Session 11: One Word Image

Objective: By the end of class you will be able to…

Beginner: write sentences in French to describe a character that the class makes and write longer sentences using transition words to say more

Intermediate: write two or more sentences in French to describe a character that the class makes, using transition between sentences to say more

Advanced: write a paragraph in French to to describe a character that the class makes, using transition words to say more and organize your paragraph

Preparation

You will most likely want to assign students the task, either for homework or at the end of class during one of the lessons in this session (Session 11), of submitting a picture of one of their heroes to the class slideshow, to use in Session 12, Heroes Picture Talk.

Today, you will create a One Word Image. This is a process in which you create a character with the class, starting with one word, in the stronger shared language, to give the “species” of the character, e.g. a burrito, or a cookie, or a flower, or a pig. Most students and teachers really enjoy making these characters, and so you will most likely want to make at least two or three before moving on to the next session. There are a couple of options (and probably more that I don’t know about yet) for creating these adorable characters.

You can make a One Word Image “from scratch,” simply imagining that it is there in the classroom with you and your class, and asking questions to establish its size, color, emotional state, personality, etc. When making the character “from scratch,” most teachers have their class artist(s) draw the character as the class decides on its details.

One Word Images made in a slideshow

One Word Image made “from scratch” in class

You can also use a slideshow to create the character, as modeled in the example lesson, using slides from our Teachers Pay Teachers store (CI Liftoff). These slides, like most of our materials, are available in multiple languages. When using a slideshow, you might have your artist(s) work digitally, in the slideshow, to assemble the character from the components provided.

Aren’t they cute? Most teachers and kids really enjoy One Word Images, and maybe you are starting to see why! It gets better, too, when you get to the Narration cycle and use them in stories!

So, let’s go!

Continue to greet the students in English review expectations, etc., and share the lesson objective. If you have not yet set up your Videographer, I urge you to do so now. See the HR Manual in the Appendices for more information on setting up this and other student jobs. It is especially important to get the Videographer job working before you move into stories, in Session 16, so the sooner you start training that position, the better. You will almost certainly want to use the Videographer when you begin stories, to make recordings of the video retells. So, this is an excellent time to get the Videographer trained, if you have not yet done so.

You might make your own Reading Workshop text, use the ones in our Teachers Pay Teachers store (CI Liftoff), such as the example below, or work with a Shared Writing text from a previous lesson. Then, share the lesson objective if you have not already done so, check in with your Class Starter (and perhaps Videographer), and begin the lesson.

Show Me Your (Writing) Moves

In the example lesson, I use the beginner reading from our Teachers Pay Teachers store (CI Liftoff) for Cycle One Phase Three, shown here in French. The texts for this phase are “Personal Profiles” about contemporary people who have made an important contribution to the world. Of course, in any Reading Workshop, you can always choose to use a text that your class wrote together in a previous lesson’s Shared Writing. This might actually be the ideal option, especially for beginners, since the texts that they co-create with you will be the most comprehensible.

French Beginner Text - Personal Profile

Extension Resources - Videos

As always, the lesson notes are written in English. To indicate the words that are said in the course language (French, in this example), I will use black text. The class’s stronger shared language is written in this color.

Hand out (or project/display) the Reading Workshop text. Once the students can see the projected text, or they have it on their desks, you can proceed.

We will use the “Show Me Your (Writing) Moves” strategy with the Reading Workshop text today. The modeled lesson uses the text from our Teachers Pay Teachers store (CI Liftoff), but, as stated above, you can use any text, and this strategy will be just as effective. This strategy was first introduced in Session 9, and you can find a more detailed explanation in that session.

First, tell the class what the topic of the reading is, most likely speaking in the class’s stronger shared language, and then read it aloud in the course language and use the strategy, as modeled below.

“I will read this personal profile to you in French, about Autumn Peltier, an Indigenous Canadian activist who is fighting for the right to clean, healthy water. We will continue using this list of transition words to help us write longer sentences.” (Give the signal to start class, and have your Videographer begin filming, if you have set that job up, which I strongly suggest you do this week, if you still have not done so.)

“Writing More (put your hand under the title of the anchor chart)…et (place your hand under the word and any symbols you drew beside it to reinforce its meaning)…mais (place your hand under the word and any symbols you drew beside it to reinforce its meaning)…(adding a new term to the chart) parce que (sketch a symbol and/or add a translation in the stronger shared language (this example French term - parce que - means “because” in English) to establish meaning).”

