The Categories
There are six categories of drawings of Invisibles – Categories A-F:
Category A – Creating a Tableau from a Card
Category B – Creating a Tableau from an Individually Created Image
Category C – Creating a Tableau from a One Word Image
Category D – Creating a Story from a Card
Category E – Creating a Story from an Individually Created Imaged
Category F – Creating a Story from a One Word Image
Category A is the easiest to learn. Therefore, the instructor who is brand new to this work is advised to master everything in that category before moving on to the next category. Category A provides the “learning-to-ride-the-bike” phase. It is possible to spend an entire year just on Category A, especially in school programs where your time with the kids is limited to just a few hours each week.
If you already know how CI works in general and how Card Talk works specifically and if you already have a strong handle on how to build your classroom into a community and how to implement strong classroom management, it is possible to skip what is presented in Category A.
In this book, two written-out sample journeys are provided around the star to illustrate each category, for a total of 12 written-out sample journeys.
Take as much time as you feel you need in each category. Go slowly through each one. A suggested timeline for implementing each category during the year is provided in the printable download section at the end of this book.
What does “moving through a category” mean? It means creating an invisible character – an Invisible – in the Create phase and then taking it on a journey around the star. See the chart entitled “Suggested Star Sequence Curriculum Activities” at the end of this book for more on that topic.
In each category, you will learn new things about teaching using comprehensible input. Since the basic template for each journey is essentially the same, you will emerge after studying the 12 total journeys with a solid conception of what you need to do in your classroom to make this all work.
When you are ready, when you have studied each category and each of the two sample journeys in it thoroughly, you can apply in your classroom what you’ve learned about how the process works, moving from one category to the next.
You need not stress about this. Incorporate as little or as much of the ideas as you wish in as little or as much time as you wish. The transition is not difficult, but it does require heart and courage. If you are coming from a textbook background, everything you need to make a successful transition to comprehensible input instruction is provided for you in this book.