Clines, also known as spectrums, are a good way to teach English Language Learners various vocabulary “gradations.”

We’re starting a unit on “Descriptions” this week in my ELL Beginner’s class, and here’s slideshow I put together in a few minutes to teach “boiling, hot, cool, cold, freezing” using both climate and food/beverages. The “answer key” is on the last slide.

After I do some quick initial teaching of the words, I place them on sticky notes around the world. I show an image, and then students go to the area they think it represents. Later, student write the words using a diagonal line (see lots of examples here).

Here’s both the PowerPoint itself, and the embedded Slideshare version: