My first year with a curriculum:
- fly by the seat of my pants
- take notes on what works/doesn't (mental or written/typed out)
- survive
Subsequent years:
- hone different areas (not all at once)
- assessments
- activities
- stories
- movietalks
- guided discussion prompts
- extras
- games
- classroom management
- usage of novels
- usage of SSR / FVR
- continue to gather more resources to throw in
- adapt resources to level of students that year (readings)
- have more fun because it's way less stressful
For example, you can tell my 2nd or 3rd year of using TPRS, I saw Cynthia Hitz had used something called a MovieTalk about Alma. I was relatively new at this.
So my first year with Alma (maybe fall 2012), I did the following:
- Spoken story
- MovieTalk (talked to kids, paused movie at key points to build interest)
- Simple version of a reading
- I lost this over the years
Then the next year at a new school (spring 2014), I thought it would be fun to make an Embedded Reading. So I was comfortable with the movie and added different versions.
- Spoken story
- MovieTalk
- Embedded Readings
Then the next year at the same school (spring 2015), I thought it would be fun to make it even more immersive. I made Alma into a little mini-unit with el muñeco viviente as well before. So I was comfortable with the movie and added different versions.
I also added in elements of TPR to help remember some of the new structures.
- "muñeco" mini-unit
- the hope was to eventually talk about burning of los muñecos del año viejo as cultural extension. Haven't gotten to it yet.
- Justin Jedlica - muñeco viviente story
- Spoken story
- Movietalk
- Embedded Readings (didn't change)
The following year in Spring 2016, I continued to use Alma. But I tweaked the readings. I wanted to continue pushing their literacy and to really get more bang for my buck. I continued with Justin Jedlica's story because it was a hit the previous year. (Folder)
- TPR
- Justin Jedlica story
- Spoken story
- Movietalk
- Embedded Readings - 5 versions
Then this past spring 2017, I was at a new school again. I was no longer in the block schedule so I felt like it could definitely be improved next year. What I did was pretty similar to 2016 because I liked how that turned out. But I added a phrase: "something weird happens" and tried to work on Direct Object pronouns a little bit. I also used it for Spanish 2 because it was a new school and they hadn't seen it. So I adapted the language to fit their needs a little bit.
- see new embedded readings (sp 1)
- see new embedded readings (sp 2)
- for example, I reviewed some of their textbook vocab (daily routines) in an almost pre-story.
So as you can see... my teaching is definitely a process. And I'm continually changing activities and adding to them/taking away from them.
What I especially love about TPRS and CI is that with TPRS/CI, the same activity/text can be used with students regardless of level with a little bit of tweaking because that's the nature of language!
Hope that gives you some ideas as a fellow educator!
I've wondered this for a while, do you do all embedded readings on the same day?
ReplyDeleteHi Megan! It will depend on various factors:
Delete1. how long your classes are
2. what activities you are doing with each version
3. how engaged classes are
In block schedule 90 minutes, I might do 2 versions in a period. If I needed a break though, I might go through all three versions and have comprehension questions after each version. We wouldn't do that often.
Another option is to differentiate if you're 1:1. Maybe students could read 2 versions based on their level and answer questions. So your lower readers could find success and your upper readers could find success.
This last year, I typically would do 1 reading per day since there were other things we did in the class periods.
But if the first version was REALLY short, we might get to 2 versions in the period with a brain break (get up, pick up the paper and sit down) type thing in between.