It sounds like there are a lot of teachers out there that use Realidades and are looking for ways to incorporate TPRS and CI into it, beyond what the TPRS supplement suggests. I typed up this document for one such teacher, and I am sharing it here for anyone else who finds themselves in the same situation. This document is now located in The Comprehensible Classroom’s Subscriber Library

Find the document in the Administrative Items Folder » Textbook Alignment Subfolder

The most important thing to remember is that you don’t need a fancy story or a clever activity to bring Comprehensible Input into an existing unit. CI is the most natural way to use language, because all you have to do is lead a conversation with your students that involves the words or grammatical structures that you are trying to teach. Get lots of repetitions, and your students will acquire the language!!

85 replies on “CI with Realidades

  1. I have stories that work with the chapters in Realidades. A lot of them are in the “draft” stage (but many are complete) so, if you can stand my errors (and are willing to fix them, I hope), I welcome anyone to email me. I would be happy to send you what I have. Maybe you have a cool story/activity/idea for me? holly@tustinpix.com

    1. HI Holly…I would love a copy. I have been searching everywhere for ideas and realidades. I would appreciate a copy…

      gracias.

    2. I would love a copy too. Just getting back into teaching and will be doing all levels! I’d appreciate any help I can get!

    3. Hi There! I am trying to learn how to do TPRS and would appreciate copies of your stories very much! My email address is 3kayaks@gmail.com. Also, do you have any sources where I can learn how to do TPRS? And anyone out there? I have searched on youtube but did not find much at all. Perhaps I am not looking in the right locations. I would appreciate anyone’s suggestions…
      I will share in return.
      Best wishes!
      Roz

      1. Hey Roz! I am interested in anything that you have found. I also teach from Realidades and am trying to convert to TPRS. Help!

    4. Is it too late to get a copy of these? I incorporated bits and pieces of TPRS/CI last year but would like to use it a lot more this year. Thanks so much for being willing to share.

    5. Holly, I would love to see what you have. I am just starting this process and would love a little boost of creativity to get me going! Melissa

    6. I would love to have a copy of your stories. I’m looking forward to using them with my students. Thanks!

    7. Hi Holly,

      I would love a copy too. Thanks so much!

      I started doing tprs in the in the late 90s by following Blaine Ray’s and Karen Rowan’s materials and ideas. I left teaching Spanish and started teaching ESL around 2010, and next school year I’ll be back with a few classes of Spanish again. (After doing some Google searches, I see that TPRS has really blossomed. Tons of resources.) Our district currently uses Realidades between four teachers and two buildings with common assessments, etc., so I am really tied to this text series, and I’m not familiar with it at all. Thanks so much if you could send me the stories you have come up with.

      Chuck Curtice

      ccurtice@fifeschools.com

    8. Hi. I tried emailing you and your inbox is full 🙂 Youre so popular!! I am tied to Realidades and would like to use stories that go with the chapters. I teach elementary 3-6 grade and MS 7-8 and have 5 preps your stories would save me time and quite frankly I am not that creative in writing 🙂 I appreciate your offer and would love to get access to them if the offer still stands.

      Thank you so much!

      my email. is garciadayanara@gmail.com

    9. I’d love a copy as well! Please help, I’m teaching Spanish 2 and Spanish 3 with Realidades. Thanks so much! Candy

      1. Hi! I’m working with Realidades 1, 2, and 3. I would love to collaborate on anything TPRS related. There is a real need for materials among teachers with this curriculum who love TPRS but don’t know where to start. Let’s get in touch!

    10. Holly,

      I would love to have copies of your Realidades-friendly stories. I will be using the text next year but would love to supplement with stories. Can I send you a jar of homemade cherry jam as a thank you?

      Lisa

    11. Holly,

      Are you still on here? Where can I find your TPR stories?

      Thank you!
      Bryan

  2. I’ve gotten a few e-mails on this as well, and you’ve knocked it out of the park for sure! I’ve been so caught up as a “TPRS convert” recently that I’ve had difficult articulating exactly what I would do.

    I’d also add that, for those interested, readers by Mira Canion (especially “Tumba”) feature MANY vocabulary words from Realidades (level 1). They’re also short in length — perfect for SSR or sub days.

      1. None anymore. I got caught up with the storytelling and novels last year (prior to really letting any of my colleagues or admin know — oops), and though I meant to tie Realidades back in somehow, it just never happened. Luckily my department is on board with retiring Realidades (though we haven’t officially brought it to our admin yet — oops again).

    1. Sample activities–
      Compare School system (Realidades 2A) and Tumba novel- Two shifts (turnos), compare the times and the concept of two schools within a school building
-School uniforms, Patio and recreos

      Simple activities (aligned with Realidades 1A/1B):

      1. Venn diagram for Alex, David and you- Place sentences that describe each of the two characters and compare them to you. “Me gusta la clase de inglés. A Alex le gusta la clase de arte.”

