Story Cards
Deal eight random picture cards and tell a story that uses as many of them as possible. Every deal gives you two characters, two places, two things and two wild cards, so there is always someone, somewhere, something and a twist. How students read each picture is up to them: a snake can be a pet, a villain or a bad dream. Show it on the board, share your screen online, or let pairs use their own devices.
How it works
- Open Story Cards and press Deal the cards. Eight cards turn over, in four labelled pairs.
- Give students a minute or two to look at the pictures and plan.
- Students tell a story using as many of the cards as they can. Characters and places usually come first; the wild cards are the twist.
- Don't like a card? Tap it and it changes to another picture of the same kind. Press Deal again for a whole new set.
The four kinds of card
- Characters: people and animals, from astronauts and footballers to a snake or a robot. Who is the story about?
- Places: castles, cafés, caves, airports, beaches, a building site. Where does it happen?
- Things: everyday objects like an umbrella, a guitar or a phone. What is important in the story?
- Wild cards: weather, feelings, events and surprises: a storm, a car crash, fireworks, a trophy, a treasure map. What goes wrong, or right?
Ideas for using it
- Story chain. One student starts the story with one card. The next student continues with another card, and so on round the class until every card is used.
- Same cards, different stories. Every pair tells a story with the same deal. Compare at the end: how many different stories came from the same eight pictures?
- Narrative tenses. Ask for past simple for the events, past continuous for the background ("It was raining and the astronaut was playing the guitar...") and past perfect for something that happened earlier.
- Fortunately, unfortunately. Students take turns adding a sentence. Every sentence starts with Fortunately or Unfortunately, and must use a card.
- The news. Turn the deal into a news report: "Police are looking for a man who stole a birthday cake from a castle last night."
- What happened? The teacher tells a story using six of the cards, without saying which. Students listen and say which two cards were not used.
- Swap one card. Halfway through, tap one card to change it. Students have to bring the new picture into the story straight away.
- Write it up. After telling the story aloud, students write it as homework, in 100 to 150 words, with a title.
- Online lessons. Share your screen and deal. Students who are shy about speaking can type the next line of the story in the chat first.
Useful language
- Starting: Once upon a time... · One day... · It was a dark and stormy night. · A long time ago...
- Moving on: Then... · After that... · A few minutes later... · Meanwhile... · The next morning...
- The twist: Suddenly... · All of a sudden... · Without warning... · To her surprise...
- Good and bad luck: Fortunately... · Unfortunately... · Luckily... · Just then...
- Ending: In the end... · Finally... · And from that day on... · They never saw the snake again.
Tip: put a few of these on the board before you deal, so every student has a way to start.
Tips
- Set a target. "Use at least five cards" works well for lower levels. Higher levels can try to use all eight.
- Set a time limit. Two minutes of planning and two minutes of telling keeps the energy up.
- Classic mode. Switch to Classic above the cards for eight completely random pictures with no labels. It's harder, and great for stronger groups.
- Anything goes. A picture of a cave can be a real cave, a dark room or a feeling. Reward creative readings.
- Full screen. On a computer, press the full screen button (or F) for the board. Press D or Space to deal again.
More picture activities
Try the Fortune Teller for predictions, or Describe the Picture for the present continuous. For more speaking activities, browse our exercises and activities and lesson plans.