Fun fact: My Master's degree is in Literacy and I'm a certified Reading Specialist.
While I have absolutely NO desire to ever actually become a Reading Specialist, so much of my training has made its way into my approach as a French teacher. Supporting higher-order thinking and cross-literacy is a really important part of what I aim to do in the classroom. This particular tool, the Tableau SVA (or KWL Chart) has been extraordinarily helpful in activating prior knowledge and establishing inquiry and purpose in our units.
If I have any beef with much of what I've learned about Comprehensible Input, is that it can be a bit scattered. I understand the push to keep things fluid and therefore, fresh from one day to the next. At the same time, there are benefits to having a certain degree of predictability and cohesion within their learning.
It is for this reason I designed Afro Franco to balance Comprehensible Input and IPA-style thematic units. It's a more holistic approach that balances the linguistic gains from CI and the cross-curricular benefits of a literacy-based program.
Anyway, here is me introducing my 10th graders to a new unit on music.
Enjoy!
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