Spectacular Classes: Act it Out

In one of the most energetic and fun classes I've seen, members of Jen's Chinese 1001 class perform a dialogue. Notice how they do not simply say the lines, but accompany the words with the proper gestures and actions:

Some of the wonderful techniques Jen employes here include:

1. She has students get up and act out the scene. By acting out the dialogue rather than just saying it, student are more likely to remember it - for some reason, matching words with movements seems to help with memory (think TPR).
2. Acting out the scene also gives students a sense of how useful the vocabulary they've learned can be, giving them an example of how they could actually manage 'real life' situations with the language they've acquired.
3. Jen has allowed the students to add funny details to the scene, keeping them engaged and letting them use the language to express their own personalities. She gave them a task - greet your guests politely, conduct introductions, and offer a beverage - but students still had room to be a bit creative within that framework.
4. When the scene was finished, Jen encouraged the students and pointed out what they'd done well as well as what they should practice. Then the next group presented their scene.
5. Notice how much fun the students are having!

Great class, great tutor! Thanks, Jen!

A Total Physical Response Warm-Up

Here is an idea of a TPR warm-up that can work in your class:

1. Bring four or five props into class that have something to do with the vocabulary your students are studying. For example, if they are studying reflexive verbs, bring a mirror that they can use to look at themselves, a jacket students can put on, a boxed bar of soap they can use to pretend to wash themselves, etc.

2. Have students look at the props and write sentences about them. For example, "I look at myself in the mirror."

3. Students read their sentences aloud, and mistakes are corrected. The best (or most interesting) sentence for each prop is selected.

4. Students listen-and-repeat the selected sentences while the tutor acts out their meanings, and then say the appropriate sentence as the tutor goes from prop to prop, miming the appropriate actions.

5. The props are then placed in a line on the desk. Students form a line by the desk. One-by-one, students say the sentences while using the props to act out their meaning. For example, for the sentence "I look at myself in the mirror and smile at myself," the students would pick up the mirror, say the sentence, and act it out.

6. Students then take turns inventing sentences about the props for a classmate to act-out, switching roles between acting and speaking.

TPR: Total Physical Response

This short video describes a language teaching technique called TPR (total physical response), demonstrates some lessons in which it is used, and discusses some of its advantages:



Of course, since we only meet with our students twice a week, our expectation must remain that they study new vocabulary, grammar concepts, and dialogues at home and come to class already prepared to try to use the language, not just listen and understand. Still, TPR can be used as a method to get students talking in the language as well, such as in the video segment where they give one another instructions. TPR can be a great way to practice new structured patterns that require a lot of repetition, without making the class feel boring.

What do you think? Is this a technique that you could use in class? Do you already use some sort of TPR in your classes?