“When a job went wrong, you went back to the beginning. And this is where we got the job, so this is the beginning…” –Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride
Circling is a key tenet to TPRS. The idea is to repeat key structures and involve students in the conversation by asking questions.
This is not a skill that comes easily to me. Although I realize that the repetition in context is good for students, it kind of makes me crazy to repeat myself so much.
However, here we are at the end of the year. My students are academically loaded up with finals from other classes, and they are sweating stress through every stinky middle school pore of their weary bodies. I have already given my finals, so I figure this is a good place to have a little fun and practice some skills from the beginning of the year.
Me–I’m practicing! This is all familiar vocabulary for my Spanish 1 students after nine months together, which makes it easy and fun for them to follow along. Plus, I incorporate a few props and a couple of willing volunteers to act out the principal characters with a promise that I will make any and all weird noises that might be necessary. Finally, I also re-tell the story in different ways, sometimes slipping in a new detail that wasn’t said before.
So here it is: Todo Para Un Batido. The sad, sad, sad story of a boy who wants a chocolate milkshake on the first day of summer break. Oh, the heartache! The plot twists!
The link below opens a Google Doc; make a copy and make it your own–enjoy!
storyteaching 