Presenting Vocabulary with Total Physical Response

The Total Physical Response (TPR) strategy works well with kinesthetic and young learners. You don’t just show the picture to the class to convey meaning, you also need to add a motion for each word. By doing this, we are following the main principle of Dr. Asher’s TPR theory which is using verbal communication and physical body movement. 

In the video example below, I am going a little bit fast since these students are fast processors. You can also stop and ask students one-by-one for each motion instead of doing just choral repetition.  Also notice that I was checking the meaning of every word, especially the words that do not have very clear pictures.

In this example we are also following the natural way of learning a language. We first hear, then speak, then read, and finally write. As you can see, I did not show any written language at this point.

Time to practice

In this clip you can see how effective Total Physical Response can be. Students are doing the motions and saying the verbs. Some of them do the motion before even saying the word; this is very helpful to make connections.

Now, it is time to practice these 9 high-frequency verbs in Spanish.

I start by numbering each picture. Also, I use this opportunity to review numbers. I first start with the whole class telling me which verb and action correspond to the number I am saying. Then you want to start with your fast processing students to help model. Finally, I erase the number and coach the correct pronunciation.

Presenting written language

After only presenting the vocabulary orally, it is time to introduce written language. I give some students a sign with the verb written on it, and they need to match it with the picture. Then I review their answers and keep using the same body language signs for each high-frequency verb.

For practice, we follow the same rules of the well-known game tic-tac-toe. I number the 9 high-frequency verbs (I use this as an opportunity to review the pronunciation of numbers in Spanish).

Then I give them the signs to label the pictures. They need to read it and then choose where it belongs.  I divide the class into two groups X (taches)  and O (circulos).

Students need to say the number in Spanish plus the word in Spanish plus the meaning in English in order to “win” the tic-tac-toe space.

Written practice

Now, it is time to practice the spelling of the verbs. I give my students a small white board, a dry erase marker, and an eraser (you can also use a piece of paper and a regular marker).

For this activity I place the verbs on the board, so my students can remember the verb easily, and I can point them out if needed.

I ask the students to write down the verb that I am going to dictate them. Then one the count of three they all need to show me their answer on the small white boards.  

I label the picture and we read the verb together. This is a great exercise to teach the students the sounds of letters in Spanish. They realize Spanish is a phonological language, and it is easier to spell the words in Spanish than in English.

I can also use this activity as an opportunity to share with the students some pronunciation tips like the sound of the vowels, the  silent /h/ , etc.

What comes next?

Now it is time to test the students. I designed a test (you can find it here) where the students need to show if they can recognize each of the verbs, spell it correctly, and use it in context.