In this short video I share a simple, flexible template for Teaching Languages: Storyboard — a tool designed to build speaking, listening, reading and writing in world language classes. Storyboards are brilliant for helping learners practise narration, boost comprehension and show creativity, and in this post I’ll walk you through practical ways to use them in your lessons.

Why storyboards work

Storyboards turn abstract grammar and narrative tasks into a visual, manageable activity. They scaffold the cognitive load involved in narrating events in the past by asking students to break stories into discrete moments. This is especially useful because narrating in the past is an advanced skill that takes lots of practice — even if students first see it at lower levels.

“I think storyboards are absolutely brilliant and they’re great for helping people learn languages.”

How to use the storyboard template

Here are quick classroom routines you can try with the storyboard template. Each activity is adaptable for different proficiency levels and languages.

• Weekend recap (beginner-intermediate): Ask students to draw six doodles that represent six things that happened over their weekend. They then caption each panel. This combines speaking, writing and quick drawing to create confidence and fluency.
• One-day narrative (intermediate-advanced): Use a multi-panel storyboard to reconstruct a single special day. Have students use the first two boxes to set the scene — where it happened, when, and what the weather was like — then use the remaining panels to show three or four sequential events from that day.
• Focused tense practice: When introducing different past tenses, assign panels that require specific tense uses (e.g. two panels in simple past for completed actions, one panel in imperfect for background, one panel for a reported speech moment).

Step-by-step classroom routine

1. Distribute the printable storyboard (six boxes works well).
2. Give a quick prompt (e.g. “Tell me about your weekend — six things”).
3. Students sketch and caption each box.
4. Pair-share: students tell their partner the story using full sentences.
5. Whole-class follow-up: a few students present their storyboard orally or as a short written paragraph.

Making it more than a worksheet: from storyboard to video

Because film is a visual medium, storyboards are also a natural planning tool for video projects. Many filmmakers storyboard scenes first and add dialogue later. You can ask students to use the storyboard as a framework for a short video: plan shots, decide what characters will say, then record. This adds a multimodal layer to language learning and motivates students to rehearse narration and dialogue.

Resources and next steps

There are lots of editable and printable storyboard templates designed for language classes. In addition to the template, my book (Building Proficiency for World Language Learners) includes print resources and over 100 high‑impact activities that pair nicely with storyboard work. Check the description box of the original video for links to digital resources and course materials.

Conclusion

Teaching Languages: Storyboard is a low-prep, high-impact strategy that helps students practise narrating in the past, build confidence across skills, and connect visual planning with speaking and writing. Use it for quick warm-ups, extended writing assignments, or as the blueprint for student-created videos. Try it this week and watch your students’ storytelling grow.