(read the text in the course language)

(Speaking and writing in the course language) “OK, Autumn Peltier was born in Canada (point to the text that contains this information). When was she born? 2004 (point to the text that contains this information) or 2001 (hold up one finger or jot “2001” to establish meaning)? Was she born in 2004 or 2001?” (the class responds, “2004!”)

“Yes, she was born in (writing in the course language) 2004, and (point to “and” on the anchor chart) she is (point back to the text to indicate that students should refer to it)…she is…a girl? an activist?” (the class responds, “activist!” or “She is an activist!”)

(Speaking and writing in the course language) “She was born in Canada in 2004, and (point to “and” on the anchor chart) she is an activist. Is she an environmental (point back to the text to indicate that students should refer to it) activist or a political activist or a social justice activist?”

Note: I am choosing the terms “political” and “social justice” because I know that these are almost perfectmatch cognates in French. If I needed to use words that were not perfectly matched, I could sketch, write the translation, or teach a gesture for these new terms. Most likely, though, in the interest of simplicity and comprehensibility for my students, I would skip the additional choices (“political” or “social justice” and simply ask, “Is she an environmental activist, yes or no?”

(You might want to give the class a check mark on the anchor chart or other location, to award a “point” for using an item from the chart.)

Repeat with a couple of other sentences, using the term(s) on your Anchor Chart to restate the information from the Reading Workshop text. After a few minutes, move into the Guided Oral Input, with a short calendar check-in and then begin working on your One Word Image.

Quick Calendar Check-In

It is suggested to continue the routine of a brief (2-3 minutes) calendar check-in, which (1) creates an opening/transition routine and (2) continues to reinforce, daily, and in a meaningful context, important vocabulary such as the names of the months and days, weather, numbers, preferences, and activities. For guidance on how to gradually introduce new topics/vocabulary into this daily routine, please see Session Five.

Move on to make your One Word Image. Since this is the first time you will be making a character with your class, you might want to explain the process first, speaking in the class’s stronger shared language.

“We are going to make a character today, using this slideshow. We will start with one word - its “species” - and then work together, using our imaginations, to describe its details, its size, color, and its personality, etc. First, let’s look at some examples of characters, of various “species” or kinds.”

Here are the slides that are included in the sample slideshow.

“Species” Size Color Emotion(s) Personality Motivation(s)

(If you spoke in the stronger shared language to preview the activity, you might have your Class Starter give the “French” signal again, or simply take a deep breath and begin speaking in the language.)

“OK, class, look (gesture). The “species” of the character (place your hand under the word “character” on the slide). This is a pencil (point), and this is paper (point) and these are boots (point). One (hold up one finger) or two (hold up two fingers) boots?” (the class calls out, “Two!”) “Yes, there are two (hold up two fingers and/or count in the language) boots. And this is an apple (point).”

(moving on to the slides with the various “species” organized into categories (e.g. school supplies, household objects, etc.)

“Look (gesture) at this rice (point to a “species” of character on one of the slides), and this ice cream, and this apple…think (gesture)…do you want (gesture)…”

“Want means “want” (gesture). Show me “want” (gesture).

(cycling through previously-taught gestures) “Show me “look” (gesture). “Think” (gesture). Show me “prefer” (gesture). “Has” (gesture) “Likes” (gesture) Show me “loves” (gesture). Show me “want” (gesture).”

(returning to the One Word Image process) You want (gesture) the rice (point)? You want (gesture) the apple (point)? You prefer (gesture) ice cream (point)?”

Sometimes, a class can really get into the selection of the object, and it could take till the end of the year for them to choose. If this is the case in one or more of your classes, you might want to stop and assign the class job of “Profe 2” or “Teacher Helper” or “Decider.” For more information on the class jobs, including the job description for “Profe 2,” please see the HR Manual in the Appendices.

“Iit looks like we could debate this pretty much all the way till summer break. But we don’t have time for all that debating, and all this English is taking away from the French time. Basically, I don’t really have a preference; all I want to do is speak French to you! So, I need a student to decide for the class, when you are debating and can’t make a quick decision, so we can get back to French.”

Once the class has chosen the “species,” you will want to “place” the object (which is invisible/imaginary) in a specific location in the classroom. You might “place” it in the middle of the floor, on a table, on a chair, etc. It is important to “stick” the object - invisible though it is - in a specific place and return to it as if it were really there.

