Long time PLC members here understand the real value of the year-long online “CI conference” that this PLC provides. In an effort to let other teachers know about what we have going on here in our group, I am extending one month of free access to the PLC to any teachers who might want to […]
I got this email in support of what I am doing with the Invisibles, and would like to share it with the group: Ben, The Invisibles are fantastic! Thank you so much. I am in my first few months of using CI methods after 6 years of following the textbook and not stopping much to
I want to again put into writing my thoughts on the novels: The main thing that all level 1 CI teachers must know is that it is almost impossible to develop readers that can be read at a level that is commensurate with a level one students’ ability to read them. In other words, level 1
The only reason all those readers (incorrectly called novels – they are not novels; they are readers) are out there is that the two biggest leaders of CI up to this point, Blaine and Carol, sell them. So there has been this massive focus on novels perpetuated on teachers at the summer trainings, but is
Get the kids talking about things they created, their drawings. This reaches them at the heart level. If you try to reach them at the level of mind (you only THINK you’re a teacher), you will fail. Communicate with them and don’t worry about what in the hell – literally – you are teaching them
Q. What if I don’t have enough students to fill all of the student jobs in my classroom? A. I have concluded that only five of the jobs are truly needed. With a small class, you could do an Invisibles class with just one artist, one story writer, one quiz writer, one videographer, and one
Here is a link to a number of articles posted here on Story Listening over recent years. They are good. If you feel a need for a “pick up” in your teaching now at this hard time of year, read these articles and go ahead and do some Story Listening classes with your students this
I very much appreciate what Alisa wrote here a few years ago about nontargeted instruction, during those days when we were hammering out the NT piece here about seven years ago. It’s true. It’s what Beniko says and Krashen’s work indicates. Alisa also talks about Story Listening (Beniko Mason) here. If you are not incorporating
Here are some more thoughts about the new assessment rubric that we have been discussing lately: When I went to the ACTFL pages in my earliest efforts (2005) to break the useless and crushing-to-students ancient 100-point scale and develop a rubric that actually aligns with ACTFL and the Three Modes of Communication, knowing that my
A repost from January of 2014. It’s good to reflect on this topic from time. In 2013, Steve Krashen said (source below) that curriculum and instruction based on a grammar-based syllabus has the following problems: (a) the Natural Order problem – Krashen states that we do not know the Natural Order and even if we
Krashen on the Grammar-Based Syllabus and Non-targeted Input Read More »
Craig observes: I’m finding that classes with more native speakers can almost never make up a fun story together. Wonder why that is. It’s actually just one of my classes so far. There are only 3 or 4 non-native speakers and for the life of them they can not get interested in a story or even
This picks up on Jake’s comment: We cannot state enough that comprehension-based teaching is 100% different from other ways of teaching languages. It is different from what form-focused language teaching does. Focusing on form exercises our brains. It is conscious learning, much like memorizing vocabulary or conducting an experiment in science class or learning the
