Maximizing Comprehensible Input With 3 High-Impact Communicative Activities

3376 

Session 

Non-language specific 

English 

Claudia Elliott  
n/a

Claudia Elliott  
n/a

World language teachers often seek lessons that maximize comprehensible input through meaningful communication while also building strong classroom connections. At the same time, many teachers experience planning fatigue and burnout as they try to balance effectiveness with sustainability. This session models three high-impact, student-centered communicative activities: personal questions, Star Student interviews, and Write & Discuss. These activities support language acquisition while boosting student engagement. Participants will experience how each activity independently promotes comprehension and communication, and how using the 3 together creates an effective instructional sequence that emphasizes sustained input, purposeful interaction, and modeled output. The session explores how the activities can be adapted across proficiency levels and instructional contexts, making them easy to integrate to any curriculum or unit, or to use independently when needed.

By the end of the session, participants will be able to identify how personal questions, Star Student interviews, and Write & Discuss maximize comprehensible input, foster meaningful communication, and build strong classroom connections.

By the end of the session, participants will be able to create purposeful questions that move conversations forward, maintain comprehension, and lead naturally into co-constructing a text through Write & Discuss.

By the end of the session, participants will be able to adjust the sequence of the three activities and integrate them into any unit or curriculum, making modifications for different proficiency levels and instructional contexts.

Participants will actively engage by experiencing each activity during a modeled lesson. The session will include participation in personal questions, observation and interaction during a Star Student interview, and collaborative involvement in a Write & Discuss activity.

Following the modeling, participants will reflect on the experience and analyze the instructional purpose of each activity. Guided discussion and collaborative planning will support attendees in identifying how the activities can be implemented individually or combined, as well as how to adjust language, pacing, and expectations to maintain meaningful communication across levels and contexts.

Wondering how to design a comprehensible, communicative lesson that fits different instructional contexts? This session goes beyond the how by showing it IN ACTION. Participants will see a LIVE sequence of three high-impact communicative activities that maximize input, build connections, and support sustainable planning across levels.

All Audiences

Curriculum and Instruction