Novice Picture Writing Proficiency Assessment w/ Rubric

I am trying out something new with writing in my Latin 1 classes. In previous years when I taught Latin 1, I had students doing timed writes after the first week based on readings/clipchats, but big picture, I never felt comfortable with that, because I felt like all students were doing was spitting back to me memorized sentences from the story, not necessarily any true acquired language. Since they have only had 8.5 weeks of Latin so far this year, they are "babies" when it comes to writing in the target language.

As a result, this year in my Latin 1 classes, I have been holding back on writing in Latin per se (outside of copying sentences from readings in lots of various activities or doing very guided writing. NOTE - these types of writing in the target language still have MUCH value!) so that I am not forcing output too quickly and have chosen instead rather to focusing on bathing them with sheltered vocabulary input before any true output.

After 8.5 weeks of Latin, I gave students their first written proficiency assessment based on a series of pictures which created a story (AI created the pictures). Although students had never seen the pictures before, they did mirror many of the sentences which had been in readings and also in bellringers. The difference, however, was that they had never written this many sentences before in Latin at once in one sitting and never in a sequence for the creation of a story. 

I gave them six pictures, of which there were at least 3-4 sentences which they could write for each of them. HOWEVER, I only asked them for 1-2 sentences for each picture. I debated about this:

• I knew that there would be some students who could only write one short, choppy sentence per picture.
• I also knew that there were many students who were already writing compound sentences using "and" or "because," so in writing one compound sentence, they were already demonstrating proficiency beyond the expectation.
• I was grading this on a rubric, so the minimum number of sentences was not the sole criteria but rather were they also adding details, combining details, etc in the picture?

Below is an example of one of the pictures used (I made two others):

Observations

1. Wow, I was absolutely amazed at what students wrote and how much they wrote! It was like after bathing them in so much input for the past 8.5 weeks that it overflowed similar to turning on a faucet - it all finally came out!
2. Student examples from picture 1 (in Latin and English):
1. Puer Marcus. Puer Julius. (The boy Marcus. The boy Julius).
2. Puer est Marcus. Marcus est parvus. (The boy is Marcus. Marcus is small).
3. Marcus est parvus. Julius est magnus (Marcus is small. Julius is big).
4. Marcus est parvus puer, et Julius est magnus puer. (Marcus is a small boy, and Julius is a big boy).
5. Hic est puer. Ei nomen est Marcus. Marcus est parvus et laetus puer. Hic est magnus puer. Ei nomen est Julius, et is est laetus. (This is a boy. His name is Marcus. Marcus is a small and happy boy. This is a big boy. His name is Julius, and he is happy).
3. It was so weird to see the Theory of Ordered Development occurring in their output right before my eyes. A number of students left out the Latin word "is" when trying to write "the boy is big" and instead wrote "the boy big." Before, I would have been frustrated over this and would have blamed the students, but knowing now the Theory of Ordered Development, I was like "Yay, you're proceeding along EXACTLY as you should be!"
4. Grading on a novice-low writing rubric informed by ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines made it so much easier! Because I was not focusing on errors and performance but rather on "show me what you can do and where you fall on the proficiency continuum/spectrum," this freed me greatly!
5. Yes, there were spelling and grammar errors - LOTS of them! However, when grammar errors are the norm and expectation since these students are novice learners, I only marked those errors if they impeded my understanding of their messages (even me as the "sympathetic receptor") which lowered their placement on the rubric.
6. I was surprised by how many students used vocabulary which I had not been truly targeting yet or for which I had not yet held them accountable. However, I had been using these words but usually they were glossed for bellringers, reading passages, and listening. Somehow, these students had already acquired those words, and those words were inside of them ready to come out!

I plan to do more of these kinds of writings!

New Page on my Blog - Proficiency-Based Grading

There is a new page on my blog - Proficiency-Based Grading. It is now listed at the top in the navigation bar. I hope that you will find the information useful.

Proficiency-Based Grading 

Performance vs. Proficiency

I am now in week 8 of school - I cannot believe that I have been with students for almost two months! One of my goals for this year has been to fully implement a proficiency-based grading system. While I have dabbled with the concept in the past few years, this year I wish to fully commit to it.

However, when discussing proficiency-based grading with others, I have come to realize that there are lots of different views about this, of which many are incorrect. Much of this comes down to one's understanding of performance vs. proficiency. I will admit that I did not learn about this concept until a few years ago, and now having an understanding of it has completely transformed the way I view grading. 

So allow me this excursus to distinguish between the two in a language classroom - none of the following information is mine but comes from years of learning about the topic from Martina Bex, Elicia Cardenas, and many others:

Performance

• “spit back what you know," rehearsed
• should be formative in nature when employed, informs teacher of where the knowledge gaps are and what gaps need to be filled
• focuses on errors made
• results tend to be quantifiable in nature, follows the "start from 100 and deduct errors" model
• rubric/traditional number grading

Proficiency 

• unrehearsed, real world
• "show me what you CAN do!"
• should be summative in nature
• holistic grading - "where do you fall on the rubric/continuum based on exemplars?"
• rubric (possibly based on ACTFL guidelines)

So when assessing the different modalities of a language classroom, what do formatives vs. summatives, performance vs. proficiency look like?

Reading (When assessing reading, always ask questions in commonly shared classroom language (probably English) and have students respond in that language. See Martina Bex’s blog post - “Reading Activity or Reading Assessment” for explanation).

• Performance
• formative
• answer questions about a KNOWN reading with which students are already familiar. Again, the "spit back what you know" model.
• Proficiency
• summative
• answer questions about a SIGHT reading but based on KNOWN vocabulary and structures. This will inform you as the teacher if/what students have acquired.

