How to Plan a CI Lesson in 10 Minutes (Even if You’ve Never Done CI Before)

Simple, reusable lesson skeleton with one input activity and one check.

Let’s play a quick round of “CI Teacher Panic Bingo.”

• You forgot to lesson plan last night.
• You woke up late.
• The Wi-Fi at school is out.
• You opened the textbook and felt a physical wave of regret.
• A student just walked in wearing a banana costume, and you’re like, “Sure. That tracks.”

If any of those felt a little too real, welcome. You’re in the right place. Because today we’re going to destroy the myth that Comprehensible Input (CI) takes hours to plan. Spoiler: It doesn’t. You can plan a powerful, proficiency-boosting CI lesson in just 10 minutes—even if you’ve never used CI before in your life.

Sound too good to be true? Good. Keep reading.

Why CI Lesson Planning Feels Scary (But Isn’t)

Let’s get one thing out of the way: you don’t need to be a CI Jedi Master to start using comprehension-based strategies. A lot of teachers stall out because they think CI requires fancy props, endless prep, and a drama minor.

What you really need?

• One meaningful message
• One way to deliver it
• One way to check it

That’s it. And yes, I mean it. If you can talk, gesture wildly, and laugh at your own bad drawings on the whiteboard, you’ve already got 90% of what you need to succeed.

Step 1: Start with One Simple Input Source

You don’t need to write a 3-act novella in the target language. Start small.

Pick one input source—the thing your lesson will revolve around. This could be:

• A silly picture
• A 10-second video or GIF
• A One-Verb Story
• A sentence like “Paco has a pet zebra”

Let’s take that last one. “Paco has a pet zebra.” That’s your seed. From that one sentence, you can build questions like:

• “Does Paco have a zebra or a llama?”
• “Is the zebra big or small?”
• “Where does Paco take the zebra?”
• “Does the zebra like tacos?”

By stretching the input with circling and comprehension questions, you’ve just delivered meaningful repetition with zero prep. Your students are hearing and understanding language—without even realizing it.

Pro Tip: Don’t underestimate the power of a random picture. I once did a 45-minute lesson around an image of a chicken riding a skateboard. The engagement was off the charts.

Step 2: Use Circling to Deliver CI on the Fly

Circling is your new best friend. Think of it as the language-teaching equivalent of "lather, rinse, repeat." You’re saying the same thing over and over in slightly different ways to build understanding and confidence.

Example:
“Paco has a zebra.”
“Does Paco have a zebra or a dog?”
“Who has a zebra? Paco or Maria?”
“Does Paco have a zebra? Yes or no?”
“What does Paco have?”

You’re reinforcing vocabulary and comprehension in real time. No worksheets needed. Just you, your voice, and your students’ confusion turning into “Ohhh I get it!”

Worried about keeping their attention? Turn it into a game. Make wrong answers ridiculously silly. ("No, Paco has a velociraptor.") The goal is engagement + repetition—and you’ve got both locked down.

Step 3: Add Comprehension Checks That Take Less Than 2 Minutes

CI isn’t just about input. You’ve also gotta make sure it’s being comprehended. But that doesn’t mean scanning bubble sheets or grading stacks of quizzes.

Try one of these low-prep, high-impact checks:

• Draw It: Ask students to sketch what they understood. Stick figures? Absolutely.
• Retell It: Partner A explains what happened while Partner B nods like a confused turtle.
• One-Sentence Summary: “Write one thing Paco’s zebra did today.”
• Thumbs Up/Down: Ask a true/false statement: “The zebra eats pizza.” Cue dramatic gasps.

What makes these checks work isn’t their complexity—it’s that they give you real-time feedback. Are they understanding? Are they lost? Should you go back and repeat “tiene” eight more times in slow motion with a dramatic pause?

You don’t need to grade these. You just need to notice. Adjust. Repeat. Move on. Easy.

Step 4: Let Go of “Themed Units” and Focus on Acquisition

Traditional language textbooks are obsessed with units. Family unit. Food unit. Clothing unit. Next up: The Phrases No One Actually Uses in Real Life unit.

But here’s the thing—your goal as a CI teacher isn’t to teach themes. It’s to provide compelling input that your students understand and acquire.

So instead of building your lesson around “chapter 4 vocab,” ask:
“What 2–3 high-frequency structures do I want them to hear and understand today?”

That’s it. You can do that with a story about a llama in Target, a bored robot at school, or a teen who just wants pizza but keeps encountering farm animals. You don’t need a theme. You need a message—and the language to support it.

Step 5: The 10-Minute CI Skeleton

Let’s break it down minute-by-minute. Here’s your no-fail, foolproof CI lesson structure for when the coffee hasn’t kicked in and the printer betrayed you.

Minute 1: Choose Your Input
Pick a picture, video, or sentence that makes you smile. If it’s weird, even better.

Minutes 2–7: Deliver CI
Talk about it slowly. Ask questions. Circle everything. Make it funny. Be dramatic. Be ridiculous. (Your students will love you for it.)

Minutes 8–10: Check for Understanding
Quick quiz. One-sentence write. Partner retell. Stick-figure comic. Just something that shows they got it.

If you finish early? Stretch the story. Add details. Let students help you build a sequel. Ask for predictions. Repeat it all in a dramatic whisper. Boom—CI magic.

Bonus Strategy: Let the Input Drive the Output

Want to supercharge your students’ growth without worksheets?

Here’s a trick: let their output grow naturally out of the input.

• Show them a picture.
• Talk about it.
• Ask them to write a sentence or two based on what you just said.

Don’t assign a five-paragraph essay on llamas. Instead, help them build from comprehension. If they can draw it, retell it, or explain it to a partner—you’re winning.

You’re Closer Than You Think

You don’t need to be perfect. You don’t need to be fluent. You don’t even need to have it all figured out. All you need is a willingness to talk simply, repeat yourself like a sitcom rerun, and make your students laugh while learning.

CI isn’t some mysterious method only “natural-born” teachers can use. It’s a flexible, joyful, and very doable approach to language teaching that works—even if you only have 10 minutes to plan.

🎯 Ready to Find Out Where You Are on the CI Journey?

Take the CI Proficiency Quiz! It’s fast, fun, and gives you personalized feedback to help you grow your comprehension-based teaching skills—whether you’re just starting or already in deep with your favorite One-Verb Story characters.

🔑 Five Key Takeaways

• You don’t need a full unit to teach with CI—just a single input source.
• Circling and repetition turn simple content into language gold.
• Quick comprehension checks (drawings, retells, true/false) keep lessons effective and fast.
• Focus on high-frequency structures and meaningful messages, not themes.
• With a 10-minute plan, you can deliver a real CI lesson—even on a day that starts with copier jams and ends with unexplainable glitter on your desk.