DESCRIBING AN IMAGE

foreground, a man is standing with his arms outstretched. He

is dressed in white. He is smiling and is looking towards the child. He looks absolutely delighted. The young girl, who is probably his daughter, is riding her bike towards him. He has probably been teaching her how to ride it. She is at an early stage of learning, because the bike still has the stabilisers on. Maybe they are at some kind of training centre, or sports ground, because the ground has tracks on it and crash barriers. In the background, you can see the fencing around the area and some blocks of flats. It’s a bright sunny day.

TASK: Write about when you learned how to ride a bike.

Image by imagerymajestic at freedigitalphotos.net

Describe the man – what is he wearing? What is he doing?.
Describe the child – what is she wearing? What is she doing?
Describe the scene.
What is happening?

right circle. Write more sentences about the images.
The sun

is low in the sky.
It’s quite chilly.
The mood is light and the scene is set for a wonderful, relaxing experience.
The long shadows of the children lend a strange, almost ethereal atmosphere to the picture.
Beautiful, sandy beaches.
The sea is flat and calm.

A

B

A

B

both

Write a title, or caption, for each picture.

man (is swimming/is jumping) onto a dinghy.
____3) This (took/takes) place

last summer
____4) The man (wears/is wearing) a (white T-shirt
and red shorts/a white T-shirt and navy blue shorts)
____5) He is jumping (because his friends dared him
to /onto dry land)
Now, write in the correct wh words to each question.
-------------------------------------------------------------
What do you think is happening? Describe the scene. Who are the people? Notice what they are wearing. Why is the man jumping? Is the picture for real, or is an image superimposed?

where

who

when

what

why

Have you ever done anything for a dare that you then regretted? Write about it.

a (plane/ship). You can see the (sea/park). It is not

clear which (nation/nationality} the people are. Maybe American?
When? Choose the right word:
The weather is (fine/bad). It looks like the scene is taking place in (winter/summer).
Who? Put the missing words back in:
There are two ____ in the foreground. They are quite ____. Their black ____ is tied back. They are ____ blue t-shirts and ____. There is a police officer near them. Everybody is ____ them and ____ photos.
girls watching hair shorts taking young wearing
What? Rearrange the sentence:
off two are a the side of ship jumping girls.
THINK PAIR SHARE: Why? There may be many reasons for the girls’ action.
What do you think? How do they feel about what they are doing? Why are they being photographed?

Jumbled sentence: Two girls are jumping off the side of a ship.

Farm
Who: Mrs Binks
When: last summer
What: survey the grounds/see all the

race horses
How: on a quad bike.
How did she feel: thrilled.
Why: she won a trip there in a competition.
Senses: feel the warm sun/smell the fresh grass/hear the whinnying/the trip has a ‘feel good’ factor.

What trip/visit would be your ideal?
Have you ever entered a competition? Write about it.

puffed and
The guys looked on
They all doubted
The gym was full
Jim

kept
He was grimly
The trainer was
The smell of
‘I’ll show them,’

as it was Saturday morning
b) with that weight!
c) determined to succeed.
d) aghast at Jim’s poor technique.
e) sweat and deodorant pervaded the air.
f) whether Jim could do it.
g) he thought. ‘Ha, they think I can’t do it!’
h) trying. This was his fifth attempt.
i) supportively. They willed Jim to do it.
j) finally he heaved the weight aloft.

1b
2j
3i
4f
5a
6h
7c
8d
9e
10g

In 5 minutes, list all the activities available at a gym.

What can they see, hear etc… Discuss the possibilities with a

partner.

Write about a time when you met up with a group of friends. Remember to answer the wh words and refer to the senses.

a dog show. In the 1)_____, a lady in white

is standing with a dog. The 2)_____ of the dog is Beagle. Beagles are medium sized 3)_____, but this dog is 4)_____! The lady has a band around her arm which 5)_____ she has a special role – she must be the 6)_____. The 7) _____ eyes are firmly on the enormous dog. The dog and the judge are in an 8)_____; you can see a rope sectioning the spectators off. The dog looks very 9)_____; it is standing up straight, with its head up and tail up. This picture has often been 10)_____ in caption competitions.

Replace the words:
Breed huge hounds used indicates enclosure proud judge foreground onlookers’

TASK: WRITE A CAPTION FOR THE PICTURE

the photo?
What is the mood? What impression do you think

the photographer wants to convey?
How has he/she achieved this?
Do you think the photo is of a real life event, or do you think it is staged?

Circle the adjectives /phrases which describe the scene.

