Bringing CI into the online classroom Part 1

Posts in this series:

1. Easily Adaptable Activities (this post!)
2. CI Responses in Zoomwww.matermonstrorum.com/comprehensible-input/bringing-ci-into-the-online-classroom-part-2
3. Bringing CI into an empty digital class
4. Bringing CI into a traditional online Latin class
5. Using Brain Breaks Online

Introduction

As of now, I've spent one semester in a fully online teaching setting. I teach for two school settings, one in a course that is already written, with tests and course materials already created, and one in a course that I have full control over. I will be pulling from both experiences for these posts. They are not meant to compare and contrast the two types of schools (or my thoughts on them), but rather to provide support for online language teachers who may find themselves in either situation. :)

Easily Adaptable Activities for the online CI Classroom

Dictation/Dictatio/Dictado
A dictation is a very easily adaptable activity for an online classroom! To quote one of my students, they aren't very "fun", but they are a great way to get in repetitions of words in a meaningful way, introduce vocabulary, grammar, stories, etc. and they are low prep and low energy. 

Resource: Blank Dictation Template

This resource link also includes links to other discussions on dictations!

In my physical classroom I would use a dictation to introduce a new unit with new vocab, review a story before a test, and practice with grammar structure. In my online classroom I use them in the same way in my Spanish class and for my Latin class (which this semester was an already formed course in a traditional way), I used it as a support for the cultural topics, vocabulary, and grammar. For example, if the author being discussed in the unit was Pliny the Elder, I'd take a passage from their coursework and adapt it for a dictation using the vocabulary and grammar present. Students would then go into that lesson with a set of notes and a video to help them work through it. ​

Ben Slavic's Site

Read and Discuss

Reading and Discuss​

There are many options for reading and discussing. I've linked two underneath the image and I will discuss each briefly before sharing what I did in this class. 
Reading Option A
This is an activity I learned from Ben Slavic that, like dictations, really allow a full breakdown of a text. It is not something I do with every story and I often adapt the instructions to fit the needs of my class. 

I won't share the full details of Ben Slavic's work, but you can join his site to read them in full and find a whole host of other activities. What I will share is that this activity includes elements of performative reading (by the teacher), choral translation, and discussion of vocabulary, grammar, and culture. Much like a dictation, it isn't always the most fun activity, but many students appreciate this take on things, particularly those who need extra support and those who want all the little details. 

Read and Discuss
This is really a broader term that encompasses everything from Reading Option A to Read, Discuss, and Draw. The blog I shared details a simpler version of this activity where you take things at the students' pace and include circling in the target language to ensure understanding. I really like this version as is is easily adapted to things like: level of class, needs of students in the room (or zoom), and likes and dislikes when it comes to various activities. 

What I did
I've done read and discuss in both my fully CI Spanish class and my mixed Latin class this semester repeatedly. The image above is from a Latin class. I've included a brief comparison below of what I did in each class. 

​Latin Class

• Prep: adapt Classical author's text; provide vocab notes; add questions on the screen for each paragraph.
  
• Begin with the basics of text (quid, quis, ubi, difficultas)
• Read text out loud to student(s)
• Give student(s) time to mark the text for words they don't know. 
• Go over and circle words they don't know; add notes:
  • Latin to English
  • Images
• Translate any words/phrases/sentences that are giving trouble to student(s)
• Answer the questions on the screen.
  • verbally
  • have student mark answers in the text.

Spanish Class

• Prep: Write/adapt story to level of students, add images to each slide for story, add vocabulary notes to each slide as needed.
  
• Read text aloud to student(s)​
• Ask students for words they don't know
• Go over these words + any notes on their use
• Circle new words in Spanish with:
  • ​yes/no questions
  • either or question
  • open questions
• ​Translate sentences into English.
• Ask comprehension questions about the passage in Spanish. 

Conclusion

As I started with, this is just the beginning. There is a lot more that I've learned and continue to learn about teaching online. In this blog post, I included two strategies I visit time and again in these classes, but I'd love to share more. Here is a quick list of other activities I use regularly. Let me know in the comments if you'd like a breakdown of how I do them!

• Movie short/Movie talk (whatever you call it :) )
• Picture Discussion
• Vocabulary matching (word to image)
• Calendar Talk/Weather Talk
• Free Write (others may call/use timed write)