Introduction:

This is an activity you can do with students to review ‘there was’ / ‘there were’ and prepositions of place. Students look at a picture for one minute, answer questions from memory and write questions for other students about pictures they have brought to class. The photo on the worksheet is one I took recently on holiday in Croatia and it is just an example. Of course, you can use your own photo and create your own questions.

Level: A2+

Time: 35 minutes

Objectives:

1. To review ‘there was’ / ‘there were’ structures and prepositions of place.
2. To write 10 ‘was there’ / ‘were there’ questions using students’ own pictures.
3. To practise answering questions with the correct structures and prepositions.

Materials:

1. If my memory serves me right PDF worksheet, one per student.
2. Teacher’s own photos or magazines.
3. Students’ own photos or magazines.

Procedure:

1. Divide the class into groups of three or four. Explain that you are going to show them a picture for 1 minute and that they must memorize as many details as possible for a quiz afterwards (Make sure you have made enough copies of the picture or display it on a TV or projector).
2. When the minute has passed, nominate someone from each team to be spokesperson and explain that you will only accept the answer given by that person. This encourages discussion and forces the stronger members to be patient. If an answer is shouted out by someone other than a spokesperson, the answer cannot be accepted, and a spokesperson from another team can ‘steal’ the answer.
3. Ask the 5 questions about the photo (see PDF Worksheet) and award one point for the correct answer.
4. Explain that the students will now repeat this process, using a picture on their phone or from a magazine that you have provided.
5. Using the picture, they must write 10 questions that they will use to test other students’ memory, including prepositions of place, e.g. Was the woman in the picture behind or next to the blue car?
6. When the students have finished, put them in pairs or threes. Taking it in turns, students will show their picture to their classmates for exactly 1 minute, before asking them 10 questions.
7. Monitor to ensure students answer in full sentences, e.g. No, the woman in the picture was behind the blue car.
8. Continue until all students have tested and been tested!

 Fast finishers: 

Students imagine their classmates’ picture is a picture of a crime scene and they must describe it to the police in great detail. They write a short description of it from memory and, when finished, show it to their classmates to “correct”.

If my memory serves me right PDF worksheet

Related posts:

The search is on (preposition game)

When & where board game