Frequently Asked Questions
1. How to make instruction as input-based as possible while still using the majority of the textbook and its resources?
In order to teach input based classes and pay attention to the personalization part, which is basic in TPRS™, you need to be selective and picky. Your goal is to use the daily minutes of language contact your students have in the most effective way.
2. How can I incorporate TPRS/TPR in the Leccion preliminar? There appears to be quite a bit of material in the preliminary lesson yet there aren't any stories in the TPRSä manual for it.
There are not preliminary units in the TPRS™ component because we do not believe in teaching in rows or lists, we do not review all colors, numbers, etc in one week. We use them through the year. We teach what ever we need to teach and we use the vocabulary we need to use when we find it necessary or important.
SomeTPRS™ teachers, not all, have a preliminary week or two doing only TPR Total Physical Response at the classic style created by Ben Asher. The list of words can be found in:
Ray, Blaine and Contee Seely. Fluency Through TPR Storytelling. Apendix D.
McKay, Todd. TPR Storytelling Teacher's Guidebook.
Skelton, Elizabeth. Putting It Together. Teacher's Manual.
The main goal is to teach high frequency vocabulary -used everyday in the classroom- in order to create a pool of basic common words to use once you start the storytelling face.
3. What extent are you able to balance and/or use both TPRS and the textbook? Do you use the text as is and use stories as well, or can one use TPRS as the main method of instruction but supplement that with the textbook?
The TPRS™ and the textbook have different instructional goals: TPRS™ aims at fluency and acquisition, the traditional book aims at grammar and learning. I personally use the TPRS™ as my basic and complement it with the textbook. I designed the TPRS™ component following the vocabulary of the textbook; therefore the students will know the same content by the end of the year. You may complement the TPRS™ by incorporating the less frequency words from the textbook into the stories, readings, and conversations in class. You may also use other readings and some exercises or activities that are input based.
What I really recommend is to use the Avanzacómics and Lecturas para todos. The readings and the exercises are good and complement perfectly the TPRS™ component.
I follow the TPRS™ method and have been adding what I call the 4th step or complementary activities such as games, songs, plays, and videos.
4. How can we incorporate the ancillaries, i.e. the workbook, listening activities, and video program?
You need to check them and see what role they play in your goals. i.e. the listening activities must be input based... Are they complementary? Are they interesting? Are they interactive?
If the workbook is a series of filling the blanks or/and repetitive exercises that do not required thinking or active engagement, you are better of with complementary readings.
If the videos are well done, use them, but be careful, not just turn the video on and let it go for the entire duration. Stop at each scene, ask questions, and keep the students' minds active and attentive. When I present classic silent animations to my 3rd and 4th graders, 6 minutes of video are good enough for 30 minutes of total watching and talking. I stop and ask in the target language, What is going on? Who is that person? Where is s/he going? etc. Then I go to the next scene, stop, and ask more questions. So, check the videos and use them, they are also a good source of input, but you need to be present, active, and motivating.
I follow the TPRS™ method and have been adding what I call the 4th step or complementary activities such as games, songs, plays, and videos.
5. Can we use the interactive games form the McDougal Little web site?
Yes, you can. Since our program follows the vocabulary from the traditional program, all the games and exercises are compatible with our TPRS™ complement.
To visit the Mc Dougal Littell site for activities click here
6. I am using your TPRS book from Avancemos. Right now I am on block 4 by 4. I know you state to teach only 3 structures per lesson. How can I do this and finish in 18 weeks I have to teach?
One thing that can help you is thinking of a lesson as a educational unit, nor as a class period per se. If you can teach the three structures in 10 minutes, you do not need more than that. What is very important to do is not to go back to teach long lists. Give the students enough repetitions to acquire three structures and then teach the next three. Once all the vocabulary has been introduced, move to the story.
I guess that your school requires you to teach one entire level every 18 weeks. Do your best and be true to yourself at the same time that you respond to your administrator's requests.
The TPRS method teaches not to hurry, but many times we need to balance between the elements of the method and curriculum of our school or district .
7. There are 36 weeks in a school year and there are 48 minicuentos in the
book. How do you address this?
Planning with the TPRS Avancemos book
In a 40 to 55 minutes daily class, the ideal should be to have one
mini-situation per week, which means one lesson per month, which means each
level will take about two years; something that for TPRSers makes a lot of
sense. We teach less, we teach slowly, and we aim for acquisition. The students
will own the material. You play with the language, you use the language to
communicate with the students, the language is an excuse to get to know your
students and to share with them the Spanish speaking peoples’
culture.
We all have a lot to bring to the classroom, our own experiences, folk
tales, current issues, songs, plays, movies, you name it! The textbook cannot be
the curriculum guide. The textbook is a tool.
When you try to cover too much, you do not achieve real goals and
concrete objectives, you just browse through the materials. Students need time
to receive enough repetitions of the target material to be able to process it
and to send it to the long-term memory.
This is how a month could look like.
Week
1 = mini-situation 1
Day 1 = vocabulary
Day 2 = vocabulary
Day 3 = vocabulary
Day 4 = storytelling based on the
mini-situation
Day 5 = literacy = reading and playing
Week
2 = mini-situation 2
Week
3 = mini-situation 3
Week
4
Day 1 = extended reading = lesson story
Days 2 and 3 = multimedia and culturally infused
activity
Day 4 = extended writing review
Day 5 = summative assessment
