Project Based Learning and TPRS

There are four boys in my Friday afternoon class.  We began working together last November and they, their parents and I are very pleased with their progress.  We’ve done lots of stories and read stories created by other groups. They are a great group, enthusiastic and confident about their English since their grades have improved in school. But recently I’ve wondered if the stories weren’t becoming a little too much of a routine.  So last Friday I told them that we are going to write a novel.

They were immediately enthused. I explained that each of them would have an avatar (No, you don’t have to be blue…) and we spent the rest of the hour inventing names and descriptions of three of the characters.  There’s James Blond, the secret agent, Jackson Sixteen, a body guard, and my favorite, Vincent Team.  (With a French pronunciation that’s vingt centimes.) Next week we’ll finish the description of the fourth character and decide upon the Problem.  Then every week we’ll create a story of their adventures as they try to solve the Problem.

I foresee that there will be lots of travelling. And that I’m going to ask them to research sites in English about the places we go, so that we can work in some local color. There will be opportunities to talk about history and different cultures.  I’m already excited about seeing them next Friday and it’s only Sunday.