Making Every Minute Count with Comprehensible Input

Last Saturday I presented at my first PA State Modern Languages Association conference. Co-presenter Lori Belinsky (CI-based French teacher at Garnet Valley, PA Middle School) and I shared the philosophical foundations of our teaching (drawn from Krashen, Ray, Gross, Gaab, Boulanger, Hedstrom, Whaley, deMado, van Patten, among others), then gave several examples of communicative or grammar-based activities that could be reconditioned to meet four qualifications:

1. Is it comprehensible?
2. Is it compelling?
3. Is it repetitive?
4. Does it allow all students to participate at their comfort level?

Here's a link to our Prezi.

Here's the Greetings and Feelings song Lori adapted to French from Laurie Clarcq's Spanish version.

Here are some of the elements we shared for a CI unit on El día de los muertos:

Martina Bex's Strip Bingo story.

Día de los muertos animated video short on YouTube.

Tumba, by Mira Canion. (novel, Teacher’s manual, audio CD)

Here are links to learn more about Teaching with Comprehensible Input and TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling):

How can I continue building my CI skills?

If you live in the Philadelphia TriState area, please join our monthly meetings to learn and share ideas about teaching world languages through storytelling and comprehensible input. Join our FaceBook group (TriState TCI) to stay in touch, or email me through this blog to be put on our mailing list.