Become a more confident language teacher.
I think that authentic resources are overrated. This is coming from the lady that just presented at ACTFL on the importance of authentic resources, or ‘ #authres ‘, and how to use them in novice language classes… kind of a contradiction? How important are authentic resources in a language curriculum? #authres are important, but they…
Read MoreWhile preparing for the Yup’ik Immersion training last week, I spent a lot of time scouring the internet for elementary TPRS resources and suggestions. Michel Baker’s blog and Carol Gaab’s article (linked in the YI post) were most helpful. According to their writing, one common obstacle for elementary TPRS teachers is managing student responses during…
Read MoreEarlier this week, I was catching up on some blog reading and noticed a pattern…MovieTalk, MovieTalk, MovieTalk! Laurie Clarcq wrote about using MovieTalk with Despereaux on her Embedded Reading blog. Kristin Duncan wrote about using MovieTalk with The Paperman on TPRS Teacher. Bryan Kandel wrote about trying out MovieTalk for the first time with a…
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QUESTION: Do you teach a native language or support teachers that do?? Our state language association is looking for ways to better support our Alaska Native language teachers and would love to hear what you are doing that has been successful and what challenges you have faced/are facing! Please leave your thoughts in the comments! Thanks!! –Martina, 01/2016 This past…
Read MoreConfused about how to use a story script to ASK a story? Or what “asking” a story even means?? What is a story script? All of the scripts that I write are modeled after the format developed by Anne Matava. Some portions of the story are required, and some portions are variables. The variables are…
Read MoreFriday night’s Skype with Dr. Hastings was fantastic! The only thing that could have made it better would be had my husband been available to watch the baby so that I didn’t have to chase him around the room while we Skyped. Because of the little scoundrel, I couldn’t take notes, so I’m just going…
Read MoreMichele has been blogging about Movie Talk for quite a few months now, and she introduced it to our First Fridays group in November with a brief demo using a Cheburashka cartoon. I won’t write about the background of the method, but there is quite a bit on Michele’s blog, and here is an article…
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Foldables are nothing new to most K-12 educators. It seems that a foldable craze hits districts or buildings every few years. Made popular by Dinah Zike, I currently blame Pinterest for the resurgence of the things. Our school has had several trainings on them recently. Thankfully, they have all been department-specific and I have yet…
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Kristin Dahl recently modeled for us a One Word Image at our First Fridays PLC. Kristin learned it from Ben Slavic, who has blogged about it quite a bit. A One Word Image is a version of TPRS, and the teacher uses all of the same techniques. However, it is more about the character than…
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Since I blog about TPRS so much, I should probably stop and explain what it is. Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling, or TPRS, is a teaching method developed by Blaine Ray. It’s a method that focuses on providing students with lots of comprehensible input through the co-construction of stories, and Blaine developed it out…
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