This is very helpful in establishing its “imaginary reality.” The “realer” you can make the experience, the more your students are likely to enjoy the process, and engage with you in the Land of French MakeBelieve, so you are not the only one heading to Weirdville on Clown Airlines!

Imagine your class has chosen to imagine a backpack. First, establish its location in the room and its “imaginary reality.” The key to doing this successfully is to direct a lot of energy towards that spot, and to encourage the students to do so as well. The more collective energy you can focus on the pretend object, before you begin working with it, by taking a minute here to really get everyone to look at it as if it were actually there, the better the lesson tends to go.

You know it seems real when your Videographer takes video of the invisible object on the floor!

“Class, look (gesture) at the backpack (gesture towards the spot with a very purposeful, meaningful gesture, as if you really see it sitting there). Think (gesture) about the backpack (model thinking and looking at the invisible backpack with some intensity). Look (gesture) at it (model looking). Think (gesture) about it (model thinking and staring at it with all your might).”

Note: You do not yet know how big the object “actually” is, so you want to have it be “definitely imaginarily there and glued to the spot” and picture it as its real-life, actual size. So, for the example of a backpack, you would begin by looking at a spot about two feet across and three feet tall, on the floor in front of you, or on a stool or table. It can get pretty “real!” See the photos from my classroom below.

After you have “planted” the object in its spot, move on to establish the details about it, beginning with color.

“Think (gesture) about the backpack (point to its spot). What color is it? Red (point to something red, perhaps an object in the room, a marker, a poster, and/or the slide)? Black (point to something black)? Green (point to something green)?

What color is the backpack? Red (point)? Blue (point)? Pink (point)? Black (point)? What color is the backpack?”

Look at its spot, with intensity as if you are simply DYING of curiosity to know what color this pretend backpack is.

Your Profe 2 can help decide, if there is a lot of debate. You might decide on more than one color, and perhaps decide if the top is blue and the bottom is red, or if the bottom is blue and the top is red, or if it is light blue or dark blue, or also ask about patterns (dots, stripes, etc.). Once the color(s) have been established, move on to the size.

This example slide is from the One Word Image slideshow available on our Teachers Pay Teachers store (CI Liftoff). It uses a cake to help scaffold comprehension of the word “size” and can be used in class to compare the size of the object you are working with.

“Class, is the backpack big (stretch it from the spot it is “attached” to) or small (shrink it down to the floor/table in the spot it is “attached” to)?”

Your Profe 2 can help decide, if there is a lot of debate. “Look (gesture) at the HUGE backpack!”

The more you can ham it up here, the better. A “trick” I have found useful is stepping back and gazing upon the invisible object with all the rapt, wondrous attention you can muster, given that it does not actually exist. The key to this trick is to “run your eyes around the outline,” meaning that you dramatically look at it from top to bottom and side to side, as you describe its prodigious size (or, if it is tiny, its adorable diminutiveness).

If the class determines that the object is very small, I like to “pick it up” and place it on a stool or desk, for “safekeeping” so I don’t step on it. A side benefit is that I can maintain as much of my dignity as possible, and not have to scurry about on the floor interacting with a tiny, microscopic piece of toast...fun though that does sound…

Just kidding; let’s face it, I’m not getting any younger or sprier.

This is an excellent time to recycle the information you already established, and check in with your artists. The artists are not only producing a very useful, super-engaging image of the character, which no one can see until the whole process is over (which builds suspense and interest) but they also give you the perfect excuse to repeat and recycle the facts of the One Word Image several times, in an unforced, natural way.

To get two repetitions for the price of one, first review the information with the class at large. In the example that follows, you will see three “tricks” to do this effortlessly. One is the “Forgetting on Purpose” trick, another is the “Well, Almost” trick, and the final trick is “Checking in with the Artist(s).”

Let’s look at the first “trick.” You begin by recycling/restating/reviewing the facts you already know, perhaps also asking questions as demonstrated in the passage below. Then, for the last fact, you make a statement that you know is not correct, and allow the class to correct you.

“Class, look (gesture) at the backpack (point to its spot). It is very big (gesture). Is it small or is it big?” (the class says, “Big!”) “Yes, it is big. It is big, and its color is green.”

In reality, the class decided that it is red. You are using the “Forgetting on Purpose” Trick here. You know it is red, but this trick helps engage your students and allows you to restate the information without it seeming contrived. Say the erroneous fact with as much certainty as you can, which heightens the illusion of the teacher forgetting. This makes the trick more engaging for your students, as they will generally feel the need to correct you and set you straight, right away. You might even begin to find them arguing back with you in the course language, without even thinking about it, because they are so wrapped up in the communication.

