Courseversity

Writing about pictures

Primary EducationGrade 1English & Language ArtsCV-PRI-G01-ELA-U08-L0745–60 min

You will learn

  • Look closely at a picture.
  • Tell who, what and where.
  • Write sentences about a picture.
  • Add describing words.

Version 0.2 · expanded edition · built from cited public sources Content is based on the official frameworks and sources listed under Sources and standards. No official endorsement is claimed. Written in the style of common primary school assessments. No exam result is promised.

Student lesson

The lesson in 60 seconds

  1. Look at the picture.
  2. Say who and what.
  3. Say where.
  4. Write sentences about it.

Words to know

picture
a drawing or photo
describe
tell about
detail
a small piece of information
caption
a sentence under a picture

1. Discover: The picture

The teacher shows a picture of a girl feeding hens in a yard. Ama says, “I see a girl. She has a bowl. The hens are eating.” She writes: A girl feeds the hens. The hens eat corn. The sun is out.

Think: What can you see in the picture?

2. Understand: Writing from pictures

Idea 1: Look

Look carefully. What do you see? Who is there? What are they doing? Where are they?

Idea 2: Say it

Say your ideas aloud: A girl feeds the hens.

Idea 3: Write it

Write each idea as a sentence with a capital, a full stop and describing words.

Remember: To write about a picture, look closely, say who, what and where, then write sentences.

3. Worked examples

Example 1 (I show you): Who?

Who is in the picture?

  1. Look at the people.
  2. Say it.

Answer: A girl

Example 2 (We do it together): What?

What is she doing?

  1. Look at her.
  2. Say the action.

Answer: feeding the hens

Example 3 (You try): Write

Write a sentence.

Show the steps and answer
  1. Use who and what.
  2. Add a capital and full stop.

Answer: A girl feeds the hens.

Did you know?

Picture books tell stories with both words and pictures.

Why this matters

Writing about pictures helps you practise writing with ideas ready for you.

4. Explore: Picture talk

Talk, then write.

  1. Look at a picture.
  2. Talk to a partner about it.
  3. Write three sentences.
  4. Read them aloud.
Think about it: what did you notice?

You can write about what you see.

5. Practise

Say it in a sentence

Use these starters when you talk about the lesson. Say them out loud.

  • I can see ___.
  • The ___ is ___.
  • It is in/on the ___.
  • The ___ looks ___.

Guided practice

Question 1. Who is in the picture?

a girl

Question 2. What is she doing?

feeding the hens

Question 3. Write a sentence.

A girl feeds the hens.

Independent practice

Level 1: Start

  1. A caption is a ___ under a picture.
  2. Who is feeding the hens?
  3. What are the hens eating?
  4. Where are they?
  5. We write about pictures with a capital and a full ___.

Level 2: Grow

  1. Write about a picture of a dog.
  2. Add a describing word: The hens eat corn.
  3. Write a caption for a picture of a sunny day.

Level 3: Stretch

  1. Look at a picture and write three sentences.
  2. Why look closely at a picture?
  3. Kofi writes: A boy swims. But the picture shows a girl. What is wrong?

Answers are in the answer key below. Try first, then check.

6. Apply: English in everyday life

Look at a family photo and write two sentences.

Show a sample answer

Mum is smiling. We are at the park.

Another one. Draw a picture and write a caption.

Show a sample answer

A drawing of a house: This is my house.

7. Common mistakes

Mistake: Writing things that are not in the picture.
Fix: Write what you can see.
Another mistake: Writing only one word.
Fix: Write a sentence.

8. Lesson summary and revision card

I can…

  • I can look closely at a picture.
  • I can say who, what and where.
  • I can write sentences about a picture.
  • I can add describing words.

9. Check and master

Answer all 14 questions. You will see feedback after each one.

1. A caption is a ___ under a picture.

2. Who is feeding the hens?

3. What are the hens eating?

4. Where are they?

5. We should write what we ___ in the picture.

6. Which is a good sentence about the picture?

7. Which adds a describing word?

8. Before writing we should ___.

9. A picture has ___.

10. Which is a caption?

11. Kofi writes about a boy but the picture shows a girl. What is wrong?

12. Which is the best sentence?

Challenge 1. Which sentence is about the picture of hens?

Challenge 2. What should every sentence start with?

Your result appears here after you answer every question.

10. Key takeaways

  • Look closely.
  • Say who, what, where.
  • Write sentences.
  • Add describing words.

11. Next lesson

Next lesson: Writing personal experiences. Keep going with the next idea in this course.

Exam practice

These questions are written in the style of common school and international primary assessments. Try them on your own, without looking back. Then check your answers in the marking guide. The marks are shown in brackets.

  1. Name two things to look for in a picture. [2 marks]
  2. Write a sentence about a picture of a girl and hens. [2 marks]
  3. Add a describing word to: The hens eat corn. [1 mark]
  4. What is a caption? [1 mark]
  5. Explain how to write about a picture. [3 marks]

Total: 9 marks.

Marking guide and model answers
  1. who is there [1]; what they are doing or where [1]
  2. matches the picture [1]; correct capital and full stop [1]
  3. a valid adjective [1]
  4. a sentence under a picture [1]
  5. look closely [1]; say who, what, where [1]; write sentences [1]

Score guide: 8 to 9 = secure. 6 to 7 = nearly there, revise the parts you missed. Under 6 = work through the lesson again with a grown-up.

