Why are One Word Images so engaging? One reason is that they are based on group creativity. Another is that the students understand everything—we have spoken sufficiently slowly about a simple topic that was built together from one word in English. A third reason that One Word Images are so engaging is that there is
This is from Ben Lev – Hi again Ben – Please help me think about the 100 min block: 1) attendance and check in – 5′ 2) daily routine, poem, singing, warm ups, movement – 30’ – 40’ 3) vocab and grammar direct instruction 20 ‘ What should I call this? Textbook time? 4) break
If our rate of speech is painfully slow to us, then it is at the right speed for our students. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true. If we feel comfortable with how fast we are talking, then it is painful for our students. There can be two to four seconds of silence between each short
At first the One Word Image is amorphous and undefined. All we know is that somewhere in this space in front of the room, a cat or a car or a slice of pizza exists. The fun is in learning its particular details. The students will bring the object to life by responding to a
At first the One Word Image is amorphous and undefined. All we know is that somewhere in this space in front of the room, a corn dog or a chicken or a star sh exists. The fun is in learning its particular details. The students will bring the object to life by responding to a
Once we have used L1 to decide what we want to build, it is time to use only L2. We bring the object to life in the target language. The first step in bringing the object to life is to say the word for the object, which we have written on the board in L1
I am concerned that the term “One Word Image” is being redefined, on other CI sites and at workshops. This eight-part series from A Natural Approach to Stories defines the term in the way I originally intended: We can begin to collect compelling portraits via a shared classroom strategy called One Word Images. The class
It’s a good idea to revisit the research from time to time. lest we forget our guiding star and go off in the wrong direction. The two articles below summarize the best research I’ve personally ever read, after a lifetime of snooping around, although I will give Lev Vygotsky some major props in influencing my
Q. Do you really believe that you can get all the kids in the group to buy into the story? Aren’t some kids just lazy? A. I strenuously object to the idea that some kids are lazy. Rather, they are blocked. All people want is to be accepted into a community. But the community has
Ben Lev in CA has been a member of the group for at least the past ten years. He is making a job change and needs some feedback from us: Hi Ben, hope you’re well – I need some support – I just quit my high school job to get out of a toxic environment
There is an incredible group of articles on Yahoo! News this week on teaching (see below). The basic point is that teaching is not only one of the top, if not the top, stress-inducing jobs in the country. In my view it is certainly the most dysfunctional. I didn’t say “in the world” above because
