4. Why T.P.R.S. Works…
The most important element of a successful TPR Storytelling
program is the awareness that our focus is our students, not
our book or even our story. A good relationship with students
is the foundation of a TPRS program. The number one, most
important element in any TPRS program is the quantity and
quality of the unconditional love, positive feedback, pats on
the back and hearty applause provided to the students by the
teacher.
From: http://www.tprstories.com/what-is-tprs.htm
The most important element of a successful TPR Storytelling
program is the awareness that our focus is our students, not
our book or even our story. A good relationship with students
is the foundation of a TPRS program. The number one, most
important element in any TPRS program is the quantity and
quality of the unconditional love, positive feedback, pats on
the back and hearty applause provided to the students by the
teacher.
From: http://www.tprstories.com/what-is-tprs.htm
6. La chica está contenta.
(The girl is happy)
Está contenta porque
tiene tres teléfonos.
(She is happy because she has three phones)
She was REALLY
happy about
holding those
old cell phones
7. Pero hay un chico malo.
(But there is a bad boy)
Le robo los teléfonos
a la chica.
(He steals the girl’s phones)
Scaredya? Hertoo!!!
8. ¡El chico escapa!
(The boy escapes)
La chica está triste y llora.
(The girl is sad and she cries)
El chico está muy
contento con
los teléfonos.
(He is very happy with the phones)
The End
9. So,hereishowwelearnthevocabforourstories…
We have two classes per week.
On the first day we learn our 3 vocabulary words:
está contento (s/he is happy)
está triste (s/he is sad)
llora (s/he cries)
To learn them, we play games, ask questions, do activities….
Anything to
repeat repeat repeat
the words.
10. This is how we learned the phrase
está cansado (s/he is tired).
Celeste corre (runs), and then I ask her if she’s cansada.
11. The more times you hear a word
(IN CONTEXT)
the more you internalize it.
On the second day we put our vocab words into an interactive story:
Most of the non-vocab words in the story
are Spanish-English cognates
(like roba for robs).
If any word is unknown, I clarify it and/or
write it on the board.
Clarity and understanding are KEY.
Then we act out the story,
and sometimes students retell it
by themselves.
12. This is a student retelling a story about
Super Grillo (Super Cricket)
Our words were toma (drinks) and leche (milk).
The cricket drinks chocolate milk and turns into Super Grillo!!!!!
13. Here’s a comic strip that we drew
together after telling the story.
Super Grillo drank strawberry milk this time.
14. Assessments
• Informal assessments:
– Students do hand motions correlating with vocab
– Students recognize pictures correlated with vocab.
– Student respond to yes/no vocab. questions
– Students respond to either/or questions using vocab
– Students respond to open ended questions using vocab
– Students help create a story using vocab
– Students retell vocab stories in English
15. Assessments
• Formal assessments:
– Students do weekly worksheets using
vocab.
– Students do worksheets, written activities,
and speaking activities during centers
– Students are expected to know and use
75% of taught vocab.
The following list shows the vocab we cover
between K and 3rd
grades.
16. 1. hola
2. buenos días
3. buenas tardes
4. buenas noches
5. ¿cómo estás?
6. bien
7. mal
8. así así
9. hay
10. se llama
11. él
12. ella
13. el pez
14. el gato
15. grande
16. pequeño
17. come
18. gordo
19. flaco
20. la mano
21. los dedos de la
mano
22. los dedos del pie
23. uno
24. dos
25. tres
26. cuatro
27. cinco
28. seis
29. siete
30. ocho
31. nueve
32. diez
33. el lunes
34. el martes
35. el miércoles
36. el jueves
37. el viernes
38. el sábado
39. el domingo
40. está contento
41. está triste
42. llora
43. el pan
44. el pollo
45. la manzana
46. está cansado
47. está enfermo
48. duerme
49. los ojos
50. las orejas
51. la boca
52. la nariz
53. abre
54. cierra
55. tiene
56. tiene hambre
57. la naranja
58. el queso
59. once
60. doce
61. trece
62. catorce
63. quince
64. dieciséis
65. diecisiete
66. dieciocho
67. diecinueve
68. veinte
69. el pie
70. los dedos del pie
71. toma
72. la leche
73. el agua
74. la cabeza
75. el brazo
76. la pierna
77. la familia
78. la madre
79. el padre
80. el hermano
81. perro
82. va a
83. viene
84. la escuela
85. escribe
86. el libro
87. lee
88. el hijo
89. la hija
90. el tío
91. la tía
92. el abuelo
93. la abuela
94. camina
95. corre
96. el lápiz
17. LearningCenters
Our TPRS learning is supplemented by
Learning Centers.
Learning Centers are stations that focus a
small group of about 4 students on a
specific language task such as reading,
writing, listening, or speaking.
18. OurCenters
Reading Center – We sit on the carpet and pick a book at
our level to read and find words we know.
Writing Center – We copy stories that use vocab (from
TPRS) we have studied. Then we illustrate them.
Vocabulary Center – We match cards with our vocab
words with correlating illustrations.
Listening Center – We listen to level appropriate books
that have repeating verbs.
Speaking Center – We read directions to our partner in
Spanish. All the directions use vocab we’ve learned.
Our partner tries to draw the things we are telling them.
Free Center – We get to choose an activity. Sometimes we
even play Guess Who® in Spanish.
21. ¡Fiestas hispanas!(Hispanic Holidays)
This year we celebrated…
el Día de Independencia de México
Día de los Muertos
La navidad
Día de los Reyes
and
Cinco de Mayo
A couple of our favorites were…
22. Día de los Muertos
Sugar Skulls
Tissue Paper
Flowers
23. el Día de los Reyes Magos
(Three Kings Day)
The night before Three Kings Day
children in Puerto
Rico stuff
their shoes with hay
for the Three Kings’ camels.
The camels eat the hay
and leave the kids a present!
We used shredded paper…but it was just as fun.
24. The Three Kings
couldn’t make it.
So, kids took turns
hiding the present.
Also, because of the recession
the Kings couldn’t swing
a present for all 301
of my students.
So, those who got
the present in their shoe
turned it in for a prize.
26. Kindergarten colored flowers for mom.
1st
grade made tissue paper flowers.
2nd
and 3rd
grades made crazy parrot
marracas.
And the 3rd
/4th
grade split class made…
28. Committee Work
I worked on the committee for
Latin Heritage and African-American Heritage Months
For Latin Heritage month my students sang Spanish songs in our Friday assembly.
29. For African-American Heritage Month…
We scheduled weekly a presentation
for each Friday in February:
• Friday, Jan. 30th – Song/Drum After-school Club
performs Afro-Caribbean beats.
• Friday, Feb. 6th – Students present poems
by African –American authors
• Friday, Feb. 13th – Students discuss
three African-American achievers,
including our very own Dr. Keith Hampton
• Friday, Feb, 20th – Introduce winners of our
Essay and Drawing Contest.
• Friday, Feb. 27th – Dr. Hampton presents
