Reflection on Comprehensible Input

I haven’t updated my blog for a while now, and as I am taking a break due to my fourth baby coming at the end of September, I wanted to reflect on my last school year. I was teaching Spanish from grade 6 to 12 and I decided to turn to comprehensible input and TPRS since I was never fully satisfied with the traditional way to teach languages.

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6th graders2 acquisition65 comments3 comprehensible100 Education20 encourage2 feedback53 fluency107 fluent57 grade 108 grade 74 grade 85 grade 98 IGCSE12 input47 inspire13 languages13 listening52 Martina Bex11 middle school3 motivation224 personalized16 reading275 review26 song29 Spanish33 story46 story asking15 storytelling39 TPRS71

How to encourage students to produce comprehensible output on sports

 

 

 

 

 

 

My grade 7 students (12-13 years old) did comprehensible presentations about some popular sports in Hispanic countries. First, I wanted to model a presentation because whenever my students produce Spanish output,

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baseball1 comprehensible100 countries6 Dominican Republic1 Education20 encourage2 example1 group work5 hispanic4 hobbies8 information7 input47 language45 look for2 model2 oral12 output44 pair1 popular10 presentation140 project11 quiz18 sample1 search4 Spanish33 speaking73 sports7 teacherspayteachers11

How web 2.0 tools can improve students’ language skills?

This weekend I am going to present at the Association of German International Schools (AGIS) in Hannover about web 2.0 tools and how I use them to help my students develop their language skills. A lot of my presentation is inspired by the wonderful Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano who emphasizes in her blog that it’s not about the tools,

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AGIS1 conference5 Education20 inspire13 language45 listening52 literacy5 participant1 presentation140 reading275 skills26 speaking73 try3 web5 web 2.08 web literate1 writing55

Spanish story script number 4: Lo siento.

Here is another story script which follows the last story about little Pedro losing his notebook. This story has lots of repetitions to focus on “lo siento” and “no sé qué hacer“. I am telling those stories using wooden ice cream sticks which the students love.

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acquire50 acquisition65 acting1 ci145 comprehend52 comprehension273 comprenhensible1 drama28 engage173 engaging10 fluency107 fluent57 fun436 funny256 high frequency217 high interest7 input47 interest10 interesting23 intonation2 key2 listening52 motivated166 motivating1 motivation224 practice33 proficiency12 proficient9 pronunciation11 reading275 repetition42 repetitive22 retell3 retelling4 script201 second language44 skills26 Spanish33 story46 storytelling39 structure10 target9 target language12 target structure20 TPRS71 vocabulary256 words18

Another version of the story: ¿Dónde está mi cuaderno pequeño?

I simplified the story script I wrote about little Pedro losing his notebook to focus on “¿Dónde está?”, “No lo sé” and “es importante para…“. I also changed the ending to make it more surprising and funnier to my students.

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creative13 engaged161 fun436 key structure10 listening52 reading275 script201 skills26 Spanish33 story46 structure10 target structure20 writing55

Homework “a la carte”!

As far as homework is concerned, I have been trying something new which has been successful so far. Basically I let my students do what they want as long as it is in Spanish!

At the start of the year I told them that they will acquire the Spanish language,

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acquire50 activities5 anjoy1 book95 choice4 Education20 engage173 hobbies8 homework3 internet13 language45 library4 listening52 magazine3 memorize11 memorizing6 mother tongue2 reading275 skills26 Spanish33 tasks1 watch53 youtube67