      2. Make a chart and compare yourself with one other character.

      3. Figure out which classmate is most like Alex or David. Report out to the class.

      4. Write a short description about yourself. Teacher reads a couple of the descriptions as the class tries to silently guess which student is being described.



  3. Thank you so much for this it will be so helpful as I plan my first year of teaching Spanish using Realidades. I have been looking at how to incorporate Tprs. this will be great and I will pass it on to my colleagues.

  4. Martina;
    Even on maternity leave you are the bomb!! Love these plans!!! There are two of us in our department and while I left Realidades last year for TPRS, the other teacher still uses it and I know somewhere along the way I am going to have problems with the vocabulary I teach not the same as hers. This will help me out tremendously.

    Thanks again,

    Nancy

  5. I am so glad I found this because we use Realidades at my school although I haven’t done much with the book itself. I try to focus on important structures with my classes, but this next year I am teaching a Spanish to Spanish speakers course with Realidades and my question is, how do go about using scripts and important structures if the students have a pretty good grasp on the material that would normally be difficult for non-Spanish speakers? Hopefully that makes sense…..

  6. You cannot imagine how much I wish there was a version of this for the French text, “Bien Dit”! I am brand-new to TPRS and really struggling with how to incorporate these awesome techniques into a textbook-based curriculum that my district says I HAVE to teach.

    I’ve been adapting some of the ideas the best I can – thank you for this blog! It is so helpful, even though I’m not a Spanish teacher.

    1. Bonjour Megan!

      I am making Bien Dit materials in TPRS form right now! I know that you wrote this 3 years ago, but if you are still in need of materials, I’m using that curriculum to tutor several students. Let’s talk!

      ~Johanna
      joie6088@icloud.com

  7. I would love TPRS stories that work with Realidades. Beginning to use this series this year! Thank you!

  8. I love what you have for Spanish 1. Anything with the level 2 book? Thanks for sharing all your creativity!!

  9. Would love copies of TPRS stories that go with the Realidades Level 1 and 2 textbooks for all units. Thank you so much for this. I’ve been doing pieces of Spanish commercials and music and the students absolutely love it and I love it too since they are exposed to authentic materials and vocabulary in the target language.

  10. Can I add myself to this list. Teach Realidades 1 and would love anything that you all are sharing. Thanks.

  11. I know I am late to this party but would love a copy of these TPRS stories ( I teach Realidades 1 and 2). I just started teaching and having been using the book as a guide along with other things I am supplementing, but definitely don’t see that being long term for me. I purchased a couple teacher packs of books from TPRS Publishing and definitely want to get some full class sets to incorporate next year but would love some resources to work with before then. Thanks so much! sylpkennedy@gmail.com

    1. Hi! I just found this website and I would be VERY appreciative to have copies of the TPRS stories. I am in my second year of teaching and really would like to get TPRS integrated into my regular instruction! Thank you so much!!!! danearedmond@gmail.com

  12. Hi! I too am a tprs convert and am tryouts no to convert my district to ci strategies. We currently use realidades and I dont see that changing anytime soon. If it’s possible I too would greatly appreciate the stories to get my tprs juices flowing for subsequent chapters. As I learn more too I would love to share! Thanking you in advance! Jessica.kunkel@badger.k12.wi.us

  13. Hi, I’m trying to get familiar w/ the TPR stories. I need for Realidades 2. I took over for a teacher who doesn’t know our PH account info so I can’t access it their website. My email is alinares604@yahoo.com

    Gracias.

  14. Hello, I’d like to get into the TPRS with my students as well. I am a second year teacher this year and would really appreciate any resources you could share!! I am about to review all the sources you have in your website, seems very helpful!! My email is vcontreras@judsonisd.org

    Thanks so much!

  15. I would love a copy of your stories! I am starting next week- and just hired into school district (ayudame!)… Realidades 2 for the first time!

  16. Hola 🙂 If it’s not too late, I would love a copy of the TPRS stories. I use Realidades 1 and I am trying to convert to using more TPRS. Muchas gracias.

  17. Would love a copy of anything you are willing to share. I feel as if I’m on my own island at times in my area. It’s great to find other, like-minded teachers!

  18. I am looking for ways to use the vocabulary/grammar structures from the Realidades textbook 1 into a CI based approach. My colleagues are not into TPRS yet but I would love to give it a try using stories that align with the book. I would like a copy of what you have. Thank you so much!

    isalazar@ecasd.us

  19. Are you still sending copies? I’d love anything you could send my way. I’m finishing my 2nd year with middle school and really want to try TPRS, but we also use Realidades. Thank you! lpasternak@candorcs.org

  20. Is anyone reading this email chain anymore? I desperately need TPRStories for use with Realidades 1, 2 and 3.

  21. Just saw this, if you still have your stories and are sharing I’d appreciate having them!

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