TPR/Gesturing Vocabulary

For the past ten years, I have been very familiar with using TPR/gestures to teach many basic verbs e.g., want, give, take, has, etc., using ASL signs. Whenever I have taught Latin 1 in the past, I have definitely used TPR/gestures for students to learn basic vocabulary. However, Latin 1 was the only level where I have done this, because I thought, "Honestly, do upper level students need TPR/gestures to associate with vocabulary? Aren't they kind of 'past' that? They are no longer Latin 1 students - TPR/gestures is so basic!" Boy, was I wrong!! Because TPR/gestures are so basic, they are a great way to teach any type of vocabulary regardless of the level.

These past few summers at IFLT and CI Summit, I have had the great opportunity to be part of a cohort team led by Gary DiBianca. Gary has demonstrated using TPR/gestures to preteach Spanish vocabulary for a future reading. Since I do not know Spanish, I definitely took an active part in doing the gestures. Soon I realized that I had acquired these vocabulary words/phrases in Spanish because deep down inside I knew them, and that it was all based on muscle memory from TPR/gestures!

Flash forward to two weeks ago: After a 1.5 weeks of "getting back into Latin" with my students, I wanted to begin a cultural reading about Roman holidays in my Latin 2 Honors classes. I also wanted to throw in some new vocabulary, which I would both shelter in the passage (but not the grammar) and get in lots of robust exposure within the passage. The four Latin words which I chose to TPR/gesture (the ASL signs are listed too) were:

• dies festus - holiday - https://youtu.be/Lm3_E0TZ6lA
• saepe - often - https://www.youtube.com/shorts/_5pcvSFbo8E
• advenerunt - went to - https://youtu.be/cz8JIl_M7ng
• ludi - games - https://youtu.be/0m-wPJj7_2E

NOTE - when using ASL signs to teach as vocabulary, be sure to inform your students that you are NOT teaching them ASL per se, since that is its own linguistic system with its own set of grammatical rules and structures.

Now the key to teaching TPR/gestures lies in the sheer number of repetitions of doing the TPR/gestures so that eventually students associate these words/meanings with muscle memory. In working with Gary DiBianca these past few summers at IFLT where he demonstrated TPR/gestures with our cohorts, I learned a way to do this. In turn, Gary learned this from Teri Wiechart.

1) Say 1 and you model

2) Say 1 and they do

3) Say 2 in a row and they do

4) Say 2 in a row with their eyes closed

5) Say 3 in a row and they do

6) Say 3 in a row with their eyes closed

6) Say 4 in a row and they do

Use the grid as means of helping you add variety of order in calling out which words to TPR/gesture.

dies festus	advenerunt	ludi	saepe
saepe	ludi	dies festus	advenerunt
advenerunt	dies festus	saepe	ludi
ludi	saepe	advenerunt	dies festus

Observations

1. I know from my own experience in language learning that TPR/gestures works!
2. TPR/gestures are a great way to teach L2 phrases which seem very specific or "weird" to students. This summer at CI Summit, I taught my cohort the phrase "along the shore/coast" using TPR/gestures because I needed to preview it for a reading. I just ended up combining two ASL signs, and it did not present a problem.
3. It is important to review the TPR/gestures constantly. In the beginning, students will associate the gesture with L1 to establish meaning, but eventually, the L2 association will kick in, but you as the teacher need to get in lots robust exposure of these signs with both L1 and L2..

Wii Obstacle Course Brain Break

I can take absolutely no credit for this brain break - I learned this from Erica Peplinski at IFLT this past summer (in turn, she may have learned it from Annabelle Williamson). She even has her own blog post where she references this. In many ways, it is such a basic brain break, but wow, it is actually really fun - the Wii Obstacle Course. Today is the second day of school, and I thought I would try it out - it went well!

The brain break is basic: project a Wii Obstacle Course video, and have your students run the course! You as the teacher are running the course with them and yelling out commands in the target language.

The only target language TPR commands which you need are:

• run (currite - Latin)
• jump (salite - Latin)
• to the left (sinistrorsum - Latin)
• to the right (dextrorsum - Latin)

Directions

1. Project the Wii Obstacle Course video on the screen. I use the following video, but there are SO many out there - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIYK-5xbA38
2. On the settings tab, change the playback speed. The "normal" setting goes too slow - Erica Peplinski says that the 1.5/1.75 playback speed is the best.  
3. Have your students stand up.
4. Tell students that they are going to run (in place) the Wii Obstacle Course with you.
5. I start the video at 0:13. From 0:23-0:30, I have students "stretch" along with the character on screen.
6. From 0:38-1:40, we "run" the course as a class, and yes, I am participating with them! I am also yelling out commands as we "run" - you can do the course for longer amounts of time or run different parts of the course. 

