Student-Created Images: Bringing Storytelling to Life with Ben Slavic's STAR Approach

What happens when students become the creators of the characters and stories that drive language acquisition? In this episode of The CI Renaissance Podcast, hosts Greg Schwab and Sean Lawler explore Student-Created Images (formerly known as the Invisibles), a powerful classroom strategy developed by Ben Slavic as part of his STAR approach to comprehensible input instruction. Greg walks through his classroom process, from having students invent and illustrate original characters to selecting those characters, building stories collaboratively, and extending the experience through acting, artwork, video retells, and reading. Along the way, Greg and Sean discuss how to incorporate high-frequency language naturally, engage reluctant students, create meaningful classroom jobs, and provide repeated comprehensible input without relying on mechanical drills. The conversation also explores the challenges of applying acquisition-based instruction to heritage language learners and advanced Spanish classes. Whether you're new to comprehensible input or looking to refine your storytelling practice, this episode offers practical strategies for creating engaging, student-centered language lessons.