Teaching Action Words (Body Movements) With TPR

These simple commands are the best place to start.

1. Place three chairs next to each other at the front of the room. Leave enough space in front of the chairs for you and the students to carry out the following activities.

2. Ask two students to sit in the two outer chairs. You will sit in the middle chair.

3. Teach: Stand up.

Sit down.

a. Stand up as you say, “Stand up.”

b. Gesture to the students to stand up.

c. Sit down as you say, “Sit down.”

d. Gesture to the students to sit down.

e. Stand up again as you say, “Stand up.”

f. Gesture to the students to stand up again.

g. Sit down again as you say, “Sit down.”

h. Gesture to the students to sit down again.

i. Look at each student in turn and then say, “Stand up.” You should remain seated as you do this.

Use a gesture if necessary. (You are checking the students’ ability to respond to the command without your modeling it for them.) If they still do not seem to understand, model the command again by standing up as you gesture to them to stand up.

5. Then teach: Walk.

Stop.

Turn around.

a. Begin walking forward as you say, “Walk.”

b. Gesture to the students to walk with you.

c. As you all walk forward, repeat the word “Walk.”

d. Stop walking suddenly and say, “Stop.”

e. Gesture to the students to stop.

f. Walk forward again as you say, “Walk.”

(If necessary, gesture to the students to walk with you.)

g. After a few steps, stop walking again as you say, “Stop.”

(If necessary, gesture to the students to stop.)

h. As you turn around to face the three chairs, say, “Turn around.”

i. Gesture to the students to turn around.

j. Say “Walk” as you gesture to the students to walk toward their chairs. Remain standing where you are as they walk forward. (If they do not seem to understand, model walking for them as you repeat the command Walk.)

k. After a few steps, say, “Stop.”

l. Walk forward to catch up with the students. Stand between them.

m. Say “Walk” without using any gesture. Remain standing where you are as the students again walk toward their chairs.

n. When the students reach their chairs, say, “Stop.”

o. Walk forward and stand between them, facing the chairs.

p. Say, “Turn around” as you turn around. (The students should turn around, too. Use gestures if needed.)

q. Say, “Sit down.” (Be ready to model this since the command sit down came in the early part of the instruction, and the students may not remember it very well.)

r. When the students sit down, make a point of clapping enthusiastically for them as you gesture to the rest of the students in the group to do the same.

6. You can introduce the vocabulary words slowly and quickly by adding them to the above commands

(example: Walk slowly.) Then teach each new command according to the steps shown above.

7. If you are teaching a class or small group, do the above activity with two students. When you finish, you can invite other students to come to the front of the room and carry out the same commands.

Suggestions

• Go slowly. If you go too fast, students are likely to become confused and tense and make mistakes. They will learn best if they are relaxed and feel comfortable with the activity.

• Do not try to teach too many commands at one time. Since you will also be reviewing previously taught vocabulary, introduce no more than four to six new commands.

• Call students by name as you give the commands. This helps students feel comfortable.

• Tell students that it is ok to watch each other if they are unsure how to respond to a particular command. (There is no such thing as “cheating” in a TPR activity.)

• Provide whatever support the students need in order to be successful. TPR activities should not be used to test students. They are supposed to ensure that students don’t fail. If students are not successful in carrying out a command, you have either gone too fast, included too much material, or asked them to do something you did not adequately teach and model.

• You can also do a TPR lesson using the steps in a familiar task such as baking a cake or addressing an envelope.

Date: 2016-04-22; view: 1078