Listening

• Performance
• formative
• examples: which picture (A or B) am I describing?; draw what I say from a known story; which character from the story am I describing in the target language?
• Proficiency
• summative
• examples: based on KNOWN vocabulary, draw these unfamiliar sentences which I say; write the correct target language response to what I am saying.

Writing

• Performance
• formative
• example: timed write where students retell a KNOWN story in the target language, write a guided story using known vocabulary; write 4-5 sentences about what you see in the picture.
• Proficiency
• summative
• free write examples: change a detail in the story and write about it; write a sequel/prequel to the story; write about a parallel character; write a story about what you see in the picture.

Speaking

If possible, avoid speaking assessments in the first two years (due to output theory)

Grading rubric examples

• Martina Bex - Comprehensible Classroom
• Scott Benedict - Immediate Immersion

Other blogs on the topic

• Martina Bex
• Eric Richards
• Kawai Resources
• World Language Classroom

Rotating Desks

If you have not gotten a copy of Eric Richards’ book “Grafted Writing,” please do so. In it, he details numerous ways to get students writing in a very guided manner - this is great for beginning writers! One of his ideas is called “Rotating Desks.” At the 2023 CI Summit in Savannah where Eric demonstrated numerous strategies from his book, I took part in this activity, and it is a lot of fun!

Directions (his and my adaptation)

1. Choose a text (or write your own), and use it to create a projectable slide presentation.
2. Remove an element from each slide, such as vocabulary or grammar, to create “blanks.” 
3. Label the blanks with the missing element (“noun,” etc.) so the students will know what they are looking for. Students will be adding their own details based on the "blank" description.
4. After you have created the presentation, you can do the following activity in class. First, have students start with a whiteboard (write their names on their boards) at the top but small OR use a piece of paper.
5. Then project slide one on the board. Students will write down the entire text from the slide and insert the missing elements/new details. Tell them to write small because there are a number of sentences.
6. Students rotate to the next desk, but the paper/whiteboard STAYS. Teacher projects slide two. Students read the previous sentence and then add the content of slide two to the paper/whiteboard.
7. Repeat until slides are done.
8. Students return to their desks and read them.
9. MY ADAPTATION - since I am in a trailer this year and am deskless, students used whiteboards, and the whiteboards "rotated" for each slide.

Here is what I recently did with my Latin 1’s:

1. Puer est in (name of place/ store/ city).
2. Is est (size) puer.
3. Ei nomen est (name).
4. Is (name of female cartoon character/ female singer / female celebrity) videt.
5. (name from #4) est tristis, et habet (name of object / thing/ food).
6. Puer (different object / food/ thing) fert.
7. (name from #4) non puerum amat, sed (name of male cartoon character / male singer / male celebrity).   

Student example (in English):

1) A boy is in Buc-ees.

2) He is a big boy.

3) His name is Oscar.

4) He sees GloRilla.

5) GloRilla is sad and has a CrockPot.

6) The boy brings Takis.

7) GloRilla does not love the boy but Cookie Monster.

Observations

1. I love this activity on SO MANY levels! I do not know where to begin. This activity definitely has a Mad-Libs feel to it. 
2. First, I love the guided output aspect of it. Although I am telling students what to write (and those messages are hopefully 100% comprehensible for them!), there still is a degree of choice for them of what details to add.
3. This is a GREAT example of purposeful communication, because students are playing with the language in adding their own details.
4. This is a written form of TPRS/Storyasking! Instead of asking students to come up with details orally, they write them down instead.
5. Because I am asking them to write down known vocabulary and phrases, students are getting repetitions of understandable language in a context which adds to/modifies/enlarges their brain's mental representation of Latin.
6. When students get a new whiteboard, they must read what has already been written before they can move onto writing the new sentence. What they read should already be 100% comprehensible by this point, because A) the sentence frames are recycling known phrases and words from class but also B) students have already interacted with those sentences by writing them down on the whiteboard.
7. I loved hearing students laugh when they got back their original whiteboard and read what students had added!

Consider adding this to your toolbox of writing activities!

Trying Out What I Learned This Summer

I have now been back with students for 3 1/2 weeks - I started with students on Monday, August 4 after seven days of pre-planning which began on Thursday, July 24! This past summer, I attended both Comprehensible Iowa and CI Summit, and I came away from both conferences with many new strategies which I was wanting to try out in this new school year. Here are those strategies which I have begun to implement:

• Magic Cards - I learned this from AnneMarie Chase at CI Summit, and it is SUCH AN EASY way to call on students and to assess them in the moment for a formative grade - no more popsicle sticks! It simply involves a 3x5 card which students fill out in the beginning of the semester, and you keep it on hand. I have been using them to call on students for bellringers, and they are so easy to use!
• Left/Right PQA's - I learned this from Eric Richards at Comprehensible Iowa when we co-led the German workshop lab, and he then facilitated it in his German lab at CI Summit. It is a great way to implement movement in a class while asking PQAs - it definitely exemplifies purposeful communication. Last week, I just happened to be observed by an administrator when I was doing a Left/Right activity (students had to guess in Latin which was the most popular sports in certain countries by moving to X side of the classroom), and he thought it was such a great kinesthetic activity!
• Write and Discuss - Although I have known about Write and Discuss for awhile, I never really used them properly as intended. I primarily had used them the day before a timed write to prepare students, but I have since learned that a Write and Discuss is something which should be done as often as possible as a way to review that day's material. At CI Summit, I saw Andrea Schweitzer do this with a One Word Image which she had created in Spanish with our squad. I now see the power of a Write and Discuss in giving students another added layer of input as a review. Although I am now slowly implementing Write and Discusses as a review, my goal is to facilitate them as often as possible.

