Tag Archives: picture talk

218: 6 Activities for Interaction and Discussion in the Language Classroom


This is the first of 3 episodes in a series on CI Strategies.  There will be an episode on Story Telling and Narrative techniques, one on Reading and Writing procedures and today’s episode on Interaction and Discussion.  In this episode, we look at six comprehensible input strategies that foster real interaction and personalized discussion. From Picture Talk to Calendar, I’ll share detailed examples, differentiation tips, and practical ways to make your classroom a space for meaningful communication, no matter your students’ proficiency level.

Topics in this Episode:

  • Students are technically “participating,” but are then truly communicating? This has led me to rethink how I define interaction in a language classroom and to find activities that center personal connection and comprehensible input.
  • Six activities from my “CI Toolbox” that promote interaction and discussion adaptable for many levels, with built-in support for engagement and growth
    • Picture Talk
    • PQA (Personalized Questions and Answers)
    • Special Person Interviews
    • Card Talk
    • Weekend Chats
    • Calendar Talk
  • Get the PDF with all of the CI Toolbox Activities: 

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52: Revisit Using Music & Doing Picture and Movie Talks


In this episode of the Summer Headspace series I revisit episode 30 with Alison Weinhold,who talks about using music in the language classroom and episode  31 with Sarah Moghtader who speaks about doing movie and picture talks.

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31: Picture and Movie Talks with Sarah Moghtader


In this episode we talk about movie and picture talks in the language classroom.  This a popular and effective Comprehensible Input (CI) procedure that uses visual story-telling.  This process helps students to acquire and reenforce vocabulary and language structures in context.  Sarah Moghtader, a French in Massachusetts,  joins me to talk us through the benefits of picture and movie talks and how to do them with students in the classroom.

Sarah speaks specifically about:

  • what picture and movie talks are
  • why picture and movie talks are a useful CI approach to teaching language
  • procedure and techniques
  • what to look for in a useful story, book, or movie clip
  • where to find these resources
  • working through a story and extension activities

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