A set of specific and practical ideas for teaching language skills are presented, centered around the use of charts or "squares" of pictures that represent ideas that can be expressed in basic English. The focus is a story square, a system of pictures tied together by a plot and presented to the class as a puzzle. Squares for pronunciation can be used to help increase the ability to aurally distinguish and orally produce sounds that are often confused. Squares have been devised to contrast the present perfect, the simple past, and the "going to" forms of verbs. The story square involves three phases: discovering the story, asking simple questions based on the square, and using the square to deal with more complex structures. For lower-level classes, the plot can be streamlined to include only the essentials, and drills are chosen to meet student needs. From a basic plot, details and embellishments can be added depending on the level of the class. A square that has been used successfully with an advanced class is presented. It is concluded that the goal of the story square is to help enhance students' cooperative learning skills, to help them master basic grammar, and to improve their fluency. (SW)