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Foreign Language Teachers learning about TPRS/CI

by Alison Nelson, Foreign Language Department Chair – SHS

Sandwich foreign language teachers attended an all day workshop at Charlton Middle School on Friday March 13.  Maureen Sullivan, Angela White, Jeanne Nelson, Kathy Coppola, Hengjia Liu and Alison Nelson were joined by SHS’s assistant principal Anne Wagner.  The presenter was Laurie Clarcq from New York, who teaches using Comprehensible Input and is a co-creator of Embedded Reading.

She presented two workshops, the first focused on Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling and Comprehensible Input (TPRS/CI), and the second focused on Literacy in the Foreign Language Classroom.

Starting next year with French and Spanish levels 1,2 and 3, Sandwich High School teachers will be employing the TPRS/CI method in the classroom, along with more literacy.   This is the first step of an all inclusive transition to all levels and all languages.  Teachers were treated to a demo lesson using Vietnamese, which gave teachers the feeling of being a student learning a new language.  Teachers also learned many new strategies to engage students in reading, which will increase their comprehension and language abilities.

Foreign Language teachers are looking forward to incorporating some of these new strategies in their classroom in order to increase student proficiency in foreign languages. These methods of TPRS/CI and Literacy represents SHS’s commitment to a high level of student engagement and align easily with our core values of speaking, reading, and writing effectively across the curriculum.

Our teachers will continue to receive training in TPRS/CI and Literacy in the FL classroom because we believe that every student deserves to achieve his or her potential, and through this method that is possible.  Our teachers are always learning and improving on making learning personalized, collaborative, and reflective.  This training was one stepping stone on our journey to improving students’ learning experiences in the foreign language classroom.