(The class says, “It is red!” or “Its color is red!” or perhaps simply, “NO!” You will pretend to need their corrections, in order to get more repetitions of the language.)

“Its color is NOT green?” (The class says, “It is red!”) “Its color is green? Or red?” (The class says, “Red!”) “Oh! Its color is NOT green! It is red! Not green!”

You can also try your hand at the “Well, Almost” Trick as you recycle, prior to consulting with your artists.

“Class, look (gesture) at the backpack (point). Think (gesture)…is it small, or big?” (The class says, “It is big!” In reality, the class has already determined that it was very big.)

“No, no, class, look (gesture) at the backpack (point). LOOK (gesture) at it!” Run your eyes over the object, really dramatizing the fact that it is really BIG! by “measuring” it with your hand, or walking around it and gawking up at it in stupefaction, as illustrated here.

“Is the backpack big, class?”

(The class says, “It is big!” or “YES!” If they are annoyed or frustrated, you’re doing this trick right. You are activating their emotions, which aids in memory. Plus, most students do enjoy a chance to feel like they know something you - the teacher- don’t know!)

“Class...NO! It is NOT big!” (It is your turn to pretend-act annoyed or frustrated!). “The backpack is… (dramatic pause)…VERY (gesture) big (gesture)! Is it BIG (gesture) or VERY BIG (gesture)?” (The class says, relieved that this ordeal is finally over, “VERY big!”)

Note: Since this is the first lesson in which you are using artist(s), it is a good idea to supervise them. Also, checking in with them is another clever trick to squeeze in more repetitions of the same information.

“Tricks” to get in more repetitions of the language in a natural, purposeful way are extremely valuable in comprehension-based language teaching. If you were to just simply stand and deliver the information again to recycle everything that you already discussed, that would be boring to listen to.

Since you are ostensibly checking in with the artists, the repetitions seem “real” and meaningful. Plus, walking over to nonchalantly peer at the art, and discuss it with the artists, and drop some tantalizing little hints like, “WOW, it IS big!” as you are speaking to the artists can do wonders to heighten students’ engagement with the lesson.

Because no one else has yet been allowed to see the art, students are generally quite eager to see it, and thus listen and watch this review quite attentively, hoping to see a glimpse of the art before the big reveal. You will want to speak to your artist(s) “to the side” but not quietly; this is theatre. That is to say that you are not speaking only to the artists. You want the whole class to hear. For that reason, you are advised to not turn away from the rest of the class.

My artists’ easel is set up in the front of my room, facing away from the class, as shown in the diagram below, so that the artwork is hidden, and also so I can easily stand behind the artists and still face the rest of the class as I speak to “them” so that the class can “eavesdrop” on what was never intended to be a private conversation. It just looks like it was supposed to be for the artists; benefit.

The real reason for these little check-ins, especially once I have worked with the same artists for several weeks or months, is not to train or check in with the artists. It is to gain an opportunity to repeat the same facts and information yet again, without having to pretend that there is a “reason” for all this repetition. It just makes sense that of course I would need to repeat and check in with the artists. Page 248

The “Big Reveal” of the

The Front of My Classroom

Because this is not really a private conversation, to help keep the class focused on what you are saying to the artists, you might want to try some of the “teacher positioning” tips here. First, you will want to stand so that you are partially or even fully facing the class, even if it means that you are not actually facing the artists to whom you are, ostensibly, speaking. You might need to pivot from facing the artists, as shown in the diagram below, so that you can see their work, to facing the class, so you can project your voice and “emote” to the class more easily. You might also move away “Pivoting” to face the class from the artists as you conduct this short check-in. This is a very brief conversation, despite all the words I am spilling to describe it. It is taking far longer to explain the process than it will to actually conduct the check-in. In an actual class, this will take only about one to two minutes, depending on the amount of information you have established during the previous Guided Oral Input. In many classes, the general population will become restless if you plant yourself right beside the artists’ easel and get involved in this “private” check-in with only one or two people in class, the artist(s). For this reason, you may want to begin the check-in standing right by the easel, but then move away from the artist(s), continuing to speak and gesture back to them, as you calmly meander to the other side of the room. This way, you can stand beside any students whose attention may be wandering, circulate among the rest of the class, and maintain a higher degree of visual interest, as students will need to shift their attention and their eyes’ focus from you, to the artist(s) at the easel, and back to you. This shifting eye gaze helps to re-focus students’ attention.

