Highly Effective Lesson Planning Strategies for Comprehensible Input Language Classrooms

It's time to embrace the power of comprehensible input and take your lesson planning to the next level!

In this article, we'll dive deep into concrete strategies that will help you create engaging, efficient, and highly effective lessons that will have your students speaking the target language like never before. Let's go!

Focus on Conversations

One of the most powerful ways to create a comprehensible input language classroom is to focus on conversations. When you plan your lessons around real-life scenarios and engaging dialogues, you're giving your students the opportunity to immerse themselves in the language. Here's how you can do it:

1. Create lesson objectives that revolve around specific conversational topics, such as ordering food at a restaurant or discussing hobbies.
2. Develop a series of questions and prompts that guide students through the conversation, gradually increasing in complexity.
3. Encourage students to interact with each other, using the target language to express their thoughts and ideas.
4. Provide ample opportunities for students to practice their conversational skills through role-playing and group activities.

By prioritizing conversations in your lesson planning, you'll create a dynamic and interactive learning environment that promotes authentic language acquisition.

Collaborative Story-Asking

Another game-changing strategy for comprehensible input lesson planning is collaborative story-asking. This approach involves the teacher asking leading questions and the students answering to build a collaborative story. Here's how it works:

1. Choose a theme or topic for your story, such as a famous fairy tale or a current event.
2. Ask open-ended questions that guide students through the story-building process, such as "Who is the main character?" or "What problem does the character face?"
3. Encourage students to contribute their ideas and creativity to the story, using the target language to express their thoughts.
4. As the story unfolds, provide scaffolding and support to help students understand and engage with the language.

By using collaborative story-asking in your lesson planning, you'll create a fun and engaging learning experience that promotes language acquisition through active participation.

Simple Skeleton Template for Story-Asking

To streamline your lesson planning process, consider using a simple skeleton template for story-asking. This template involves establishing a character, giving them a problem, having them try to solve the problem and fail, and then finally successfully solving the problem. Here's how it works:

1. Character: Begin by introducing a character and asking students to describe them using the target language. Encourage students to provide details about the character's personality, appearance, and background.
2. Problem: Present a problem that the character must face. This could be a real-life situation or a fantasy scenario, depending on your lesson objectives.
3. Failure: Have the character attempt to solve the problem but fail. This creates tension and engages students in the story.
4. Success: Finally, have the character find a solution to the problem and successfully resolve the situation.

By using this simple skeleton template in your lesson planning, you'll create a structured and engaging learning experience that promotes language acquisition through storytelling.

Reading Longer, Personalized Texts

Reading is a powerful tool for language acquisition, and incorporating longer, personalized texts into your lesson planning can take your comprehensible input classroom to the next level. Here's how you can do it:

1. Choose texts that are relevant and interesting to your students, such as articles about their hobbies or stories set in their favorite locations.
2. Adapt the texts to the appropriate level for your students, using simpler language and providing glossaries for unfamiliar words.
3. Encourage students to engage with the texts through discussions, comprehension questions, and creative writing prompts.
4. Provide opportunities for students to share their thoughts and opinions about the texts, using the target language to express themselves.

By incorporating longer, personalized texts into your lesson planning, you'll create a rich and immersive learning experience that promotes language acquisition through reading.

Write & Discuss: Reinforcing Language Acquisition through Review

Write & Discuss is a powerful lesson component that allows you to review previously taught material while promoting language acquisition and retention. This strategy involves asking leading questions about a previously-asked story, reading text, or even a novel chapter, and having students answer in the target language. As students provide their answers, the teacher writes them on the board, and students copy them into their notebooks. Here's how you can incorporate Write & Discuss into your lesson planning:

1. Choose a previously taught lesson, such as a story, reading text, or novel chapter, that you want to review with your students.
2. Prepare a series of leading questions that guide students through the review process, focusing on key events, characters, and themes.
3. Begin the Write & Discuss session by asking the first question and encouraging students to answer in the target language.
4. As students provide their answers, write them on the board in a clear and organized manner, modeling proper spelling, grammar, and sentence structure.
5. Encourage students to copy the answers into their notebooks, providing a valuable resource for future reference and study.
6. Continue the process with additional questions, building upon the previous answers and expanding on key concepts and ideas.
7. Provide feedback and support to help students improve their language skills, such as clarifying pronunciation or explaining grammar rules.
8. Conclude the Write & Discuss session with a summary of the main points and a brief discussion of how the reviewed material connects to the larger themes and objectives of the course.

By incorporating Write & Discuss into your lesson planning, you'll create a dynamic and engaging review process that reinforces language acquisition and retention. This strategy not only helps students to remember previously taught material but also provides a valuable opportunity for them to practice their writing and speaking skills in the target language. Plus, by modeling proper language use and providing immediate feedback, you'll help your students to develop their language proficiency and confidence.

Implementing Picture Talk and Movie Talk

To keep your comprehensible input classroom fresh and engaging, consider implementing picture talk and movie talk into your lesson planning. These strategies involve using visual aids to promote language acquisition and engagement. Here's how you can do it:

1. Choose a picture or short video clip that is relevant to your lesson objectives and engaging for your students.
2. Ask open-ended questions that guide students in describing and analyzing the visual aid, using the target language to express their thoughts.
3. Encourage students to make predictions, inferences, and connections based on the visual aid, using the target language to express their ideas.
4. Provide support and scaffolding to help students understand and engage with the language.

By implementing picture talk and movie talk into your lesson planning, you'll create a dynamic and engaging learning experience that promotes language acquisition through visual aids.

Using Templates to Simplify Lesson Planning

Finally, to streamline your lesson planning process and ensure consistency across your comprehensible input classroom, consider using templates in apps like Google Slides. Here's how you can do it:

1. Create a template for each type of lesson you teach, such as story-asking, picture talk, or reading.
2. Include prompts, questions, and activities that guide students through the lesson and promote language acquisition.
3. Customize the templates for each lesson, adding relevant content and adapting to your students' needs and interests.
4. Share the templates with your students, using them as a guide for the lesson and a resource for independent practice.

By using templates to simplify your lesson planning process, you'll create a more efficient and effective learning experience that promotes language acquisition through consistency and structure.

Conclusion

Comprehensible input is a powerful tool for language acquisition, and by implementing these highly effective lesson planning strategies, you'll create a dynamic and engaging learning environment that promotes authentic language use and acquisition. From focusing on conversations and collaborative story-asking to incorporating Write & Discuss sessions and visual aids, these strategies will help you take your comprehensible input classroom to the next level.

So what are you waiting for?

Start planning your next lesson today and watch your students' language skills soar!

Key Takeaways

1. Focus on conversations: Create lessons around real-life scenarios and engaging dialogues to immerse students in the target language.
2. Use collaborative story-asking: Ask leading questions and encourage students to contribute ideas to build a story together, promoting active participation and language acquisition.
3. Implement Write & Discuss: Review previously taught material by asking leading questions, writing student answers on the board, and having students copy them in their notebooks to reinforce language acquisition and retention.
4. Incorporate visual aids: Use picture talk and movie talk to create a dynamic and engaging learning experience that promotes language acquisition through visual aids.
5. Simplify lesson planning with templates: Create templates for each type of lesson, such as story-asking or reading, to streamline the planning process and ensure consistency across the comprehensible input classroom.

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