5th Period REACH, TPRS

¡Hola estudiantes, padres y familias! 

So here we are, already in November!

November is a time of when school can start to become really exhausting.  Teachers have high expectations, homework volumes are high, and there is a long year ahead.  Students may be disappointed because they feel they should be more fluent in Spanish by now.  Students, don't let your energy die!  

This is a class with incredible potential for learning Spanish!  But the class also represents language abilities across the spectrum.  From fluent to never before exposed, students need to remember that we are all working towards fluency together, and that everyone has an opportunity to improve at a rate that is appropriate to him or her.  I appreciate the willingness so far of the class to play along with the Spanish activities and stories.  

There will be a variety of methods we will be using to learn, including incorporating computers, doing cultural projects, analyzing music, reading and writing poetry, reading Spanish books, playing games, and doing lots of creative storytelling, acting and creative writing.  

Recently, I attended a workshop on a language teaching technique called, Total Physical Response, Storytelling, or TPRS.  This technique is supported by a wide range of research on classroom language acquisition and the top linguists, including Stephen Krashen.  Following the philosophy and techniques of TPRS, I will be focusing on speaking as much understandable Spanish as possible, in order for students to acquire a "feel" for the language.  

TPRS has extensive years of research to back its efficacy at teaching language in the classroom.  After all, it is the method that most closely mirrors natural language acquisition! It works because it is repetitive yet fun, and does not create a lot of anxiety for the students. 

The workshop I attended was taught by Blaine Ray, the man who initially developed the concept of Total Physical Response through Storytelling. 

This is what he has said in support of TPRS:

"Language acquisition is not a consious process.  It is something that happens to a person.  It happens when one understands messages.  If a person understands a message in the target language, s/he cannot prevent the acquisition of that language.  Learning to speak a language comes from hearing it.  Reading helps a person advance in learning the language and structures, but generally fluency comes from hearing.  Since we only learn to speak by listening and comprehension, we can assume there are no gains from listening unless there is comprehension."

Although each class has varying degrees of language ability, my goal is for every single student to understand the language structure before we move on.  That is why we use silly stories so that all students remain focused on the details of the story, and acquire the language automatically.  When at least 80% of the students understand at least 80% of the material, then we move on.  

I hope that this engaging method for teaching, and 80/80 ground rule, will ensure that students feel confident and comfortable, develop a sense of pride and interest in continuing to learn languages, and of course, get a good grade!

If your student is talking to you at home about Spanish class, please stay in touch with me so that we can continue to improve the class, their experience and their Spanish abilities.

Hopefully you will all be hearing more about Spanish class, as it will soon be a part of their assignment to come home and tell you in Spanish about the class, and teach you what we are learning.