Get Stories Out of the Hangar, in the Air, Through the Storm, and Safely Back Again in 25 Minutes For too long in TPRS we have been loading our stories up with excess weight, excess details, just at the moment when the plane is leaving...
Recently, a university professor posted to the ACTFL Teacher Development SIG discussion board*, expressing concern about whether TPRS materials “provide authentic language / culture” and whether “the approach is able to address all five Cs.” I enjoyed reading the comments on the board and appreciated...
Andrea Winbigler is the lucky winner of our drawing for a free iFLT 2016 registration! Andrea says: I would love to attend iFLT because I am in my second year of teaching and already I want to completely transform my style of teaching. I have been...
Student-Centered Learning by Keith Toda I am currently pursuing an Ed.S degree in Instructional Technology, and one of the big buzz words which is being thrown around is student centered learning. Some components of a student centered classroom are: ...
When someone gets something specially customized or custom-fit, a client is usually told, “We don’t fit you to the ___, we fit the ____ to you.” Many times, that can also be said for education, and for me, morphing into Teaching with Comprehensible Input over...
I was fortunate enough to attend two exceptional conferences back-to-back and have unique perspectives on each. It’s amazing how perspectives of language instruction/acquisition vary from region to region. In Hawaii (SWCOLT), there seemed to be a large number of ah-ha moments from teachers who truly...
Are you interested in attending the 2016 iFLT conference in Chattanooga, Tennessee? We are going to hold a drawing and ONE lucky person will win a free registration** to iFLT! There are 2 steps you need to take to be entered to win! Click the "Follow blog via...
My Cultura y Civilización course (a Spanish 4/5 class) just started a unit titled “Perspectivas de la Belleza” (Perspectives of Beauty). The main resource for the unit is Kristy Placido’s book Frida Kahlo (and the amazing Teacher’s Guide). Before I start a novel with a...
In 2006 I began to dabble in teaching with comprehensible input through TPRS. I had been to a one afternoon workshop and I knew just enough to be dangerous! Even with all the blending of the textbook, mistakes, and missed opportunities, I knew...
Let me ask you a few questions before you decide the answer to the question above. First, are you looking for a very satisfying conference with your peers and a way to grow your PLN? Second, are you looking for a conference that caters to...
[embed]https://animoto.com/play/oS4mH8ko91I681JPjpoLrA[/embed]...
Word Clouds are everywhere. We see them in advertising, on merchandise, blog sidebar widgets, and—of course—instructional materials shared by teachers. Word clouds are a method of representing data in a visual way: specifically, the words contained within any given text and their frequency. The bigger...
We had so many awesome creative entries for the #flatbrandoncipeek contest! Our TPRS Publishing team of judges included: President Carol Gaab, Vice President Patrick "Pato" Gaab, Carrie Toth, Martina Bex, Teri Wiechart, and Kristy Placido. After much deliberation, we selected the following photo as our WINNER! Congratulations to...
This is the third time that my fabulous colleague, Megan Matthews, and I are teaching Robo en la noche by Kristy Placido. The first time was two years ago and we rushed through it in the final weeks of school, relying heavily on the terrific...
I love teaching my Spanish III and IV classes with novels, and I have done several posts about the novels that I use. Currently, I am using Vida y muerte en la Mara Salvatrucha with my Spanish IV classes for the second time. Sometimes my...
Recently the topic of novel selection and usage in a particular class level has come up in several forums including CI Peek and the iFLT/NTPRS/CI Teaching Facebook page. I’d like to join the discussion by sharing my recent experience during which there was a slight...
The International Forum on Language Teaching is a grassroots organization inspired by Dr. Stephen Krashen and dedicated to the study and development of best practices for effective language instruction. Conference Venue : Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences 865 East Third Street Chattanooga TN...
Recently there was a post on the iFLT/ NTPRS/ CI Teaching Facebook page (join us there if you are not already a member! Great discussion!) on the topic of "failing readers." The scenario was...
In my classroom I teach 2-4 readers per year. When selecting readers, I want to choose books that are going to be at a comfortable level for the students. I err on the side of “too easy.” Books that are too hard will feel too...
Last week I mentioned how much I love and recommend Dave Burgess’ book Teach Like a Pirate. In his book, Dave recommends using “hooks” to engage students more deeply in the lessons you teach. I want to share my top ten favorite hooks and invite...
Carrie Toth shares her journey from frustration to a-ha as she discovered teaching with Comprehensible Input! This post is a must-read for anyone experiencing the January doldrums!...
Whenever I travel to a conference or inservice, teachers ask “Can you tell me exactly what I need to do to teach a reader?” Well, I have a couple of initial responses to this question. First, there is no “wrong way to eat a Reese’s.” Second, I...
Martina Bex brings current events together with our novel "Brandon Brown Versus Yucatan!" Life imitates art?...
To kick off our new blog, CI Peek, we decided to celebrate with something really fun. You’ve probably heard of Flat Stanley. He’s a little paper guy who travels the world. Well, TPRS Publishing is proud to introduce Flat Brandon! Brandon Brown would love to...