It was last year about this time that we really got into using Look and Discuss as a group. The three links at the bottom of this article are from March and April of last year and I think that Look and Discuss is a great option for us now in spring as we need […]

Circling Sends Messages By starting the first class of the year in the target language using circling, I send many messages to my students: 1. By slowly circling all the time in class, I send the message that slow circling will be the norm in my classroom all year. I also send the message that

For anyone interested I just added to the Primers the 200 high frequency words – Spanish and French – that we use in DPS. Is it a Scope and Sequence? In my view, yes, because it outlines the scope of what we hope to accomplish in our classes. What about the sequence part? In my

James Hosler shares a thought: I had a realization recently, about why I am so unsettled sometimes at school. It has to do with what the students feel in my classroom. I realized that, especially at this time of year but in some classes all the time, the students are hoping each day that I

Circling Protocols When circling, certain protocols must be established immediately about what kind of comments are acceptable in response to your questions. The student is always the star. We must always keep in mind the fragile nature of the egos of most of our students, in spite of how they may behave in class. Kids

Problems Arise With Too Much Circling We must know that this circling vortex image is merely a template, something to work from, to riff on. If we were to actually follow it by circling our way down through all its possible layers, we would bore our students and our classes would not work. The vortex

Hey Ben – I’ve been experimenting with an activity that I like a lot. It’s kind of a backwards TPRS. I write a story that has mostly known but some unknown vocab/structures and give it to the students to read…sometimes silently, sometimes in pairs “snowplow” style, where they are just reading the text aloud to

This is from Mark: Good Morning Ben, I’ve been a member of your PLC for almost a month. My switch to TPRS/CI would have been much harder without it, that’s for sure. I read “TPRS in a Year” and “Stepping Stones to Stories” prior to discovering the blog. My principal has been very supportive of

Last August Dave wrote in about Integrated Performance Assessment. This is a repost: Hi Ben: I sent out the following email to the Latin folks, but it also affects other languages as well. Next week I am going to the IPA training and I would like to push back as hard as i can against

Circling Vortex Image Here is one way to look at circling: Imagine a vortex/funnel cloud to which, with each next completed circle of the vortex, you can add a detail. You start at the top with the simple original sentence and then begin circling down through the statement, the question, the either/or question and the

This is from Diana Noonan: DPS has several job openings which are posted on the DPSK12.org website. We are looking for CI teachers. If interested, please apply online and contact Diana Noonan. Diana_noonan@dpsk12.org Thanks!

Adding in Details Lets’ review the steps of circling, because they are so important: Statement Question Either/or Negative Optional are: Throw In Ask a detail Who What When Where Why If Mark ran, the instructor can ask the class: Statement: Mark ran! (ohh!) Question: Class, did Mark run? (yes) Either/Or: Did Mark or Ryan run?