E-02.03 Talk About Places: Describe Spaces & Scenes

Before Speaking: Activities for Practice & Preparation in Oral Language Skills. Part Two, Talk About Places: 4: Describe Spaces & Scenes, pages 51-74 + 31 Answer Key Pages Comprised of  Suggested (Model) Responses    

24 + 31 = 55 pages 

Who It’s For: English-Language Teachers, Learners, & Helpers Into Spatial Description of (Familiar) Rooms; (Unusual) Structures of All Sizes; Places In, Around, & Outside Towns; & Geographical Environments. 

Why It’s Useful: We spend our lives in (closed-in vs. wide open) places. Reviewing and using Nouns & Adjectives, Location Questions & Answers, Connecting Words, Sentences with the Filler IT, and the Present Continuous), text users will engage in enjoyable, effective language sessions with colorful photos sure to evoke memories and feelings from their own experiences.  Even longer than the text download, a BeSp Answer Key excerpt provides plenty of self-teaching input.      

What You’ll Do: 

[1] Together, view and comment on the page 51 Part Two Opener to Before Speaking: Activities for Practice & Preparation in Oral Language Skills.  Anticipate its content (“Talk About Places”) and the Competencies it addresses. The first of these is to “Describe Spaces & Scenes.” Tell what (you think) Listening & Speaking pedagogy and activities with these aims might entail.

[2]  On pages 52-58. follow Instructions 4.A to Tell About Interiors.  Use given vocabulary & sentence patterns with words of your own to describe impressions and feelings that the 28 Pictures of Living Spaces can evoke. (Meaningful to text compilers, info about the real locations and uses of the pictured places is revealed in the Answer Key). In 4.B on pages 59-64, refer to Grammar & Vocabulary Notes when helpful: hear and tell about Structures that range from an information booth, child’s shed, and outhouse to sizeable downtown vs. marina apartment complexes. Use input and images regarding 4.C Outdoor Scenes on pages 65-70 in equivalent ways: these begin with a miniature Stonehenge in a small town and end with the surface of the Moon.  

[3]  *4-D on pages 71-74 will help with “Communication About Real Places.” It begins with a sample floor plan for a (no longer existing) classroom + campus map. It culminates in Directives for Mini-Speeches with meaningful picture post cards and other photos.

[4] The attached 31 Answer Key pages may prove fruitful for language development derived from or based on extensive (native-speaker) input.