Even though the scripts are written in the present tense, I advise that you create the story with the kids in the past tense. This is a point of major discussion (and contention) in the TPRS community. I am giving my opinion here that we must ask the story in the past tense and write […]

I’m including this as a What to Do After A Vacation possibility because it is so simple to set up when everyone in the building (including us) is still groggy from vacation: I ask the class what I they would do in a certain situation: ….it was 10:00 p.m. A woman was looking for you. Why?

Do we really need to talk solely about the language piece in the ELA problem as a one of instructional mechanics? Is there not  more going on here? I don’t think that the ELA problem can be solved in a mechanical way, by trying to find the right “method”. We have done that and failed.

I think I now have a game plan – just from a few days of this discussion – that works for me. I am very grateful to the group for helping me formulate it. It is described in the ELA/TPRS 5 article below. I know it will grow to include other things. Basically, and yes

Discussion of this sort is vital to our understanding. We have such knowledge gathered here but we must share it. The ELA question has been ignored, it seems, forever. I am especially glad to have read Jody’s  comments, gathered from her vast experience in both FL and ELA instruction. Jody said it’s about politics, and that FL

I’m just synthesizing some ideas presented in comments earlier today. My goal is not to label what is wrong but find out how we can better serve ELA kids with stories, if we can, and I think we can. So here is what I have taken away from today’s discussion: Bridging the ELA/TPRS Gap By

Tim reports from Arkansas. Anyone using the MovieTalk links should know that he provided many of them so thank you for this report and for all the great MT links, Tim. Hey Ben, I’ve been away since right before Thanksgiving. Missed you all.  Read the posts right before coming back from vacation and they really

Here is the email I sent Larry: Actually Larry I see that four of the people in my PLC – Jeannette, Judy, Laurie and Chris Stolz have already written articles on TPRS that can be read on your blog. I would just say the same thing, but with less eloquence. Instead, therefore, I will bring this

Of course, the knock on TPRS/ELA has been that there is lack of a common language in an ELA classroom which prevents us from establishing meaning and so confuses the students in multi-language classrooms, since translation is not an option. Establishing meaning before a story may be a very small part of what we do

Why is it a concern that we have found no common ground, no common ELA/TPRS turf in our building at Lincoln High School, which is only a microcosm of a worldwide issue? On the level of research, we share lots of common ground – Krashen. Why isn’t that common ground shared where it counts, in the classroom? Krashen’s original

There are many terms used to describe ESL/ELL and EFL instruction. For now let’s just use the acronym ELA – English Language Acquisition –  to make it simple. In my experience, certainly here in Denver Public Schools, the chasm between ELA training and TPRS has not been sufficiently addressed. In Abraham Lincoln High School in

The recent thread about not being an entertainer who is there to make the kids laugh made me think of this skill (#22) from TPRS in a Year! It is called Staying in the Moment: Skill #22: Staying in the Moment This is my favorite skill. It requires heart. Staying in the moment means that