TPRS:
Demo, Review and
Variety for You
Craig Sheehy
WFLTA – Conference 2015
A Little Theory
Demo
Circling / Adding Details
Verifying details / Parallel characters
Planning a Story
Reading and Discussing
TPRS and Grading
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1
1
1
1
Make every
minute
COUNT!!!
1
Fluency and TPRS®
We focus
on
FLUENCY
1
In order to successfully
teach FLUENCY
the teacher must:
1. Focus on the context of the
input (acquisition)
2. Not focus on the language
(learning)
3. Allow students to pick up the
language subconsciously
1
TPRS…
Uses lessons each day
to practice structure
because
Structure is the key
to fluency.
4
What is TPRS®?
(Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling
TPRS® is a method of secondlanguage teaching that uses
highly-interactive stories to
provide comprehensible input
and create an atmosphere of
scaffolded immersion in the
classroom.
1
Three Keys to
TPRS/Fluency/Mastery
Comprehensible
Repetitive
Interesting
2
Key 1: Comprehensible
Use words students know
Speak slowly
Edit speech for students
SKILLS
Point and pause
Gestures
Visuals
2
Key 2: Repetition
SKILLS
Repetitive questions (circling)
Continually review/start over (recycle)
Add details
-Multiple locations
-Multiple characters
-Parallel characters
Verify details
2
2
Key 2: Repetition
✓ at any point, stop, go
Recycle the
Story
back, and review the
story
✓ re-circle the recycled
parts
✓ continue story when
you get back to where
you left off
2
Key 3: Interest
“Playing the game”
surprise details
Personalization
Positive exaggeration
Dramatization
Dialogue
Events
3
4 best results:
1. Teach to the Eyes
✓Teach STUDENTS not
curriculum
✓Look in individual student’s
eyes when teaching
✓Hold students accountable
consistently
✓Always check for understanding
3
Check for mastery
2. Story Retells
Have students frequently retell
the story to their partners
– After the story ends
– Have superstar retell story to
class
– Limit the time to two or
three minutes
4
3. Shelter Vocabulary
Shelter Vocabulary
50 = 60%
1000=85%
Limit vocabulary to a few
hundred words per year
(using structures)
4
4. Don’t Shelter Grammar
Don’t shelter grammar
Use whatever grammar
is necessary to
express meaning that
leads to fluency.
4
Is TPRS repetitive?
Barb Watson's study
Data – TPRS Teacher
5
Data – Control Group Teacher
5
Brain Processing Model
E
N
SIGHT
LONG-TERM
STORAGE
V
I
TOUCH
R
O
SHORT
TERM
MEMORY
HEARING
WORKING
MEMORY
N
SMELL
M
E
N
T
TASTE
PERCEPTUAL
REGISTER
OUT
OUT
OUT
Sousa, David A.. How the Brain Learns.
Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press, 2006.
12 Brain Rules
1. Exercise boosts brain power.
2. The human brain evolved, too.
3. Every brain is wired differently.
4. We don't pay attention to boring things.
5. Repeat to remember.
6. Remember to repeat.
7. Sleep well, think well.
8. Stressed brains don't learn the same way.
9. Stimulate more of the senses.
10. Vision trumps all other senses.
11. Male and female brains are different.
12. We are powerful and natural explorers.
5
DEMO
TPRS® PROCEDURES
5
I’m going to tell a story
Show me you understand
in the following
three ways
5
1. I’ll make a statement
You respond
Interesting
statement
•“OOOHHH”
Something
bad
•“Oh no, oh no”
5
2. I’ll ask a question
where you know the
answer.
You answer the question with a
choral response.
5
3. I’ll ask a question
where you don’t know
the answer.
1. You guess in the target language
2. Or with proper nouns
3. Try to surprise me
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Students can respond in 3 ways
Strong
Response
Weak
Response
Silence
1. Students didn’t
understand
2. Students weren’t
focused on
procedures
3. Students weren’t
engaged
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Solution for weak responses
1. You must be aware of weak
responses.
2. You must be sure they
understand.
3. Do it again until the
students respond correctly.
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L I ST E N
L ook at me
I nvolve yourself in the story
S how me when you get it or don’t get
it
T une back in (when your mind
wanders aimlessly)
E spañol only
N o talking over me
Es (it) gab (gave)
ein Mädchen
There was a girl
Sie war
She was
Sie heißt
She was named
Was?
What?
Wer?
Who?
Wie?
How?
Es gab ein Mädchen
There was a girl
Was? -What?
Sie war - She was
Wer? - Who?
Sie hatte - She had
Wo? - Where?
kein - not one
oder - or
und - and
nicht - not
ein Hühnchen - A chicken
Wie? - How?
Warum? - Why?
Es gab ein Mädchen
There was a girl
Sie war
She was
Was? -What?
Wer? - Who?
Sie wollte zwei Nasen haben
She wanted to have 2 noses
Sie ist nach … gegangen
She went to …
Sie hatte
She had
Wo? - Where?
Wie? - How?
kein
not one
mit
with
oder
or
und
and
Warum? - Why?
Circling
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Circling:
the heart
of
TPRS®
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Technique 1: Circling
the art of asking repetitive questions
✓ start with a statement
statement should include structure
✓ ask yes/no question where answer is YES
repeat answer: “yes, ...”
✓ ask either/or question
repeat answer: “that’s correct, ...”
✓ ask yes/no question where answer is NO
repeat answer: “no, ...”
restate correct statement
✓ ask question-word question
For beginners point to the question word.
✓ Verify the detail.
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Circling
Y
E/O
N
W
1.
Positive statement
2.
? with a yes answer
3.
Either/or questions
4.
? with a no answer
5.
Restate the negative and restate the positive
6.
Who?
7.
What? Where? When? How? Why?
How much?, etc…
8.
Positive statement
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List of necessary skills
 Translation