Observations

1. Erica Peplinski does this with elementary school students, so I was a bit leery about doing this with high school students, because I thought that they would think it would be stupid. I was actually surprised by how many got into it!
2. I had a number of students who wanted to do more levels of the obstacle course, but I was winded after running it with them and yelling out commands!
3. You as the teacher need to ham it up with your students for this to work!
4. When Erica demo'd this at IFLT, all of us teachers who attended her presentation had a lot of fun with this!

Same Conversation, part 1 - TPR

This is a first of a series of three posts.

One of the main tenets of CI is that language learners need constant repetition of vocabulary/structures in a meaningful context in order for them to acquire the language subconsciously. The problem is how to do this without making it boring for students, because in the words of Carol Gaab, we know that "the brain CRAVES novelty!"

One way of accomplishing this is Same Conversation, a technique which I learned from Evan Gardner, founder of "Where Are Your Keys?". Same Conversation is exactly how it sounds - have the same comprehensible conversation in the target language multiple times in order to get in the necessary repetitions. Due to the "sameness" aspect, language learners become familiar with what they are hearing and can anticipate what will be said next.

There are a number of ways in which one can accomplish this and still keep it novel. Total Physical Response (TPR) itself is full of repetitions, as the teacher is the one telling students what to do in a Simon Says kind of fashion, and students demonstrate their comprehension by completing the action. Commands are constantly repeated in various ways. After awhile, however, TPR can get really old, really fast for students. At NTPRS last summer, Carol Gaab demonstrated a great way of doing Same Conversation with TPR which really resonates with students. Based on her example involving the word "pick up," here is how I accomplished it in Latin 1 on the 3rd day of class - it simply involved a baby doll. The target word was sume (pick up) - because it was only day 3 of Latin 1, I spoke in a mix of Latin/English:

Me: Joe, sume infantem! (Joe picks up the baby doll by its neck)

Me: Really, Joe? That is how you sume infantem?! This is an infans! Let me show you how to sumere infantem! (I overdramatically pick up the baby doll gently, cradling its neck and put it back down)
Me: Katy, veni huc (come here)and show Joe how it's done. Sume infantem! (Katy picks up the baby doll somewhat gently)
Me: Really, Katy? That is how you sume infantem? Again, this is an infans! Melissa, veni huc and show Katy and Joe how it's done. Sume infantem! (Melissa picks up the baby doll very gently and does a better job)
Me: Ok, better, but gosh, Ben, veni huc and show Joe, Katy and Melissa how to do it. Sume infantem! (Ben overdramatically picks up the baby doll as if it were a real baby)
Me: Optime, Ben! Now Melissa, sume infantem! (Melissa overdramatically picks up the baby doll as if it were a real baby).
Me: Optime, Melissa! Katy, sume infantem! (Katy overdramatically picks up the baby doll as if it were a real baby)
Me: Optime, Katy. Joe, sume infantem! (Joe overdramatically picks up the baby as if it were a real baby).
Me: Optime, Joe! Now you know how to sumere infantem!

Observations

1. During that whole interchange, I had repeated the phrase sume infantem (or some variation of it) ELEVEN times in the span of a couple minutes, but students did not realize it or tire of hearing the phrase due to the "problematic scenario" which I had created.
2. The class was entirely engaged and laughing during the whole interchange, watching their fellow students pick up a baby doll, being chastised for doing it incorrectly and only being praised when it was done overdramatically. Little did they realize that it was all a ploy in order to get them to hear the phrase sume infantem over and over again in a meaningful and novel way. They simply thought it was just about learning how to pick up a baby properly. Haha, I am so devious..
3. Even though I used the infinitive form sumere at times, it did not impede comprehension.

TPR (Total Physical Response) for the First Week of Latin 1

In Stephen Krashen's theory of Comprehensible Input, a "silent period" of active listening and of auditory language processing is needed in order for language acquisition to occur, e.g. think of how much input which babies take in before they begin to verbalize/speak. Therefore, it is not recommended for teachers to jump immediately into having level 1 students produce language right away at the beginning of the school year. As much as you may want to go around the room having students ask/tell each their names in the target language during the first week, rather consider doing Total Physical Response (TPR) with your level 1 classes instead.

TPR is essentially associating a vocabulary word with a physical action. It can be hand gestures, American Sign Language (ASL) signs or the actual physical action itself. The idea is that through enough repetitions muscle memory will aid in the acquisition process.

