Picture Word Inductive Model

BUILDING LANGUAGE WITH THE PICTURE WORD
INDUCTIVE MODEL
Using Images & Inductive Reasoning to Grow Learners as Listeners, Speakers, Readers &
Writers
Imagine talking to someone who barely

speaks English and telling them “My house is
the red one by the river with the big tree out
front and a blue car.” You can probably see
the visible look of confusion on their face.
Now imagine saying the same

sentence with a picture of your house and its
surroundings. You pause at each important
word and speak slowly, signal with your fingers to the objects you’re talking about and repeat
several times. That same person now has a much better idea of what you’re talking about and
may have learned some new words.
This is the picture word inductive model (PWIM) in use. It is an extremely powerful tool
to teach students new vocabulary, activate prior knowledge, and help students transition from
oral language to written text on their own terms. With the right activities teachers can use it in
any subject for learners to engage with everything from vocabulary, grammar, reading, writing,
speaking and phonics.
In its purest form, the model involves showing students an image (or series of images)
and using context and previous knowledge to identify vocabulary through progressive activities.
However, additional support can help students acquire the vocabulary faster:
 Total Physical Response (TPR)

 Oral structuring (answers & questions)
 Text structuring (answers & questions)
 Vocabulary banks
Remember, the more support you use, the less inductive and active the lesson becomes
(i.e., inductive to deductive). As a teacher, use your input/support progressively and sparingly.
Try to focus on activities and questions that draw the concepts from learners first.
Put the vocabulary learning into students’ hands, often in groups. Have them organize
vocabulary you’ve shown into categories. Ask them to define/identify vocabulary using their
own prior knowledge. Provide word banks or multiple-choice questions where students match
the definitions/images to vocabulary rather than being given the definition. Putting the
vocabulary in sentences after showing the image then having them invent sentences of their
own makes students more active in the process of learning and use.
Here are examples of the inductive/deductive versions of picture word model to help
you understand how to design lesson that fall somewhere in between:
Option 1: How to Set Up the Picture Word Inductive Model:
1. Print off a picture for each student.

2. Project a copy of the picture on an overhead or projector. You can also just tape the
picture to the whiteboard.
3. Have students call out various vocabulary words that they see represented in the
picture using active questioning.
4. Have students organize the words depending on the concept. For instance, you might
write (or highlight) verbs in red, nouns in green, adjectives in purple and so on. Words
that can be more than one part of speech may need to be a unique color.
5. Afterward, you can have students get with a partner to make sentences about the
picture. You can choose a particular tense that you are learning in order to help them
know what grammar to use. This can serve as an assessment or you can have students
individually share with the class through questioning while offering feedback.
Option 2: How to Set Up the Picture Word Deductive Model:
1. Give each student a blank sheet of paper.

2. Have students use vocabulary words that they are learning to draw and label a picture.
(Alternatively, you can provide students with magazines for them to find and cut out
pictures. They can then glue to the pictures they cut out to their papers to make a scene
and label them.)
3. As students draw, they will likely come up with more words that they want to add. You
can write those words on the board and let students add them to their pictures.
4. Have students organize the words depending on the concept. For example, you can
color code the various parts of speech.
5. Afterward, you can have students get with a partner to make sentences about the
picture. You can choose a particular tense that you are learning in order to help them
know what grammar to use. This can serve as an assessment or you can have students
individually share with the class through questioning while offering feedback.

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BUILDING LANGUAGE WITH THE PICTURE WORD

Imagine talking to someone who barely

Now imagine saying the same

 Total Physical Response (TPR)

Option 1: How to Set Up the Picture Word Inductive Model:

1. Print off a picture for each student.

Option 2: How to Set Up the Picture Word Deductive Model:

1. Give each student a blank sheet of paper.

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