Moving across the room as you check in with the artist(s)

In order to ensure that you set up and maintain the expectation that even when you appear to be having a private check-in with the artist(s), students will need to continue to pay attention to the communication in the course language, you will want to make sure that you continue to enforce the Classroom Rules as you carry on this brief conversation. So, even if you are deep into restating for your artist(s) one of the finer points of exactly how gigantic this backpack is, continually monitor the rest of the class for side conversations or drifting attention, and interrupt the check-in right away, to address any disruptions.

An Important Note on Classroom Management

As in any other moment of class. during which there is language input to attend to (basically, most of class), you will want to be very mindful of stopping your instruction - even this “private” conversation - at the slightest disruption, and walk to the rules poster, and place your hand under the rule that you want to reinforce, and deploy Old Faithful (Plan A of the Classroom Management plan outlined in Chapter Four) with the exact same old predictable old same-old-same-old boring Queen Victoria Stare you have been using since day one.

If you allow students’ attention to falter during the first couple of check-ins with your artist(s), you will soon find that you have inadvertently established the expectation - not through your words, but through your lack of action - that it is actually fine for the rest of the class to take a mental vacation as you check in with the artist(s). If that happens, you will have destroyed the effectiveness of this “trick” because the class will not actually be listening to the repetitions as you review the artwork.

So, please, when you do choose to begin the “Checking in with the Artist(s) Trick,” be sure to not let up on the rest of the class, so that you can continue to use this very handy trick to gain easy, low-effort repetitions of the language from Guided Oral Input for the rest of the year, whenever you have your artist(s) working.

This trick is language teacher gold.

Guard it well, and your students’ language will grow rich off the extra repetitions!

“Old Faithful”

After you have established the color and the size of the object, you can move on to the details of its emotions and personality. If you do not have time during Guided Oral Input on the first day that you make a One Word Image, that is OK. You can create a perfectly satisfying character that your students will likely find emotionally engaging, just by establishing its color and size. The schedule for this phase (Cycle One (Description), Phase Three, Describing People Inside and Out) contains multiple lessons using this strategy, so the next time you make another character, you will probably get to more questions, because the process will be more familiar and you will not have to spend so much time setting the activity up, hiring artists, etc.

For me, the most fun part of the One Word Image process is establishing the object’s emotions and personality. However, please do not feel pressure to get through all the questions today. As stated above, you can make that your goal for subsequent lessons. As with every lesson using the Daily Instructional Framework, you will not want to linger too, too long in the Guided Oral Input, even though it can be super-tempting, especially when the discussion is interesting and students are engaged and enjoying the activity.

To establish the character’s emotion(s), you might use a graphic like the one shown here, or use the collection of faces on the slideshow. You do not actually need any kind of prepared visual to support comprehension of the emotions, however, because they are quite easy to demonstrate, using body language, gestures, and - above all - facial expression and tone of voice. Your discussion might go something like this example:

“Class, how is the backpack feeling? Happy (gesture or point to a visual)? Sad (gesture or point to a visual)? How is the backpack feeling?”

Note: By immediately giving two (or more) options that are possible answers to the question “How is it feeling,” you support students’ comprehension of the question, even if they have never before “studied” or even been exposed to the language in the question.

Even if students do not understand any of the question, the first time you ask it, when you immediately give them options (e.g. “happy, or VERY happy, sad, or nervous, or angry”) they can easily deduce what you were asking, and successfully answer the question, even if they did not understand it the first time.

Notice, too, that in the example above, the teacher asks the question, immediately gives two options (happy or sad), and then restates the question again, so that students can hear it after having been given possible answers, so that they are more likely to understand the meaning if the question the second time they hear it.

Another important note is that when you say the emotions, you should make an effort to visibly “emote” or “empathize” with the object, as if you could actually see it, and it were feeling that emotion, and you, being the sweet, sympathetic person that you are, really feel for it, and share its emotions, and show them in your facial expression, body language, and tone of voice.

In the images here, you can see two examples: one is “emoting” to a tiny object that you can “pick up” and “hold” in your hands, and the other is “emoting” to a large object, that you have to “look up to” in order to “see” its facial expression.

After you have established the emotion(s) of the object, you might recycle back through all the details you already know. This buys your artists some time to add the emotions to their drawing, and also reinforces the new information and language that you have used so far in the Guided Oral Input.