There are many different variations of TPR which can be used in the world language classroom, of which the most basic form is commands, where you as the teacher command a student/students to do something in the target language, and their task is simply to perform it. I will do TPR for the first 5 days of Latin 1 - I know that Bob Patrick does it for the first 10 days - and I will do it for about 20-25 minutes of class.

What kinds of words to teach? That is up to you, but for obvious reasons, the verbs need to be action words. You can pick classroom management words such as "sit down," "stand up," "shout," "be quiet," etc or words which have much action associated with them, e.g. "go," "open," "close," "pick up," "put down," "throw," etc. I usually pick 4-5 new words each day on which to focus, while continuing to recycle past words in order to get in repetitions.

The name of the game is to get in as many repetitions as possible in as many different ways! Students must hear the words in a meaningful context over and over again in order to acquire them. The number thrown around is 70 repetitions in a meaningful context in order for students to acquire vocabulary.

1) For the first 1-2 days, stick with only verbs as commands.Determine which words you will teach that day using TPR, and write the commands on the board in both the target language and in English in order to establish meaning. I usually write both the singular and plural form, because throughout the class, I will end up commanding both individuals and the class as a whole to do something.

2) When introducing a new command, I will usually "command myself' first by pointing to the word on the board in order to establish meaning and then I will demonstrate the action. I will then call upon multiple individual students to perform the action

3) Even though this is a silent period for students, the very completion of the command demonstrates comprehension and is a form of non-verbal output, i.e. it was necessary for students to understand you in order to complete the task.

4) Once students begin to understand the commands (maybe after a day or so), start introducing objects or places in the room for students now to use and with which to interact. Remember to write the nouns on the board both in the target language and in English in order to establish meaning and to point to the words and pause when you use them.

5) Feel free to introduce adverbs too, such as "slowly" and "quickly" to spice things up.

6) As students begin to acquire the language, you can also start making longer sentences, such as "Carlita, stand up and go to the table. Pick up the book slowly and bring it to me. Now go to the table, pick up a cookie and throw it to Barbara."

7) A variation is in the beginning to divide the class into groups, to give them a name (a number, animal, color, etc) and to command the different groups - this requires the class to listen, "Beatnicks, stand up! Hula Hoopers, stand up! Beatnicks, sit down! Hula Hoopers, turn around! Hula Hoopers, stop! Beatnicks, stand up! Beatnicks, walk to the Hula Hooper and sit on them!"

8) As acquisition furthers during TPR, you can start to narrate the action of a student, e.g. "Susan, walk to the door slowly. O class, Susan is walking to the door slowly (you write "is walking" on the board in the target language and in English in order to establish meaning and then point/pause). Susan, touch the door. O class, Susan is touching the door (you do the same for "is touching") In this manner, you have gone from the singular imperative to the 3rd singular present form, but don't get into a full-on grammar discussion about it just yet. If you do this enough, students will start to predict the pattern and actually say it with you.

Your first instinct may be to jump into the grammar of it all but wait for a student to say something. Usually, I will have a student ask, "Why did 'ambula' go to 'ambulat'?" and my first response is, "Even though the form of the word changed, did you understand what I said? I used 'ambulat' because I am narrating the action of Susan, not commanding her," and I will leave it at that - this is an example of pop-up grammar. The same goes for if your nouns change forms too based on their function.

9) As noted CI/TPRS publisher and presenter Carol Gaab is fond of saying, "The brain craves NOVELTY," so change up the commands/objects by having students do wacky and funny tasks with different combinations of known words, e.g. "Julio, pick up the cookie and eat it slowly. Now turn around slowly and eat the cookie loudly and slowly. Marsha, walk to the board, pick up a pen and write 'I love Justin Bieber' on the board slowly." This is what will keep the class engaged!

After 5 days or so, students should have 25-30 words, which you specifically targeted for them, in addition to maybe another 10-15 words which were incidental words.

10) After the 20-25 minutes of TPR, I will review the new words which were TPR'd. This is a good time to introduce any derivatives which come from the words.

11) I sometimes give students 5 minutes at the end of class to command me around the room. Because the words are written on the board with their English meaning, I am not asking them to output on their own (although many will have acquired those words purely due to the massive amount of input).

I was absolutely scared the first time I ever did TPR a few years ago, because I was 100% sure that it was going to bomb. Instead, I had one of my best experiences with CI, because I was completely floored by how engaged the students were and by how much these Latin 1 students understood what I was saying (due to establishing meaning), even though I was speaking in Latin.