What is a CI strategy which you learned this summer which you wish to implement?

When a Lesson Bombs

Today, I had a lesson that just went NOWHERE with students - it totally bombed.

I felt a gamut of emotions. I felt very frustrated, because I did not feel that this class connected with me or with the lesson at all. It was also hard not to take "personally," since it was a lesson which I created - was there a personalized connection factor missing which I had neglected? However, on the other hand, when I took a step back from it all, I actually did not see it as that big of a deal, because I realized "Okay, tomorrow is a new day, and I can start over from scratch."

After 28 years of teaching, I have come to accept that daily I deal with over 100 variables known as students, and then throw in another variable which is me. There are going to be days where I am on, and students are off. There will be days where I am off, and students are on. There will be days where both students and I are off (I consider those a win-win day, because we all can start over the next day from scratch). But then there are those golden days where both students and I are on. I do not take those days for granted.

It is okay to have a lesson which bombs with students, and the sooner you accept that, the easier it is to deal with. As teachers, we want to hit homeruns every day with our students, but that is absolutely not realistic at all. Give yourself permission to strike out or to get hit by a ball! We must learn to manage our own personal expectations of ourselves. When we realize that teaching is a marathon and not a sprint, we learn to pace ourselves emotionally. Teaching is like grilling brisket - it goes low and slow.

FYI - for the next class, I quickly retooled the lesson. It worked a bit better but still did not garner the reception/engagement which I wanted. But you know what - that is okay!

The Importance of Community, part 2

This is part 2 of a two-part series. Guest contributors are Erica Peplinski, Gary DiBianca, Bess Hayles, and AnneMarie Chase.

Wow - what a response I got from my part 1 blog post on the importance of community! Many of you wrote me off-blog to talk about how much you have received from your own CI community. I am so glad to have written something which resonated with so many people! As educators, especially as CI/ADI teachers, we so need each other.

Maybe you are in a teaching situation where you are craving CI community but do not where to find it. Luckily in this 21st century age, there are TONS of options:

1. Facebook groups - While there are numerous CI Facebook groups, the primary one which I use is IFLT/TPRS/CI Teaching. If you have a question about how to do something, you can post there. Need a resource? You can do a search to see if anyone has posted something about it. There are SO many CI-folks whom I only know online and from whom I have learned a great deal through Facebook groups, so it is always really weird finally to meet them in person! If you ever attend an in-person CI/ADI conference like CI Summit, Comprehensible Iowa, Mitten CI, NTPRS, Agen, etc, these conferences also have their own Facebook groups.  
2. Blogs - When I first started going all-in with CI/ADI, my primary means of learning was through reading CI blogs. If you look at the sidebar of this blog, you will see a number of blogs (I cannot verify how recent or updated they are) which I have followed and still do. 
3. In-person CI/ADI conferences - To me, this is the best way to develop an in-person community. Being immersed in a conference setting completely dedicated to CI/ADI (CI Summit, CI Iowa, Mitten CI, CI Midwest, NTPRS, Agen) is a perfect breeding ground for community - you are already surrounded by like-minded people who desire to grow in their knowledge and usage of CI. General state and local world language conferences can only go so far with that. Those who attend these CI/ADI conferences are definitely looking for community!
4. Professional Leaning Communities (PLC) - Consider creating one of your own, whether it be in-person or virtual!

Here's my final round of guest contributors from this summer's CI Summit and their thoughts on the importance of community. These are people whom I SO highly respect and from whom I have learned a great deal about the CI classroom:

"I taught for ten years before I ever attended a teacher conference. They always felt too expensive for our budget. But I had been following the IFLT Facebook group for a while and felt so drawn to the sense of connection there that I finally made the leap and signed up for my first CI conference at an IFLT in Chattanooga. I didn’t know anyone else attending, and as a busy mom of three, I was honestly looking forward to quiet nights reading and swimming alone. On the very first morning, though, I met a forever friend in the elevator. We clicked immediately, became conference besties, and are still friends to this day. What I thought would be peaceful evenings turned into nights filled with laughter, new friends, and energizing conversations. By day two, I knew this would not be a one-time event. That conference didn’t just give me new tools for the classroom, it gave me a community. And that’s what has kept me coming back year after year.

Humans are wired to connect, literally. On a neurological level, our brains and bodies thrive on social connection. We are at our healthiest and happiest when we feel a sense of belonging. There’s something deeply human about the way we gather, whether in the same physical space or through glowing rectangles across time zones. That connection has sustained me as a CI teacher. Teaching can be isolating, but the CI/ADI community has been my reminder that we were never meant to do this alone. From quick messages that spark new lesson ideas to late-night heart-to-hearts at conferences like CI Summit, this community fuels my creativity and helps me stay grounded in purpose. We teach language to connect people, and it’s through these connections with other educators that I’ve grown, healed, and stayed inspired to keep going, even on the hard days." -Erica Peplinski

"So much of my career and classroom successes are because of the CI/ADI community of world language educators that has been cultivated and encouraged to flourish over the years. The game changer for me were the connections made from early TPRS conferences and workshops that later turned into online group support networks and now personal friendships. So yes, I tend to be super dedicated to my profession but my sustained commitment has been because of the people with whom I enjoy spending time and our shared passion for helping all students communicate. For all teachers just starting out on your journeys with ADI/CI, know that there is a strong network of educators and new friends that want to help you along your way. - Gary DiBianca 

