How to Create Picture Cards and Stories

Purpose: Picture cards and picture stories are great for both introducing and practicing vocabulary for beginning English learners and in multi-level classes. This tip explains how to create your own. Watch for future tips with ideas for using them.

Materials: Presentation software (such as Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Slides, or similar), a printer, and scissors.

Prep:

1. If you are creating a picture story, select a topic and think of a general story line related to the topic. Brainstorm the types of pictures you will need to find. For example, in a picture story about a winter storm, you might want a picture of snow piled up in the road, a minor car accident, a sad person, and a car dealer. 
2. If you are creating picture cards, select a topic and list the target vocabulary you would like students to learn. For example, in a clothing unit you may wish to teach sweater, coat, hat, gloves, boots and scarf.

Procedure:

1. Open the presentation software you wish to use.
2. Set your internet search engine to search for images that are free to use. Google has instructions for finding free-use-images. If you don’t find a suitable image at first, try different search terms.
3. Once you find a thumbnail preview of an image you wish to use, click on the image to view the original image. Make sure it is big enough that it will copy well. Be sure not to copy the thumbnail preview of the image, as it will be too small.
4. Right click on the original copy of the image to open a contextualized menu. Select copy image.
5. Return to the presentation software. Right click on the first slide and select paste.
6. Make the image the same size as the first slide. To do this, click and drag on the middle of the image to move it. Mouse over to the corner of the image until you see a two-way arrow. Click and drag on the corner of the image to change the size.
7. Add new slides to the presentation and place one image on each slide until you have copied all the images you want.

You have several options for printing the picture cards, depending on how students will use them. To make flash cards, print six slides per page. To give students a picture story with space to write the story, print three slides per page and it will also provide lines for taking notes. To print large copies of the pictures to be viewed by a class, print one slide per page.