You might continue on - time permitting - to discuss the object’s personality. Again, you can simply ask the question, pointing to the words in the course language (and perhaps also in the stronger shared language, especially if the words you will use in the course language are cognates, like the French examples of “optimiste” and “pessimiste” or “timide” and “sociable” given here) and then give two (or more) options, using gestures, tone of voice, and facial expressions to reinforce the meaning of the new terms, as shown in these images.

Your discussion might go something like this:

“Emoting” to a tiny object

“Emoting” to a large object

“Class, think (gesture) about the backpack’s personality (place your hand under the word “personality” and, if it is not a cognate in your course language, write in the class’s stronger shared language and/or sketch to establish meaning).

What is the backpack’s personality (gesture/point)?

Is it optimistic (gesture and perhaps write/sketch to establish meaning) or pessimistic (gesture, write, and/or sketch)? What is the backpack’s personality (point to the word)? Optimistic (gesture/point) or pessimistic (gesture/point)?”

Once you have established one or two basic facts about its personality, if you have more time, you can add more details to any of its previously-fixed traits, use the “tricks” above to recycle through the known facts, or simply move on to the final step and then the Scaffolded Oral Review - the “Big Reveal” of the artists’ work.

A Very Important Final Step

At the end of the process, I urge you to leave about two minutes to ask, in English, why the character is feeling the way they are. For instance, if the class made a very, very sad shoe, then you would find out why the shoe is so sad.

Simply ask, with a tone of genuine curiosity and astonishment, “Why is this X so Y?” or, even better, “Why is this X so Y if it is so Z?” (For example, “Why is this hat so happy if it is small and poor?”) Make a note of the reason for the character’s emotion, perhaps at the bottom of the artwork in small, unobtrusive lettering, in case you will want to tell a story with the character later. This is a critical step in the character creation process and must not be overlooked if you intend on using the character in later stories. It is important to conduct this short discussion right at the end of the character-creation process, while the class’s emotional energy is still invested in the character. Again, you will want to speak in the stronger shared language (English for me) during this time, so that the students can tap into their creativity without the constraints that their very limited ability in the language would present.

You can also ask follow-up questions in the stronger shared language to deepen the character’s back story. For instance, if the class said that their character, a hat, is happy, despite its poverty and diminutive size, because it is popular, you might ask why it is so popular. Or if they said it is happy because it is rich, you might ask where it makes its money. These details will serve you very well when creating stories using the characters, in Cycle Two (Narration) Phase Two (Imaginative Stories).

Review the Artist(s)’ Work

Drumroll, please…TA-DA! This may be the first time that you have used class artists. If so, welcome to the Fun Zone! It is so engaging to most students and teachers to use the custom-made artwork for Scaffolded Oral Review and other activities.

Move to your Review Spot. Mine is beside the artist(s)’ easel, because when I was developing the daily instructional framework, the very first Scaffolded Oral Review strategy I used with regularity was this very one, which remains one of my favorites - revealing and discussing the drawing that the artist(s) created during the Guided Oral Input when we created the One Word Image.

You will simply turn the artist(s)’ easel around, perhaps having the class applaud the artist(s) as you do so. Applauding the artists is a good habit to get into, as it acknowledges their enormous contribution to the class’s learning, not to mention their engagement with the lessons in which there is artwork produced. Using the drawing as a visual aid, you will talk about it to the class, pointing out details and praising the artists’ talents and creativity as you explore their work.

Sometimes the artists are so creative that their drawing is slightly different - or even significantly different - from what the class established as “true”. In this case, you can simply say in sort of a mock-astonished voice in the course language, as if you are getting some super-secret inside information, “Oh, the class said the hot dog was dark purple. In reality, it is light purple!”

As you point out parts of the artwork, you can talk about whatever strikes your fancy. Speak slowly and clearly. Students will be able to follow along with a natural, uninterrupted flow of language, but you still have to keep things slow. You may ask questions and have the class say choral responses, or you may narrate without interruption. If the class is engaged without questioning (as they often are, because students tend to be captivated by hearing their ideas narrated back to them with the visual support of the artists’ work), then there is no need for questioning, unless it feels natural and engaging to do so.

After reviewing the artwork, you will continue on to Shared Writing.

A Note on Displaying the Class’s Artwork

The primary purpose for the artwork is to be used as a visual aid that supports you in recycling the entire story and the language used in it. This is so valuable. It allows your students to hear the language again in a new setting, with the added engagement that comes from finally seeing what the artists have been creating for them during the Guided Oral Input.

