Step 1: Look carefully at the picture Look at every part of the picture. Notice the people, objects, actions, and place.

Step 2: Ask yourself questions about the picture Ask: What do I see? Who is in the picture? What are they doing? Where is this happening?

Step 3: Answer the questions Turn your answers into simple sentences. A simple sentence has a subject and a verb and makes complete sense.

Step 4: Join your sentences together Connect your sentences to make a short composition.

Look at this picture description:

Picture: Two children walking to a bus stand with their mother. A big yellow school bus is coming.

Questions and Answers:

• What do you see? → I see two children and their mother.
• What are they doing? → They are walking to the bus stand.
• Where is the bus going? → The bus is going to school.

Simple Sentences:

1. Two children are walking to the bus stand.
2. Their mother is with them.
3. A big yellow bus is coming.
4. The children are excited.
5. They want to catch the bus to school.

Now put the sentences together as a composition:

Early one morning, two excited children hurried along with their mother to the bus stand to catch the big yellow school bus. The children were happy because they were going to school. Their mother walked behind them. The big yellow bus was coming towards them.

You can also write sentences from charts and timetables.

Step 1: Read the chart carefully Look at what the rows and columns show.

Step 2: Find specific information Find the details you need in the boxes.

Step 3: Write simple sentences using the information

Worked Example

Look at this timetable:

Sentences from the timetable:

1. On Monday, Naomi has Mathematics at 8:00.
2. On Tuesday, Naomi has English at 8:00.
3. She studies different subjects each day.
4. Mathematics is her favourite subject.

• Always look at the picture or chart carefully first.
• A simple sentence has a subject and a verb.
• Use words like first, next, then, finally when you write steps.
• Check that your sentences make complete sense.
• Add full stops at the end of your sentences.

When you see any picture in your textbook or on the wall, try to say three sentences about it. Ask yourself: Who? What? Where? This will help you practice writing simple sentences from visual stimuli.

In everyday life in Tanzania, you use this skill when you write a simple story for your school composition, when you describe what you see in a photograph with your family, or when you explain what a chart shows at a community meeting. For example, if you help your mother sell fruits at the market and she asks you to write down what was sold each day, you will read the sales chart and write simple sentences like "On Monday, we sold 20 mangoes" — just like writing sentences from a timetable in class.