The book is progressing o.k. – thanks to those who have asked. It gets me in a headlock on one day and then I do a quick reversal the next. I think I have it pinned down on the mat, and the next thing I know it throws me off and ejects me out of the […]

As TPRS expands in Europe these slide presentations on Robert’s site will get more attention.They are about the soccer leagues in Germany, France, and Spain: http://www.compellinginput.net This is just launched, so he has asked the group to stop by and let him know if anything needs fixing. The new materials are under the tab “Free

In the video below Diana Krall sets before us an example of good group dynamics, the kind of sharing that we will one day be doing in our classrooms when we finally get over the thought that teaching a language is only about making sure that our students learn the information. Our work involves far

We can do stories like these musicians do their music: Watch Diana look over at her fellow musicians on stage. They know that they are going to have some fun. The notes are merely vehicles for the message. It is the message that counts. Diana invites the audience to be part of this creation of

Well this morning at the American Embassy School Linda and I didn’t get to actually meet the Dali Lama in person so there ya’ go. Oh well. We were in the same gym – does that count? 1000 lower and middle school kids on the floor and high school kids in the bleachers, my son

  These Reading Options are a gold mine of reading and spin off activities. There are two versions, a short version and a long version. Short List of Reading Options Because of time limitations, I normally use a shortened version of only five of the activities, which are all described in detail later in this

This is from a TPRS colleague of Catharina Greenberg: Far Brook School in Short Hills, New Jersey, seeks a part-time French teacher for grades 7 and 8. The curriculum at this level covers typical French I topics and builds on the skills, vocabulary, and structures acquired in earlier years in our French program.The school strives

Just now a group of 6th graders in an afternoon class was having trouble focusing. I told them, “The cat isn’t giving the book to the dog.” They wondered what I meant. I said, “Take your composition books out and write that sentence in French.” Then I wrote the sentence in English on the board

Since time is obviously not enough to do all of these activities in ROA, which could easily take all of two full block classes to complete, I use a shortened version of only four of the activities: 1. Silent Reading (Step 1) 2. Choral Translation with the Reader Leader (Step 4) combined with discussion of

I no longer try to do Readers Theatre when working with the novels. I have seen Jason Fritze do it but it is more than I have the talent for. One other factor for that failure is that the kids aren’t as engaged with the novels as they are with the stories they create in

Those of us who were in on Grant Boulanger’s bid to become one of five Regional ACTFL Teacher of the Year finalists will be glad to know that a TPRS teacher has done it again. Grant won Central States and next moves on to try for 2017 ACTFL National Teacher of the Year. We are

Robert’s materials for German and other languages are now available!  He Ben – My website is now live. There’s still a lot to be done, and I will be expanding descriptions as well as uploading more items, but at least it’s now accessible. I even take PayPal and credit cards. If you want to see