My Chinese skills need to be hidden more. Instead of speaking Chinese with the kiddos, I need to insist on written Chinese only for myself.
So today I’ve prepared some signs that give TPR instructions. I have them numbered on the back of the signs for the order like this:
- 跟我做 Do it with me – I say and do it, but students are expected to do it
- 要比我快 Be faster than me – I say it but give a 3 second pause before I do it to see if students know it; if they don’t know or do it wrong, they can see me and correct themselves
- 我说，你们做 I say it, you do it – Now I don’t say it at all. I call out students (in good humor) who don’t do it or who do it wrong. It’s usually a funny “gotcha!” face. I can easily turn this into a class game by having the class stand up and if they get the action wrong or don’t do it, they must sit down.
- 对不对？Right or wrong? – I say a term and do it correctly or incorrectly. Students must say “right!” or “wrong!”
- 跟我说 Say with me – Students now must say and do the action with me.
- 我做，你们说 I do it, you say it – I do an action, the students must say what action I do
- 谁想领导？Who wants to lead? – A student leads the class by saying the commands (我说，你们做) or by doing the commands and having students identify it (我做，你们说). The second way is much easier for the leader!
The first four steps emphasize listening comprehension, while steps 5-7 switch the focus from comprehension to saying it, which is super difficult for the little ones.
tprsenglishinchina 