继续摘录TPR activities

Directed Drawing

Another subset of TPR activities is Directed Drawing. In these activ- ities, children create pictures that follow the teacher’s directions. Di- rected drawing is an effective comprehension-based activity, because the meaning of step-by-step drawing directions is immediately clear as the teacher proceeds to draw elements of the picture on the chalkboard and is further reinforced as children go about following directions. Given the instructional benefit of Directed Drawing, it is helpful for language teach- ers to stock their classroom libraries with quality “how-to” drawing guides for young children (e.g., Draw Write Now.)14 In performing Di- rected Drawing activities, the teacher may guide children in creating pic- ture dictionaries or illustrations to their own stories. Some Directed Draw- ing activities that are akin to games are discussed below:

r Weather Forecast. This Directed Drawing activity is meant to introduce children to target language items that describe weather conditions. The teacher starts by drawing a picture of a big window, and a child picked to be “it” draws pictures of different weather conditions fol- lowing teacher provided directions. (e.g., It is sunny. It is raining. It is cloudy.)

r A Chalk Monster. This TPR drawing activity focuses on vocabulary items related to body parts. To draw a chalk monster, the teacher gives the students picked to be “it” step-by step directions to draw a picture of a scary monster. (e.g., Draw the face! Draw five eyes! Draw a huge nose!)

r A Funny Face. In another similar activity, the teacher gives directions (e.g., Draw the face! Draw the right ear! Draw the left ear!) to a blind- folded student while the student proceeds to draw a face. Drawing blindfolded is not easy. The more hideous the face created by the blindfolded artist, the greater is the enjoyment of the onlookers.

TPR Pantomime and Stories

While the TPR mode is a natural medium for teaching target language items related to body parts or actions, it need not be confined to these top- ics. Students can participate in TPR pantomimes that represent various events that range from going to the beach or walking around the neigh- borhood to morning or bedtime activities. TPR pantomimes are enhanced by the use of props. Slide shows of various scenes projected on the wall, evocative music used for creating the mood, and pictures displayed in strategic locations serve as sets for pantomimes.

r TPR Tour of the City. For instance, when teaching nouns related to city life, teacher can paste pictures of the elements of cityscape to the backs of classroom chairs and give children directions to jump or walk from one object to another. (e.g., Run to the bus! Get into the car! Cross the street! Look at the tree!)

In TPR stories, students engage in role-playing episodes from their fa- vorite books. Usually after several introductory readings of a short and simple story, the teacher tells the story, and students act it out as the story is being told. Students can act out popular stories or fairy tales, such as Billy Goat Gruff 15 or The Three Bears.16 Fairy tales and short stories are par- ticularly amenable to the TPR instructional mode if they describe a suc- cession of varied actions. Simple classroom props add to the effectiveness of TPR stories. Pictures of book characters attached to a piece of string and worn around the neck by actors help identify story characters. Similarly, pictures of a forest or a house pasted to the back of the chair or a desk signal locations to pantomime participants.

Guessing Games

Guessing games also can provide comprehensible input to language learners at the preproduction and the low-emergent proficiency levels. These games work, because they have a unique structure. While pro- viding a rich source of input, they put limited demands on learners in terms of expected output. In a language guessing game, the teacher de- scribes an object, person, or phenomenon and children try to identify the item.

r Mystery Voice. In this game, which helps children learn each other’s names, players need to recognize voices of their peers. A child picked to be “it” faces away from the group while one of the children from the class says, “Hello!” and names “it” by his or her name. The child facing away tries to identify the child who spoke his or her name. If the guess is correct, the caller takes the place of “it.”

r What’s Missing? This popular ESL game attempts to teach the names of classroom objects or any other small things, such as tableware or clothing. The teacher displays a set of objects on the desk and goes over their names (e.g., a ruler, a pen, a pencil, a notebook, an eraser). Having named the displayed objects several times, the teacher asks children to close their eyes upon which the teacher or a child removes one of the objects. When children open their eyes, they guess which object is missing.

r Guess Who It Is! This classical language game reinforces vocabulary related to clothing and appearance. The teacher picks a child and de- scribes the child’s appearance or an outfit, while other children try to guess the identity of the person being described.

r Guess How Many. This game is an effective means of reinforcing num- bers. The teacher places a few marbles in a little bag and asks children to guess the number of marbles. After the participants have made their guesses, they count the actual number of marbles.

r Treasure Box. This game can reinforce the names of animals, food, or classroom objects. The teacher fills the treasure box with objects re- lated to the same activity or theme. Then the teacher describes an item without removing it from the box, while students try to guess what it is.

r Peek-a-Boo Stories. Guessing games can be particularly effective if they are accompanied by the use of flap pictures17 or Peek-a-Boo18 books. A flap picture is a graphic representation of an object or a scene that comes with a flap, a piece of paper that covers the picture entirely or partially.19 Flap pictures can be collected into thematically organized Peek-A-Boo books. The teacher describes the pictures hidden under the flap, and students try to guess the riddle. The teacher can make flap picture books by cutting out pictures of animals, food items, in- struments, and other objects, pasting them on an oversize piece of paper and attaching a flap on top. Thematically organized flap books can focus on animals, food items, or articles of clothing. The book on food items can describe taste, color, and shape of children’s favorite foods; the one about animals will discuss the animals’ habitat, size, and food preferences.