Using art to teach English vocabulary

FThe day before Christmas, I improvised a bit on my lesson at Wat Chetupon temple school.  I combined a drawing activity with English vocabulary.

As I drew a scene on the board, the novice were to follow my lead and create their own picture.



The novice drew some very detailed and creative pictures .





The room was quiet as the novice drew their own masterpieces.




The attention to detail was amazing.




Once I got the lesson started, I soon realized the novice were much better artists than I..... so I invited them to the board to draw.





Adam, a Friends for Asia volunteer from Australia took over from me and then taught the lesson.





Oh what fun!



Santa?  Santa's sleigh and reindeer too?  Well, t'was the day before Christmas..... even for these young Buddhist novice! 



Drawing and English Vocabulary

Teaching vocabulary through drawing can be a very effective strategy to engage students.  Many of the novice at Wat Chetupon struggle with the academics, but when it comes to drawing..... they are fantastic!

Once I got the lesson started, Adam, an Autralian volunteer with Friends For Asia, stepped in and took over. Once again, I was in the mentor / coach role! 

Draw 5 mountains..... two rivers.... eight fish...

Ten houses, two cats.....



Eight ducks, five snakes.....



I thought I liked to "ham it up" as the teacher.... check out Adam in this video as he tell a story to go with the drawing!



The novice stepped in to help Adam and I with our drawing of animals....



Novice, like students in America, love to come to the board and teach the lesson.



When the novice took over the drawing of animals on the board, all the other students suddenly become totally engaged in this lesson.

  Here are just a few examples of the student drawings! 



One student decided, on his own, that Santa, his sleigh and the reindeer needed to make an appearance his drawing!  Oh... and check out the Christmas trees too!