"I could not do my job without my CI community, which includes teachers from all over the United States. Teaching French can be so lonely because I'm usually the only teacher in my building. Through conferences, I have found my people and we get together at least once a month to touch base and share ideas. It is so refreshing to meet with people who are like-minded and positive! Instead of complaining about kids, we talk solutions, wins and cheer each other on. If you don't have others to share with yet, there are blogs, Facebook groups, TikTokkers, Podcasts, etc to keep you going! Don't give up! - Bess Hayles

"They say "no man is an island," and that's especially true in our profession! Personally, it's the CI community that has taught me, problem-solved with me, inspired me, laughed with me, and commiserated with me along the way. Outside of my in-real-life colleagues, the iFLT/TPRS/CI Teaching Facebook group is my go-to space when I'm looking for advice, fresh ideas, or new resources. The digital collaboration there is fantastic—more than 14,000 generous and passionate teachers striving to teach in alignment with language acquisition principles. Teaching is a tough job, especially if you're transitioning to Comprehensible Input or you're the lone language teacher at your school. There's no need to go it alone—and the ride is so much more fun when you're connected with like-minded educators." - AnneMarie Chase

The Importance of Community, part 1

This post is part one of a two-part series. Guest contributors to this post are Erin Almeranti, Eric Richards, and Andrea Schweitzer.

A few weeks ago, I attended the CI Summit in Norman, OK. There, I worked with Squad 2 (led by Andrea Schweitzer), and although I was in a "staff member" position, I still got SO much from attending sessions, experiencing language labs, and learning from others. However, for me, the most important part of attending any in-person CI/ADI conference is the community. 

Being part of a CI/ADI community has been my lifeline these past 12 years in which I have gone all-in with CI instruction. I know that I would NOT at all be the CI implementer that I am today if it were not for my community. These people are the ones who purely by their friendship and our common passion for CI encourage me and make me want to strive to be a better ADI teacher. I have learned so much from them over the years - if you have read my blog, you will find that most (if not all) of the CI/ADI activities and strategies about which I have written come from them! I absolutely love how we share a deep common mutual respect for each other. They are the ones who keep me motivated when the novelty of the school year begins to wear off, and real life begins. They are the ones who remind me that I am not alone in the trenches. These are the people who refill my cup when it is empty. I am so thankful to have seen and hung out in person this past summer at CI Iowa and CI Summit with so many in my CI community who made me laugh and through their sheer presence encouraged me and always reminded me afresh that I am not alone as a CI teacher. 

So, I have asked many of my CI Summit team members to contribute their thoughts on the need for and the importance of being part of a CI teacher community. I received such a number of responses that I have to divide this topic into two separate posts as a result! I am so grateful to these people, because I have learned so much from them. I hope that you will enjoy reading their writeups and that it will motivate you to be a part of a CI teacher community, whether it be online or in-person!

"The CI/ADI community is like fuel for language teachers - providing encouragement, guidance, and genuine camaraderie to those who are part of it. Whether you’re the only language teacher in your district or part of a larger department, teaching languages can sometimes feel isolating. After all, it’s a very different experience from teaching subjects like math or science. There’s also the challenge of teaching what is often defined as an elective—seen as non-essential—where you must convince students to choose your class and see its value. That’s what makes the CI/ADI community so special. It not only embraces the unique nature of language teaching, but the community also offers the empathy and understanding that help fellow language teachers feel truly seen in a profession where that isn’t always the case."       - Erin Almeranti

"After 20+ years of teaching, people ask me, "Why do you still go to conferences?" The short answer is: community and the connection. Through our community of educators, I continue to learn, grow and refine in my craft. It is inspiring to see all the great work others are doing in the classroom. Also, the support and encouragement our community gives is second to none. The school year can wear us down and by the end, our cups can be empty. But being in this community of teachers continuously motivates you to be the best educator you can be. They fill your cup and help keep the fire lit. Without them, I don't know where I would be in my career." - Eric Richards

"The first few years that I was dabbling with CI, it seemed like I would always hit a wall and retreat back to my traditional textbook tools.  I was a lone language teacher with no other CI teachers that I knew of in the DFW area at that time.  Thus, whenever I went to a CI conference, if I met someone from the DFW area, I got their contact info and started creating a local PLC for myself and for those DFW teachers that wanted to join in and share ideas.  It was a great help, and many of those teachers in that group still inspire me today.  Additionally, I began sharing a hotel room at summer conferences back in 2014 with a Kansas City French teacher named Bess Hayles... after a few years of conferencing together we made the commitment after one of them to stay in touch with each other regularly throughout the school year, to hold each other accountable and to troubleshoot ideas when needed.  We've continued meeting in recent years--Elicia Cárdenas joining us as well--and having that support and "accountability" team has been tremendous.  Lastly, it's amazing how generous and inspiring the CI teacher community is at large.  You need an idea??  There's a blog post or a Facebook group or a demo video on YouTube or an upcoming webinar, etc., to give you new ideas at your fingertips.  All of that keeps you moving along the "path to ADI-teaching proficiency" and greatness.  Don't be discouraged!  Plug in to the CI community online or in your community.  Phone-a-friend when the school year "going-gets-rough" sets in. You can do this!!" - Andrea Schweitzer

Part 2 of this topic will focus on how to find CI community and will feature more writeups from others! 

My School Year is Beginning

Today was my last day of pre-planning - I had SEVEN days of in-service (yes, seven, count 'em, seven!) and still did not have enough time to get everything done that I needed to. Students return on Monday - my summer break is over. It definitely went by too fast, and it is not like I did a whole lot during that time. I attended two CI conferences: CI Iowa in mid-June, and CI Summit towards the end of July. The rest of the time I was basically a bum hanging out.

