About this activity
Eight descriptions to draw without seeing the original: a large blue square with a small red circle inside it; three trees with the tallest in the middle; a house with two windows to the left of the door and one to the right; four stars in a row with the second one coloured in. The last card swaps the roles, which is the half that matters most — describing is far harder than drawing, and it is where the language shows.
How to use it in a session
Run the barrier honestly. If the student can see your page, the task collapses into copying and the language stops carrying any information. Do the receptive half first so the student hears well-formed descriptions before producing one, then swap and stay strict about not looking — a drawing that comes out wrong is the feedback, and rescuing it removes the lesson. Fifteen minutes gets through several items in both directions.
What to listen for
Listen for what goes missing when the student describes. Ordinal terms — the second one, the tallest — are the first casualty, and left and right are the second. Watch for a student who describes accurately but out of order, which produces a drawing that is wrong for reasons that are about sequencing rather than vocabulary. Notice whether they ask clarifying questions when they are drawing, because that is a repair skill and a good sign.
Carrying it home
A barrier game needs nothing but two pieces of paper and something to hold up between them. Describing a Lego build to be copied works just as well and children usually find it more interesting than shapes.
Questions
- What grades is this for?
- Second through fifth, and it scales by how complex a description you give.
- Is it free?
- Yes, all eight items play with no account.
- My student draws well and describes poorly. Is that expected?
- Very. Receptive and expressive spatial language are different skills and the expressive side lags for most students — which is why the role swap is on the board rather than optional.