As the CL-150’s Lesson Authoring tool continues to evolve, the more possibilities you have when creating your language lessons. To help you make the most of those possibilities, we’re tapping the collective expertise and creativity of the CL-150 instructor community in a series of Lesson Authoring tips. This time, let’s cover one of our newest activities: Table.

What is the Table activity?

As you might expect, Table let’s you make… tables! You can create a table from scratch or upload a table from an Excel spreadsheet or Word doc. Formatting tools allow you to edit text color and cell color, and formatting will carry over from Excel or Word if importing.

Table allows you to blank out certain cells (or parts of cells!) that the learner must then fill in. The possibilities are vast if you’re willing to think outside the table.

Need a reminder of how to set up Table? Watch this video.

How are instructors using Table?

Grammar Practice

When you think of tables, you probably think of grammar—indeed that is the most common application of Table. Below is an example of using Table to demonstrate verb-adjective agreement. Learners must fill in the corresponding noun and adjective to match the translation provided in the first column.

Conversation Practice

Table can be used to facilitate conversation-based lessons. Ask learners to role play one of the speakers and fill in the blanks with their portion of the conversation, as seen below.

Cultural Information Practice

Table can be used to present or check comprehension of cultural information. In the example below, learners are presented with several scenarios and must fill in the table comparing culturally appropriate behavior in America vs. Iran.

Fill in the Blank

Table allows you not only to blank out certain cells, but certain words within a single cell. This flexibility can transform Table into a fill-in-the-blank activity where learners are expected to produce vocabulary or grammar patterns in the context of a sentence, as seen below.

Now we want to hear from you.

How have you used the Table activity in your lessons? Did we miss something obvious (or not so obvious) that could benefit other instructors and mentors? We’d love to hear from you: usg@transparent.com.

Need a refresher on other Lesson Authoring capabilities? Take a look at the Lesson Authoring help videos.