Try this instead: Running Dictation Plan B

Running Dictation is a favorite activity among world language teachers, conceived by Jason Fritze and first taught to me by Michele Whaley. I first shared it on The Comprehensible Classroom blog here in 2011. In this high-energy game, students take turns with teammates to run to a poster, memorize a statement, and race back to…

Read More

Use Map Talk to foster interculturality

Map Talk is a content-based, communicative language teaching strategy that our guest author, Benjamin Tinsley, has been using with his classes and empowering other teachers to try in their own instructional contexts. During a Map Talk activity, the class views a map while the teacher describes what is visible and leads a conversation that combines…

Read More

150+ free resources for language teachers

Find hundreds of free resources for your language classes in our Subscriber Library. Since 2010, The Comprehensible Classroom has been sharing ready-to-go, acquisition-focused activities that you can use in your classes. Now, you can access ALL of them in one location! What materials are available? In the Administrative Items folder, find this parent letter that…

Read More

No-prep lesson plan with news articles

The end of the year is tough, I know! Students are simultaneously exhausted and buzzing with energy… thank you, sun! You need lesson plans that teach themselves, and I’ve got one plan that will do just that. Try out this no-prep, hands-off “3 – 2 – 1” lesson for current events… or any texts! 3-2-1…

Read More

Unpacking Common Ground by Hawkins & Henshaw

Pre-ordered copies of the anticipated text Common Ground: Second Language Acquisition Theory Goes to the Classroom by Florencia G. Henshaw and Maris D. Hawkins arrived in mailboxes around North America this past week. Both authors have been active contributors to the community of language educators through online and real-world forums, and so it is no…

Read More

¡Adiós, jametz! FREE Passover story in Spanish

In the Northern Hemisphere, it is SPRING! And with spring comes celebrations. Many of you reading this blog teach languages that are spoken in countries with deep religious roots, and those roots are super visible in March and April! Easter, Passover, Equinox, and Ramadan are all holidays and celebrations that occur in the Spring. It…

Read More

Should language teachers teach vocabulary?

Many of us learned language through an explicit instructional model, in which words and concepts were taught, practiced, and memorized. When I began teaching, I started out with that same explicit model of instruction: working from a textbook curriculum that laid out thematic vocabulary to memorize and grammar concepts to practice and master in each chapter.…

Read More