I have been thinking about trying one word images since I read about them on Bu Cathy’s blog. So today I took the plunge with my Prep classes. I found a large cardboard box in the office, and took it into each class with me.

I asked the students, ‘Apa ada?’ (What is it?) They came up with a few suggestions. When one student said ‘Ular’ (snake), I agreed. I asked if it was big or small, what colour it was and what it was doing: ‘Ular makan? Ular berjalan? Ular lompat?’ (Is the snake eating? Walking? Jumping?) by giving choices using known vocabulary.

The first class said the snake was green and orange and it was walking to a mountain (child said ‘mountain’ in English, so I just translated and went with it. We had used the word some time ago) with Ibu Anne. The second said the snake was green and brown and it was eating all the class! The third class said it was pink and brown and it was eating a small mouse at Point Cook College.

The subsequent drawings were sooo cute, and gave me a great indication of who understood the discussion. They all asked me if it was true and if they could look in the box, which of course was empty! Lots of fun!

Looking forward to trying this activity with the older kids as well.