Printable worksheet

  1. A caption is a ___ under a picture.
  2. We write what we ___ in the picture.
  3. Write about a picture of a dog.
  4. Write a caption for a picture of the sun.
  5. Add a describing word: The hens eat corn.
  6. True or false: we look closely first.
  7. Write three sentences about a picture.
  8. Draw a picture and caption it.
  9. Who is in the picture?
  10. Where are they?

Homework

Draw a picture and write three sentences about it.

Answer key and marking scheme

Question Expected response Marks
1. A caption is a ___ under a picture. sentence 1
2. We write what we ___ in the picture. see 1
3. Write about a picture of a dog. a valid sentence 1
4. Write a caption for a picture of the sun. a valid caption 1
5. Add a describing word: The hens eat corn. e.g. The hungry hens eat corn. 1
6. True or false: we look closely first. true 1
7. Write three sentences about a picture. three sentences 1
8. Draw a picture and caption it. a captioned picture 1
9. Who is in the picture? a person or animal 1
10. Where are they? a place 1
Total 10

Independent practice answers. Level 1: 1 sentence; 2 a girl; 3 corn; 4 in the yard; 5 stop. Level 2: 1 a valid sentence; 2 e.g. The hungry hens eat corn.; 3 e.g. The sun is bright.. Level 3: 1 three sentences; 2 to see details; 3 he should write what the picture shows.

Quiz answers: 1 B, 2 C, 3 A, 4 B, 5 C, 6 A, 7 B, 8 C, 9 A, 10 B, 11 C, 12 A, Challenge 1 B, Challenge 2 C.

Mastery and remediation

Objective Bronze (Developing) Silver (Proficient) Gold (Advanced)
O1 Look closely at a picture Shows this with help from an adult or a picture Does this independently and explains how they know Explains it clearly and uses it in a new situation
O2 Tell who, what and where Shows this with help from an adult or a picture Does this independently and explains how they know Explains it clearly and uses it in a new situation
O3 Write sentences about a picture Shows this with help from an adult or a picture Does this independently and explains how they know Explains it clearly and uses it in a new situation
O4 Add describing words Shows this with help from an adult or a picture Does this independently and explains how they know Explains it clearly and uses it in a new situation

Courseversity badge thresholds (overall quiz score): Gold = 90–100%; Silver = 80–89.9%; Bronze = 70–79.9%. A badge is never a full record of progress.

If a learner struggles

  1. Find the misconception: Writing things that are not in the picture. Write what you can see.
  2. Explain another way: use real objects, pictures or actions first, then words.
  3. Show a simpler example: Use sentence frames with the picture.
  4. Guided practice: work through one example together and let the learner try the next one.
  5. Reassess: use the quiz again or the worksheet.
  6. Move on when the learner shows Silver-level evidence independently.

For parents and guardians

In this lesson your child writes sentences about pictures. You do not need to be an expert to help.

  • Talk about pictures together.
  • Ask: what do you see?
  • Praise detail.
  • Ask “how do you know?” after each answer, and listen.
  • Praise effort, not only right answers. Mistakes are how we learn.
  • Ten to fifteen minutes a day is better than one long session.

Teacher package

1–5. Objectives, prerequisites, materials, preparation, duration

Lesson objectives. Learners will: look closely at a picture; tell who, what and where; write sentences about a picture; add describing words.

Prerequisite knowledge. Writing complete sentences.

Materials. Chart paper or board, pencils, picture or word cards, a reading book if available. Low-resource options: use chalk or charcoal on a board or wall, drawings in the sand, and objects from the classroom instead of printed materials.

Preparation. Write the key words and examples on the board or on cards before the lesson.

Suggested duration. 45–60 minutes. It can be split into two shorter sessions.

6–9. Teaching procedure, explanation notes, guided and independent activities

Introduction (5 min). Show a picture and ask what learners see.

Explanation (10 min). Teach looking, saying and writing.

Guided activity (10 min). Practise picture talk.

Independent activity (10 min). Learners share their writing.

Assessment and reflection (5 min). Ask each learner to say one thing they learned and how they know it.

Key questions. What do you see? Who? What are they doing? Where?

Teacher explanation notes. Move from the spoken word to pictures and then to print. Read aloud often, point to the words, and let learners hear and say before they read and write.

10–12. Differentiation, formative assessment, common misconceptions

Support. Use sentence frames. Extension. Write a story about the picture.

Formative assessment. Listen to learners read and explain, ask “how do you know?”, and check the independent work.

Misconceptions. Writing things that are not in the picture. Write what you can see.

13–15. Assessment questions, answer keys, marking scheme

Use the quiz, the 9-mark exam practice and the worksheet on this page. All answers and marking guides are in the answer sections above. Re-check every answer before use.

16–19. Remediation, enrichment, homework, teacher reflection

Remediation. Use sentence frames with the picture. Enrichment. Write a short story about a picture. Homework. See above.

Teacher reflection. After teaching, record: which ideas learners understood; which misconceptions occurred; which activities worked; which learners need more practice; and what to improve next time.

Sources and standards

This lesson is based on the sources below, and no official endorsement is claimed. Reference starting points: Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, Cambridge Primary and the IB Primary Years Programme. Where a standard code is named, it points to the official framework.

Official standards for this topic area. Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts (official site): Grade 1 » Writing; Grade 1 » Language. These pages list the standards that cover this topic area; read them alongside the lesson.

Research used to shape this lesson. Common Core W.1.2 and SL.1.4 (describe people, places, things, and events with relevant details); Education Endowment Foundation Improving Literacy in Key Stage 1 guidance (composition); Cambridge Primary English Stage 1 (writing). These sources informed the lesson.

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