Several World Language teachers have been working with a very interesting instructional strategy referred to as, "Total Physical Response through Storytelling" or TPRS. Blaine Ray, a TPRS (also known as Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) guru explains the approach as follows:
"TPRS is changing the way many teachers go about teaching a foreign language today. Through TPRS teachers are finding they
can teach the language holistically without having to teach grammar rules. Grammatical accuracy is taught but not in the
traditional way through verb conjugations. Language is learned by understanding messages in the target language. That means language is picked up through comprehensible input. Input is listening and reading that is understood by the learner. We ensure the class is totally comprehensible. Also it must be repetitive and interesting. We teach the class an interesting story that is invented as the teacher asks students repetitive questions."
I recently had the good fortune to observe Madame Janelle experimenting with the TPRS model in a sixth grade classroom. I found the student level of communication engagement to be remarkable. My next thought was to share an example of that with you. A young guy, Greg Corsello, agreed to share his work on audio file, so please click on the speaker icon below. Enjoy!

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