 Gestures
 Visuals
Circling

Random order
Adding

 Short explanation
 Using surprise details
 From students
 Of my own
A detail
 Personalizing the story

Asking the class

Asking the actor
 Comprehension checks

Asking an expert
 Using dialogue
 Point and pause

Telling a secret
 Exaggerating positive characteristics
 Pop up grammar
 Space between words

A location
 Limiting vocabulary

A parallel character

A character
 Using cognates


Verifying details

With the actor

With the class
Recycling
 Coaching actors to overact
 Embellishing the story with back story
(events)
 From the past
 From the present
 From the future
Variety is the Spice of Routine
Amazing classes – Craig Sheehy
You’ve finished the story…
NOW WHAT?
The story
 There was a handsome guy named Luke N Forluff.
 He wanted to have a girlfriend.
 He went to Chicks R Us and found her.
 Her name was Anita Mann.
 She liked him and he was very happy.
A Little Variety –
LISTENING AFTER THE STORY
 Listening
1. Profe el Director Loco – retell the story and the kids
have to act it out in a certain style (Cowboy, angry Italian,
kung fu movie)
2.
Charade retell (I tell it, they charade it)
3.
Silly Profe - retell wrong, students correct
4.
Artista Magnífico – Drawing - 1 box, 4 boxes, 6 boxes
5.
La secretaria perfecta - Dictation
6.
Rewind - Retell backwards
7.
Retell with no questions – Just the Facts baby
8.
Fact or Crap - Verdad o tontería
9.
Dream, Dream, Dream – I retell, they dream (visualize)
10. Sleep Talker - retell with ?s with eyes closed.
The story
 There was a handsome guy named Luke N Forluff.
 He wanted to have a girlfriend.
 He went to Chicks R Us and found her.
 Her name was Anita Mann.
 She liked him and he was very happy.
A Little Variety – Amazing classes
 Speaking/writing
1. Around the world in 80 words (word, sentence, paper)
2. Retell charades (I charade, they retell)
3. Telling (adding or subtracting detail, redux, addux)
4. Sing off – Rap off – Story off
5. What do you remember?
6. Unnatural selection retell
7. Repeat last sentence and add the next sentence
8. Balderdash
9. Talk to the hand – Habla a la mano (Canta a la mano)
10.Tell to wall/walking in a circle
The story
 There was a handsome guy named Luke N Forluff.
 He wanted to have a girlfriend.
 He went to Chicks R Us and found her.
 Her name was Anita Mann.
 She liked him and he was very happy.
A Little Variety – Amazing classes
 Reading
1. Speed Dating/Wagon wheel – Inner Circle pairs with
outer circle.
2. Silly Profe –teacher translates wrong, student corrects
3. Narcolepsy/Amnesia
4. FBI decoder - Sentences out-of-order (Textivate?)
5. Papas Calientes or Pass the Buck
6. Readers theater (dramatize)
7. SSR with dictionaries
8. Translation tennis
9. Speed translate
10. Speed read
The story
 There was a handsome guy named Luke N Forluff.
 He wanted to have a girlfriend.
 He went to Chicks R Us and found her.
 Her name was Anita Mann.
 She liked him and he was very happy.
The story
 There was a handsome guy named Luke N Forluff.
 He wanted to have a girlfriend.
 He went to Chicks R Us and found her.
 Her name was Anita Mann.
 She liked him and he was very happy.
Step One Activities
1. PQA
2. Word Associations
3. Circling with Balls
4. One Word Images
5. Word Chunk Team
6. Look & Discuss
7. Verb Slam Activity
8. Three Ring Circus
9. Visual PQA
10. Class Poem
11. Math Brakes
Step Two Activities
1. Stories
2. Super Mini Stories
3. Listen and Draw
4. Sentence Frames
5. Movie Talk
-Student version
-Reverse
-Screenshots
-LnD,PQA,Retell,MM
6. Special Chair
7. Star of the Week
8. Two Truths and a Lie
9. Animal Parade
Step 3 Activities
1. Textivate
2. Reading Option A
3. Read and Discuss
4. Running Dictation
5. Dictée
6. OWATS
7. Tric a Quiz
8. Free Writes
Movie talk
1. Choose a short and simple clip that is just a few minutes in duration.
2. Isolate the (2 or 3) new expressions in the clip that you want to teach.
3. In class, establish meaning of the target structures.
4. Show a few seconds of the video to the class.
5. Freeze the frame and use Look and Discuss to talk about the image.
6. Use the image to do some PQA with the students.
7. Repeat the sequence in steps 4 through 6 throughout the class.
8. Play the video without interruption.
9. Present the reading using Reading Option A.
10. Give the quiz.
1. use 1-3 minute scenes
2. play the scene first (gives you a break and lets the kids see it).
3. explain to the kids that MT is not for entertainment, but to develop listening
comprehension.
4. don’t depend on dialogue; pretend you are telling a person who can’t see what’s in
the picture.”