However, as unprepared as I feel for Monday (does anyone ever feel 100% prepared for the first day of school?), I will admit that I do feel a sense of joy about it. Weird, huh? As much as I am still wanting my summer break to continue and as exhausted as I am at the moment from pre-planning, I am excited to be back in the classroom. I am excited to implement so many new strategies which I learned this summer. I am excited to further my journey into purposeful communication. I am excited to meet my students (of which I probably only know about 20% of them from last year) and to see them acquire Latin this year.

I am certain that I will get no sleep on Sunday night and that on Monday morning before the 1st period bell rings, I will be an absolute nervous wreck. But after 28 years of teaching, I also know that once that bell rings and I open my mouth to welcome my students, I will instantly be back in teacher mode and ready to start. 

So for those of you who are starting school or have already started, I wish you joy too. And for those of you who do not start until Labor Day and still have a month left, enjoy your time away from students, and when my school year is finished before Memorial Day, I will think of you as you labor until mid-June haha!

Novellas - Balancing Comprehensibility and Compelling

If you want to get me talking at length about anything, mention the following to me: the Brady Bunch, Star Wars (specifically the recent season 2 of Andor [episodes 7-9 and 10-12] which is the BEST Star Wars I have ever seen) or the podcast Sold a Story. Honestly, I cannot get enough of that podcast - I have found it SO informative about the whole language/balanced literacy/three cueing system taught to beginning readers since the 1980's which essentially taught students to guess words and not to truly employ phonics/decoding when reading. If you are currently concerned about the current state of student literacy, I challenge you to learn all about this, because it will both sadden and anger you!

As I have listened (and re-listened) to this podcast, I am finding so many parallels to reading in the CI/ADI world language classroom. Allow me this excursus to detail the philosophy behind this three-cueing/balanced literacy reading methodology - I think the following video does a good job of summarizing the whole language vs. science of reading approaches to teaching reading (and I hope it does not oversimplify the bases for each):

The primary foundation of the whole language approach rests on the idea that much like learning to speak is natural, so learning to read follows the same premise, i.e., beginning learners do not need explicit instruction on how to read and to sound out words since babies do not need explicit instruction in learning to speak; because we learn to speak subconsciously from hearing/interacting with speakers, so will learners pick up reading by being read to and interacting with reading without explicit instruction. As a result, the idea is to surround students with plenty of books to read and to provide ample opportunities for them to read and to be read to. In these ways, novice readers will then develop their own reading skills. Proponents believe that teaching students to decode/sound out words is too boring and burdensome for beginning readers and will actually impede their enjoyment of what they are reading. 
 
Upon this foundation emerged the balanced literacy/three cueing system. Developed by Marie Clay in the 1960s, this methodology eschewed teaching developing readers to sound out words but rather instead to follow these "three cues" when encountering words:

1. look at the picture on the page to guess the meaning of the words/sentences.
2. look at the first letter of the words, then scan the word for other letters, and to guess a word which best fit that pattern. This is called isolated phonics, so it is incorrect to say that the whole language approach does not ever teach phonics.
3. look at the context of the sentence to guess the meaning of the words.

From this developed the "leveled readers". Replacing the decodable books, which focused on students sounding out words and had sentences which followed predictable sound patterns, leveled readers allowed for the plot to dictate which words these readers encountered, regardless of whether these words were level-appropriate. These leveled readers had plenty of pictures to aid readers in determining meaning of the sentences. Lower-level readers focused on predictable word patterns, instead of sound patterns, and had plenty of pictures from which readers could deduce meaning. The concept posited that these leveled readers were viewed as compelling for beginning learners, since they were "word-driven" instead of the boring, "sound-driven" decodable books; because these readers had compelling plots, this would cause beginning readers to want to continue reading. However, the reality was that these beginning readers were not actually reading but guessing based on pictures or context and were never truly reading the individual words - thus it gave the appearance that these students were reading. Therefore, when the readings became longer and more complex and the pictures began to disappear, many students began to flounder, because they never truly had possessed the necessary foundation needed for reading. 
 
For roughly 40 years, this is how students were taught to read. Meanwhile, scientific studies began to reveal that students actually need explicit instruction in how to read and that decoding words is an essential skill for reading development in the brain and for orthographic mapping, a key part of reading. I will end my excursus here, since I could continue. The three cueing system may be a strategy which can be implemented MUCH MUCH LATER following YEARS of reading but should not be used as the sole substitute for teaching students to read. Because of the popularity of the Sold a Story podcast and tons of parents becoming informed about this, states have begun to ban the balanced literacy/three cueing approach from schools in favor of the science of reading (which is so much more than just phonics).

 
Side note - In a communication with Martina Bex about the Sold a Story podcast, of which she is a fan, she wisely noted to me:

So interesting how it’s the SAME THING we have in world languages, with language acquisition but reversed—kids don’t need explicit instruction to acquire language but that’s the wrong idea that has been perpetuated by publishers forever.

So with all of the above in mind (I appreciate you continuing to read this), while balanced literacy and world language instruction is not a 1:1 comparison, I do see some of the same principles applied to so many novellas today: we sacrifice comprehensibility for compelling, especially at the novice-level. Because we want our students to read the target language (Krashen himself says that reading plays a key role in language acquisition), we often rush into creating plots which we think will be compelling but as a result, we overload our readings with vocabulary or structures which we think that they should know (again, we have been influenced too much by what textbooks say). It becomes an overload of language and structures for novice-level readers. These novellas should rather be marketed as intermediate level readers (notice that the terms "Spanish 1" or "German 2" are not used but rather ACTFL proficiency levels).
 
