that we can put words to.

This and other topics are further discussed here: https://www.edutopia.org/article/4-simple-ways-support-english-learners-comprehension

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