Menacing uplifting surreal gloomy majestic frightening threatening bathed in light ghostly serious light-hearted crepuscular forbidding foreboding icy comforting

Does this image glorify or demonise armed combat? Or is it neutral? Justify your opinion.

tree has smashed the billiard table.
The scene is taking place

outdoors.
It is a serious competition.
It is night time

Why might the man there?
Maybe he was clearing out his garage and couldn’t resist one last go with his pool table.
He might be a workman clearing out a house whose owner has moved or died. He stopped for a game on the old pool table.

TASK: Write about a time when you had to throw away, or part with something that was important to you.

was the best police dog in the whole police service.

Well, that’s what his handler thought! He was very attached to Rusty. That dog could bring any burglar down - without ever leaving teeth marks! He could sniff out any drugs from metres away. But everything comes to an end and today was Rusty’s last as a working dog. His handler took him out on patrol with a heavy heart. He knew he would never again find a dog like Rusty, who was a loyal and trusted companion and friend as well as his co-worker. Just as well he was going to be retiring to a good home – his handler’s, of course!

Make a list of all the animals that work for the benefit of humans.

THINK PAIR SHARE: Is it fair to make animals work for humans?

of the men are (in uniform/fancy dress)
It is a gathering

of (actors/statesmen)
The photo is in (full colour/black and white)
The man on the left looks (determined/happy)
The three men at the front are (standing/seated) while the men behind them are standing.
They are all looking (ahead/down) and they are (paying attention/ignoring) whatever it is they are facing.
Behind them and to the right, (windows/columns) are visible. It looks like they are meeting in a large hall or courtyard.
The man in the centre foreground is (drinking/smoking).

Using the sentences, write up a paragraph about the picture.

The men in the front row are Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Josef Stalin. The meeting took place soon after the Second World War.

the early twentieth century. Real photo. Painting of match stick

figures. The mills (factories) of Northern England. Cycle-friendly. Quiet, controlled atmosphere. Business people rushing to work. Factory workers filing to work. Smoke-filled air. Huge chimneys belching out smoke. Wide pavements. Terraced houses. High rise buildings. Modern shops. Busy scene.

Photo by Sira Anamwong at freedigitalphotos

Compare and contrast the pictures.

of the wh words as are relevant.
What do you

think happened before? Why is she there? What might she do next?
What do you think she is thinking?
Who might be taking the photo?

She has been on a sightseeing trip, ending up at Mount Rushmore. Write a diary entry for her.

At Mount Rushmore, American presidents’ heads are carved into the mountains.
Imagine – you have got a clean slate. Whose head do you think worthy of being honoured like this? Justify your choice.

is an old clip.
Describe the scene. What do you think

is happening?

It’s in black and white
The people’s clothes are not modern.
There are no electrical appliances.
It looks like a workhouse – a place for poor people. Or is it a family home ?
The older man on the left (the father?) is pointing, probably to the door. The young girl in the centre has her eyes cast down. Has she done something to shame herself? The older woman beside the man looks as if she is pleading for the young girl. The lady in the fur coat: are her hands held out in support of the girl, or is she accusing her of something?
Who are the people sitting at the table?

people look happy and relaxed. 3) The people are probably

Muslims. 4) It looks like the desert. 5) The people may be carrying their children to safety. 6) This is probably in Africa. 7) These are poor people. 8) The people are carrying belongings with them. 8) The people may be fleeing persecution. 9) They are having a trip through the desert. 10) They are talking to each other and gesticulating. 11) They feel a sense of dread, but also hope for the future. 12) The donkey brays as they load it.

A

B

A

B

BOTH

place?
When did it happen?
Who might the people be?
What do you

think is happening?
What kind of image is it?
What is the mood of the picture?
Why might the soldiers be at the door?
How do you think the people feel?

In past times, people in trouble would seek sanctuary in churches.
When you feel down, where is your favourite place to take refuge from the world?
Write a paragraph about it. If you haven’t one, imagine the perfect sanctuary.

people in the foreground doing?
What can you read on the

banner?
Why has the man in the foreground got a loudspeaker?
What might it be about?
What do you think happened before?
What might happen next?

Discuss:
Do you believe in demonstrations?
Do you feel strongly enough about anything to go on a demonstration?
Why do people demonstrate?
What sort of issues do people protest about?

how many adjectives can you come up with to describe

a lemon? Think of : shape/texture/taste/smell
Think up phrases to describe this fruit.

Task: Add the vowels to complete the adjectives, then make columns APPEARANCE/TEXTURE/SMELL/TASTE and put the adjectives into the right group. Can you add any more?

Z_sty fr_sh y_ll_w w_xy _c_d_c j_ _cy fr_ _ ty s_ _r b_tt_r r_ _nd b_mpy sm_ _th z_ngy

Write an acrostic poem:
L
E
M
O
N

great fall. All the king's horses and all the king's men Couldn't

put Humpty together again.

Who?
Where?
When?
What happened?
Who tried to help?
Did they succeed?

Write this up as a newspaper report.