While we teachers (the experts in the room who can read the target language very quickly) may think that true novice-level readings are too boring and predictable for beginning language learners due to a focus on sheltering vocabulary, in reality we need to realize that for these students, it probably is not boring at all! Do we ever extol and laud our students by telling them that they are reading another language?! It is very possible and doable to have level-appropriate comprehensible novellas which have compelling plots, especially at the novice level. I will point to the Confidence Readers and Pablo Paloma by Adam Giedd and the Mosca series by Margarita Perez Garcia. 
 
But at the same time, I do worry that students are applying the cueing system when reading novellas:

1. if there are pictures to help guide students, do they rely solely on the pictures for meaning and not on the words in the target language?
2. if sentences are predictable in nature at the novice level, do students rely on the pattern for meaning and not ever really look at the words per se, i.e., they know the pattern in their L1 so they do not find it necessary to focus on the L2 words? Could they just be memorizing the L2 pattern of words for L1 meaning but never really knowing which specific L2 word means what in L1?

Enough of my grumpy old man tirade (I turn 55 next month!). If you have not been made aware of the balanced literacy approach taught in schools, I hope that this has enlightened you some, and I would love to hear your comments on this.

New Page on my Blog - Literacy in the World Language Classroom

While combing through my blog posts, I noticed that in the past 16 months or so, I have written many addressing literacy in the world language classroom. As a result, I have decided to gather them all into one page. You can find them in the link below, as well as on the navigator bar in my header on my main blog page. I hope that you will take a look at some of my posts on the topic!

Literacy in the World Language Classroom page 

Left/Right PQAs - Purposeful Communication

This past weekend, I attended/presented at Comprehensible Iowa in Des Moines. This was my second time attending/presenting at this local conference, and again, it did not disappoint at all! I truly love Comprehensible Iowa (you can read my post about it from last year), because the organizers put on a such a great conference - lots of very good presenters, a very communal and welcoming Midwestern atmosphere, a great social gathering following the Friday workshops, and plenty of food and snacks!

On the first day, I co-presented a 3-hour adult German language lab with Eric Richards - since Eric is a German teacher, he did most of the heavy lifting in leading it, while I led the debriefs. Because of this, I was able to participate in the language lab; I absolutely LOVE being a participant in language labs where I do not know the language, because then I can experience learning a language like one of my own students. Years ago, being in Linda Li's Mandarin Fluency Fast class was such a turning point for me in my CI/ADI journey, and Eric is a master at implementing CI/ADI as a German teacher! Every time I sit on a German session led by Eric, I learn so much from him.

One activity which Eric facilitated during this language lab was Left/Right. Eric wrote the words "links (left)" and "recht (right)" on the appropriate sides of the board and then projected a question slide similar to this one:

Our job was then to move to the proper side of the board which best reflected our answer. Although a very simple activity, Eric did SO much with this:

1. After we had moved to our sides, Eric counted us in German and then said in German, "X have brothers." Then depending on the numbers, he said, "More do have (not) a brother. Most have (not) a brother."
2. He then in German asked some of those who had brothers "Is your brother older or younger? Do you have one brother? Is your brother friendly? What is your brother's name?"
3. From then, Eric projected a new slide asking us a new question, and as previously done, he repeated the same pattern of questions.

I absolutely LOVED this activity which Eric did for so many reasons:

1. Even though the activity was in German, Eric had scaffolded the lesson already to such a degree that the necessary vocabulary had already been previewed and meaning established, so it was incredibly comprehensible for us.
2. It was a wonderful example of purposeful communication in that all of us participants were able to learn about each other nonverbally based on what side of the board we were standing and then verbally through Eric's followup questions.
3. The movement aspect made the activity quite compelling and novel, instead of the traditional "raise your hand" kind of response.
4. This activity was done throughout the 3 hours so although each time it involved a new set of questions, we became very familiar with it.
5. Eric changed up the slides so that not every one was necessarily a question, e.g., "I swim __________" (left - good, right - bad); "I have a _________" (left - iphone, right - Android phone); "I need more ________" (left - luck, right - patience). I not only loved how our responses were not always to a question but that Eric snuck in the first person singular forms. However, since the focus for us participants was not on grammar per se but rather on the activity, I do not think I even noticed that the form of the verb had changed. 
6. Although it started out as a group PQA, by Eric then asking individuals about their answers, it turned into an individual PQA. Eric did a master job at "keeping the balloon in the air" (I think this is a Ben Slavic phrase?) with questions until he felt that it was time to move on.

This is just one of the many CI/ADI strategies which I learned this past weekend at CI Iowa, and I will be blogging about them. I hope that you will consider attending CI Iowa in summer 2026 - I am already planning to attend, so I hope to see you there!

P.S. If you are attending CI Summit next month, Eric will be leading the German language study class and will be doing this activity as part of the lab. Consider taking the German class, because you are in for a treat! 

What Does Latin 2 Look Like?

Not too long ago, I was speaking with a Latin teacher about novellas, and he asked, "So what does a Latin 2 novella look like?" While a simple question, it is actually MUCH bigger than a simple answer for a number of reasons - the bigger question is what does Latin 2 look like?:

• There is what textbooks say. Textbooks are not written with second language acquisition theory in mind, because namely, they further the misinformed concept that language learning is linear in nature. Textbooks will introduce a chapter on a particular grammar concept, with the "introduced on Monday and mastered by Friday, and ready to move on to the next concept" model. Because of this, there are particular grammar concepts which we tend to think of as "higher level," because textbook have "told us" that they are, e.g., subjunctives, gerunds, gerundive, sequence of tenses, etc. Big picture, however, novice learners can use these concepts quite early - we just tend to think that they cannot and are not ready for them!
• There is what the National Latin Exam syllabus says a Latin 2 class should cover (which is basically a rehash of what grammar-translation textbooks say).
• There is what traditional grammar-translation Latin expectations say, namely that by the end of Latin 2, students should be able to translate Caesar. As a result, teachers should have covered ALL necessary grammatical concepts

HOWEVER, regardless of what textbooks and tradition may say, language levels are NOT determined by grammatical constructions, vocabulary, or cultural topics. ACTFL defines language levels by proficiency, where the primary difference between profiency levels lies in the complexity of tasks and the amount of language in which an individual can perform them. 