Once the artwork has been used for the pedagogical purpose of reviewing the language, it is time to put it to work in its second usage: as a source of classroom identity and pride in the class’s “art gallery.” This is an

area of the wall where the classes each have a space for their artwork. At the top of each class’s space on the wall, I like to put a sign with the period name and the artists’ names.

These art galleries can create a lighthearted spirit of cross-class rivalry, as the classes try to outdo each other in fantastical character creation and the artists compare their work to the other artists in other classes. I staple or tack the newest artwork on top of the previous artwork, so that the latest and greatest creation is always on display.

Later in the year, in Cycle Two (Narration), Phase Two (Imaginative Stories), when you begin to create imaginative stories with your classes, you will have a collection of a few characters in each class’s gallery space. You can simply pull the picture off the wall and use it in the story-creating process, as described in a later instructional session.

To transition to the reveal of the artwork, you do not need to explain much, if anything. You can simply walk over to the easel and whisper to the artists to go have a seat, and then turn the easel around or arrange the artwork so that the class can see it.

You will want to move on, even if the artwork is not completely finished to the artist(s)’ satisfaction. If they are not done, send them back to their seats anyway. This sends the artists a very important message: that you will need them to work quickly and efficiently enough to have the artwork ready for Scaffolded Oral Review.

Since Guided Oral Input only lasts about 12 minutes (or, in a block period, about 20 minutes total, across two “doses” of Guided Oral Input), this is a tall order indeed. In fact, it is precicely because the artist(s)’ job is so critical that I recommend hiring students for a long-term engagement, and not just allowing whoever wants to volunteer that day to take on the super-important job of preparing this key visual aid in time for you to use it in Scaffolded Oral Review.

“Class, look (gesture) at the backpack! Clap (model clapping) for Kelvin and Michelle!”

Lead the class in applauding, and encourage them to clap more, even if they are already clapping enthusiastically. “Class, clap with ENTHUSIASM!” (“Enthusiasm” is a cognate in the course languages I teach. If it is not the case for you, then you might skip this step, or establish the meaning of the word “enthusiasm” in your course language by writing, sketching, and/or teaching a gesture.)

“Look (gesture) at the backpack. It is VERY BIG (point to details in the image that denote its size).”

“Is it blue, or red, or rainbow-colored?” (the class responds, chorally, “Rainbow!”) “Yes, it is rainbow-colored. (pointing to the colors in the image as you say them) Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. Is it happy (gesture or use body language to portray “happy”) or sad (gesture or use body language to portray “sad”)?” (the class responds, chorally, “Happy!”)

You can use the “Well, Almost” trick here, too. “No, class, it is NOT happy. It is VERY HAPPY (gesture or use body language to portray “very happy”).”

Continue to discuss the details of the artwork, if time permits, before moving on to Shared Writing.

Write and Discuss with an Anchor Chart

You will set up a new Anchor Chart for this phase, Describing People Inside and Out. I recommend coming up with a more engaging, student-friendly title for the chart. In the example here, the title is “Realistic Characters.”

A good way to organize this chart is to draw the outline of a person, as shown here, to which you can add “internal” and “external” characteristics in each lesson. As with any anchor chart in Stepping Stones, the specific words or phrases on your chart will vary, depending on the actual details that your class discussed. Thus, your first period French One class might have an almost entirely-different set of specific words on their anchor chart, compared to your fifth period French One class. This is completely OK. In fact, it is more than just OK; it is, as discussed previously, how Stepping Stones is designed.

The Stepping Stones curricular framework is designed with learning objectives that are both structured (in this case, describing people’s and characters’ personality/internal traits and their external/physical characteristics) and also flexible and responsive to your students’ interests and any themes or topics that you want or need to cover.

The first day that you begin using a new chart, it is recommended to draw the chart in front of your students, beginning with a blank piece of chart paper (or a digital file) and adding to it bit by bit.

Building the anchor chart in this way, one element at a time, right there in class, as students watch and interact with you, is what makes these charts such a powerful teaching tool for literacy-focused teachers. When our brains see “something” created from “nothing,” we remember the information much more easily than if we are handed a static, already-completed list of “Adjectives to Describe People.”

Basically, you will be making just such a list, and recording it on the chart, day by day, as you discuss more characters and people. But, unlike a list of vocabulary words, an anchor chart takes shape little by little, and the specific words that you will add each day will come from a meaningful context. This sets anchor charts apart from other kinds of resources like study guides and vocabulary lists: they emerge in the moment that they are needed and they contain terms that are embedded in a meaningful communicative context, as they come from the previous Guided Oral Input and Scaffolded Oral Review.