Most CI/ADI teachers who use ACTFL standards-based grading define the anticipated target proficiency levels for language levels as follows - ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines - 2024 :

• Level 1 - Novice Mid
• Level 2 - Novice High
• Level 3 - Intermediate Low
• Level 4 - Intermediate Low (note that level 4 is still considered Intermediate Low, since the Intermediate level is considered a much wider range of proficiency compared to the Novice levels)

Nowhere in the ACTFL proficiency descriptions is grammatical acuracy mentioned as an exemplar of a Novice or Intermediate learner. In fact, the expectation is that these learners will make LOTS of grammatical errors when communicating! ACTFL guidelines state that communicators at these levels can be understood by sympathetic receptors who are accustomed to non-native communicators.

So to return to the original question of "What does a Latin 2 novella look like?", here is what ACTFL says regarding reading proficiency at the Novice High level:

At the Novice High sublevel, readers can understand, fully and with relative ease, key words and cognates, as well as formulaic phrases across a range of highly contextualized texts. Where vocabulary has been rehearsed, they can understand predictable language and messages...

Based on this, a Latin 2 novella would continue to employ formulaic sentences and predictable language and messages (as found in previous Novice Mid readings), but the assumption is that now there is a greater foundation of vocabulary and of grammatical constructions from which to draw. Again, let me say: TOO MANY LATIN NOVELLAS ARE WRITTEN WITH A TEXTBOOK MODEL IN MIND! Latin textbook readings are not written based on ACTFL proficiency guidelines and are overly complex in terms of sentence length and too much vocabulary for the specific levels. Keep in mind that "complex" grammar structures can indeed be introduced in the novice levels - just be sure to use them over and over again so that they are formulaic and predictable in nature! This is not "dumbing down" or removing "rigor" from reading Latin - rather, this is aligning L2 reading with realistic expectations and second langauge acquisition! I love introducing "cum clauses + pluperfect subjunctive" very early in Latin 2 readings and using them over and over again so that students become very familiar with them. 

Horizontal Conjugations

A question which CI/ADI teachers often get asked is, "So what about grammar? If you do not explicitly teach grammar, then how do you get your students to learn it?" My answer has always been, "We do indeed teach grammar - it just looks different." Many times I have relied on grammar timeouts in class - drawing attention to a specific grammar point which has come up for about 15-20 seconds and then returning to back to what we were doing. In many ways, that is enough. However, sometimes students need more than that, but I have never realized how to go beyond grammar timeouts without "going all grammar" (and believe me, I LOVE grammar, so I could go on and on about the grammar point). Recently, I learned from Martina Bex about Horizontal Conjugations, and I am loving this concept!

Rather than rehash Martina's directions, here is a link to her post about horizontal conjugations.

Below is also a video which Martina made on the topic:

Recently with my Latin 1 students, I tried out a horizontal conjugation, since I was wanting to draw attention to 1st person singular, present tense verb forms. Students had already been reading these forms, but I had been using the pronoun ego (I) previously as a word clue - I had never fully explained how the verb form changes to reflect the person change to 1st person. I was also wanting to start taking away ego, since in Latin it is mainly used as emphasis and really unnecessary to use. Essentially, I need students to start paying attention to the verb endings.

Here is what I gave them:

I also began to do some horizontal conjugating with bellringers:

Observations

1. I love that students are conjugating verbs without really "conjugating" like I learned to do it! As much as I love doing conjugation charts, since they are novice language learners, students do not need to know how verbs are fully formed, from what conjugation they are, what stem-vowels are, what irregular forms of which to be aware when conjugating, etc. However, they do need to start paying attention to the verb endings. 
2. I really like the communicative aspect of this. Horizontal conjugations take place in a given context of a reading, instead of an isolated verb chart. 
3. Because I am using sentences from the reading with which they are familiar, students are re-reading understood content and gaining more input.
4. I am looking forward to doing this with verb tense changes.
5. Since Latin is an inflected language, I am wondering how to apply this to noun endings and use this as a horizontal declension?

What has been your experience with horizontal conjugations?

The Necessity of Background Language Knowledge for Reading in the CI/ADI Classroom

As I told you in an earlier blog post, I have been voraciously listening to (and re-listening to) Emily Hanford's podcast series "Sold a Story," a documentary about the shortcomings of the whole language/three-cueing approach to teaching students to read and why the science of reading matters. One of her earlier audio documentaries on the topic was "What the Words Say," and in it, Hanford discusses a reading hypothesis proposed by Wesley Hoover and Philip Gough in their article, "The Simple View of Reading" (1986). Hanford also interviews Hoover to discuss this further. Allow me this excursus to summarize this hypothesis (which has been verified in over 150 studies) - I promise that it will lead to a bigger application of what we do in our world language classrooms:

Hoover and Gough's Hypothesis

According to Hoover and Gough, learning to speak is a natural process for humans (unlike reading which is not), so by the time students begin school, they already possess a huge knowledge of spoken language in their L1. Gough writes:

“The average American 6-year-old has a mastery of English [that] would be the envy of any college graduate learning English as a second language.”