Today, you will create the new chart and add a few words or phrases that the class used to describe their One Word Image. See the images below for details on how this might go in your class.

Make a “goal box” on the top of your With the addition of a new Anchor Chart today, you will most likely find that you only have time to write two or three sentences for Shared Writing. That is OK; you will continue to add to the chart and model writing to describe people’s internal and external traits throughout this phase.

Please see the first eight instructional sessions for more details on Write and Discuss in general. The specific lesson example given here models specifically how to use the new Anchor Chart.

Your Shared Writing might sound something like this today: Place a blank sheet of paper over, or to the side of, the anchor chart that you used in the previous phase. You might choose to leave the first anchor chart on display until the end of Cycle One (Description). This session is Cycle One Phase Three (Describing People Inside and Out), then you will teach some lessons from Cycle One Phase Four (Describing Past and Present), and then you will move to Cycle Two (Narration). So, because the previous chart was about description, and you are still working in Description, you might want to display both charts side by side. For those with limited wall space for each class, please see the Appendices for some ideas on how to manage all these charts.

On your paper, sketch a box and write/sketch the word “Goal” in the course language.

“Our goal (point to the word “goal” in the course language on your Shared Writing paper or digital file) is to describe the inside and outside of the backpack and use these words (write “internal” and “external” in the course language in the box). We will get a point every time we use one of these words, so look for ways to use them in the sentences. OK, let’s go!”

Write: The Backpack Say: THE Backpack…or The Backpack of the Class? Students: the class! Write/Say: The Backpack of the Class…the class or the French class…or OUR French class? Students: OUR French class! Write/Say: The Backpack of Our French Class Write: Our backpack is Say: Our backpack is big or VERY big? Students: VERY big! Write/Say: Our backpack is VERY big, (say “comma” in the course language) Say: Our backpack is VERY big…on the outside (point to the words on the anchor chart or goal box) or on the inside (point)? Students: Outside! Write/Say: Our backpack is VERY big, (say “comma” in the course language) on the outside. YAY! (Give the class a check mark in the goal box.) Write/Say: It is the color Say: What is its color?

Students: Rainbow! Write/Say: Our backpack is VERY big, (say “comma” in the course language) on the outside. It is the color of the rainbow. Reading/Recycling: The Backpack of Our French Class: Our backpack is VERY big, (say “comma” in the course language) on the outside. It is the color of the rainbow. Write/Say: On the Say: On the outside, or on the inside? Students call out varying responses: Inside! Angry! On the inside! Write/Say: On the INSIDE — YAY! (Give the class a check mark in the goal box.) Reading/Recycling: Our backpack is VERY big, (say “comma” in the course language) on the outside. It is the color of the rainbow. On the inside… Say: On the inside, the backpack is… Students call out varying responses: Angry! NOT HAPPY! Very angry! Write/Say: On the inside, the backpack is not happy. It feels… Say: The backpack feels happy? Students call out varying responses: No! Angry! NOT HAPPY! Very angry! Write/Say: On the inside, the backpack is not happy. It feels angry. Very angry.

Continue as time permits, accumulating points in the goal box as you go. If another word to describe the character comes up naturally as you write, you can add it to the anchor chart. You will add a few new words or phrases to the class’s anchor chart in each lesson that you work with it.

Each class will have slightly different details on their chart. This is OK; the Stepping Stones framework is designed to be flexible in the specific language. The overall learning goal is to “describe people inside and out” NOT to learn specific words.

The “Go-To” Daily Strategies

Shared Reading is not modeled in this lesson in detail, as you are simply continuing to use the “go-to” strategies explained and modeled in detail in the previous sessions.

Write Inside the Story

Write Inside the Story is explained in more detail in Session Nine.

Walk to your Quiz Spot. Students will need paper. Leave the Shared Writing text projected where students can look back at it, and have the Anchor Chart visible.

“OK, quiz time. I will read our writing. Your job is to find two sentences that could have more details in them, and then “write inside” the sentence. You copy it and then use the words/phrases on the chart to write “inside” the sentence, to add more.”

(You might model with a sentence as shown in this image.)

Give students time to work on in their writing, perhaps working with a partner, if you think that will be helpful to them. At the end of the period, you might want to debrief with students, congratulating them on what went well, and setting goals for future improvements.