However, while these beginning students probably understand the majority of what is spoken to them, they cannot yet read those words which they already they know how to say. Hence, they must be taught those skills. In the podcast, Hoover states, 

"What happens when [students] come to school, their language comprehension is fairly high, and what they have to do is learn word recognition, and so if they're taught word recognition, they can read to the level at which they can comprehend language."

As a result, whenever we read, Gough and Hoover believed that two processes happen simultaneously in our brains for reading comprehension to occur:

• Word Recognition - the actual process of reading the individual words accurately. This happens through decoding, phonics, familiar word recognition, and sight words. 
• Language Comprehension - knowing what each individual word means (either through spoken, listening, or read). Essentially, this happens through the possession of background knowledge of vocabulary, inferring from context, and grammar. 

If one can do both of those processes when reading, then reading comprehension occurs. But if one lacks one (or both) of these processes when encountering a word, then comprehension cannot take place. For example, Marty is reading a sentence. A number of things can happen:

• Marty reads the words and possesses the language comprehension of these words. Successful reading comprehension has taken place.
• Marty cannot read the words. Language comprehension cannot occur; therefore, reading comprehension is not successful.
• Marty reads the words but does not possess the necessary language comprehension of them. Successful reading comprehension cannot fully occur. From here, Marty can infer meaning from the context of the sentence; however, this does not guarantee 100% correct overall comprehension.
• Marty cannot read the words nor possesses the necessary language comprehension even if he could have read them. Successful reading comprehension cannot occur.

Hoover explains,

“Word recognition is complex. Language comprehension is complex. But the big idea of reading is that if you can master those two complex skills, then you can master reading comprehension.”

(NOTE - as we know, poverty can greatly affect incoming students' language comprehension and background knowledge of possessed vocabulary. This is known as "word gap" - those children from lower socioeconomic families are exposed to fewer words earlier in life those from more privileged backgrounds).

So what does all of this mean in our world language CI/ADI classrooms? 

Application to the CI/ADI Classroom

We know that Krashen is a huge advocate of reading:

"Our reading ability, our ability to write in an acceptable writing style, our spelling ability, vocabulary knowledge, and our ability to handle complex syntax is the result of reading."

"The ability to speak is the result of listening [and] the result of reading." 

When students arrive in our classrooms in level 1, most likely they posses absolutely LITTLE to NO language comprehension of our L2 language. So on day 1, if we were to give students something to read in L2, students might be able to read/decode the words, but those words would have absolutely no meaning if there was not any L2 language comprehension involved. 

Hence, there is a great need for us as teachers to deliver comprehensible input to our students for them to acquire words to build up their L2 language comprehension. The traditional "introduce words on Monday, vocab quiz on Friday" does not build up true L2 language comprehension - that is considered conscious/active learning (see Eric Richards' blog post on the difference between language learning and language acquisition - it is GOLD!) and does not lead to acquisition; there is no true retention occurring (I call this the "cram and flush syndrome" - students cram for a quiz, take it and get an A, and then flush it from their minds).

When our students build up their language comprehension and then we introduce reading to them based on that, then the language acquisition process can continue. If we have students read material for which they do not possess the necessary language comprehension, then essentially we have set our students up for failure, because they are unable to understand and process what they are reading. However, this is based on the assumption that our students can engage in word recognition first.

Regardless of what side you are on in the Reading Wars, there are some truths about teaching students to read which can be applied to our CI/ADI classrooms.

Voces Digital Conference/Central States Conference

A confession: as a teacher, I feel like my well has run dry. There are only two more months left in my school year (last day of school for students is Wednesday, May 21), and if you are like me, you are dragging and are SO ready for things to be over. As a CI/ADI teacher, I hate this feeling, because I so want to continue giving understandable and engaging input to my students, but the reality is, I am TIRED and feel like I have nothing left to give.

This is why meaningful (note that word!) professional development is SO important for us as CI/ADI teachers, and recently I took part in two PDs, one online and one in-person. I attended the first evening's slate of sessions for Voces Digital's digital Spring into Reading conference, and then later that weekend I attended the Central States Conference on Teaching Foreign Language (CSCTFL). Both of these could not have come at a better time for me!!

I was only able to attend the first evening of the Voces Digital online conference, but there were some really good speakers that evening. Below are the videos from that evening:

•  "Free Voluntary Reading: Free to Read but Still Accountable?" by Margarita Perez Garcia
• "Engaging Students with Reading" by Eric Richards
• "Zero Prep Reading for True Beginners" by Mike Peto

All of the presentations were great! Although I had never seen Mike Peto present before, I had always heard great things about him - he did not disappoint!

Later that weekend, I attended my first Central States conference in Kansas City. This conference is nicknamed "The Friendly Conference," and indeed it was - much like my experience at Comprehensible Iowa last summer, Midwesterners indeed are friendly and hospitable! I had always heard that Central States always had a good slate of CI/ADI presentations, and indeed - it seemed like each session time had a CI/ADI presentation, and I did my best to attend as many as I could. Shout out to Mira Canion, Caitlyn McKinney, Valentina Correa, Carrie Toth, Jeremy Jordan, and Eric Richards for their sessions - you gave me so much to think about and to use in my curriculum. Mostly what I enjoyed was catching up/hanging out with other CI/ADI folks - people whom I primarily only see at conferences but we share such a deep mutual respect for each other. I needed definitely needed to be with folks all of whom we were on the same page pedagogically with CI/ADI. If you have the chance next year, attend Central States! I am seriously considering now submitting a proposal for next year's conference in Chicago.

Are you in need of some CI/ADI professional development? Check out my post on CI/ADI offerings for 2025, and get your cup refilled!