In the Ghetto .... my old standby

The first time I taught this song I was merely looking for a good example of the simple present tense in English.  Which it is, since it contains examples of all the uses of the simple present tense and there is no other tense used in the lyrics.  Since it went over well, I used it again and again, with an explanation of the simple present tense and asking the students to find the examples in the song.  This was before I had learned about TPRS.

Then one day as we were listening to the song, it suddenly hit me, who the child born in the last stanza was.  Her young man.  You don't call a mother's child "her young man".   The mother who cries at the end is not the mother who cries at the beginning.  So, with the students we talked about "vicious circles" and universal truths and repeated actions.

Today I'm still using the song but I no longer talk about the simple present.  We talk about the song and the boy in the song and we talk about what a child needs.

I use an embedded reading to present the song.  Usually we do readings I and II before hearing the song and reading III after we've heard the song.

Reading I

A baby was born in the Chicago ghetto.  His mother cried.  She had six mouths to feed.

The little boy grew up.  He played in the street and he was hungry.  He learned how to steal and he learned how to fight.  He became an angry young man.

He was in desperation.  He bought a gun and he stole a car.  He didn’t get far.  He died in the street with a gun in his hand.

Another little baby boy was born.  His mother cried.

Reading II

As the cold wind blew and the snow flew, a baby boy was born in the Chicago ghetto. His mother cried because she had no job, too little money and six mouths to feed.

The little boy grew up in the ghetto.  He played in the street and he was always cold and hungry.  He learned how to steal and he learned how to fight.  He became an angry young man because he never had a chance.

One night he was in desperation.  He needed money. He bought a gun and he stole a car.  He didn’t get far.  He died in the street with a gun in his hand. A crowd gathered round.

That night another baby boy was born.  The baby’s mother cried.

Reading III

In January, 1969, as the cold wind blew off Lake Michigan and the snow flew, a baby boy was born in the Chicago ghetto. His mother cried because she already had five children and her husband was in prison. She had no job, too little money and six mouths to feed.

The little boy grew up in the ghetto. He played in the street and he was always cold and hungry. No one gave him a helping hand. In the streets of the ghetto he learned how to steal and he learned how to fight. He grew into an angry young man because he had never had a chance.

He had a girlfriend who loved him, and one night she told him she was going to have a baby. He needed money because he wanted his child to have a different life. He looked for a job, but no one wanted to give a job to a boy from the ghetto. People turned their heads and looked the other way. Everyone was blind. He was desperate, but no one understood his desperation.

He broke away from society. He bought a gun and stole a car. He tried to rob a bank, but the police saw him and shot him. He died face down in the street, his gun in his hand, as a curious crowd gathered round to watch him die. They were the people who had turned their heads to look the other way when he was alive.

That night his son was born and the baby’s mother cried because her child had no father.

**********

After doing the first two readings, I give the students the lyrics as a cloze exercise.  Notice that in the song he says 'she don't need'. With beginners I correct it and put in 'she doesn't need' and they don't notice.  With more advanced classes I leave the original expression and if someone notices I explain that many people who are not well-educated talk like that.  And that singers of popular music sometimes use incorrect grammar in order to identify themselves with ordinary people.

This is the cloze exercise I give my students:

In the Ghetto

As the snow flies …

On a cold and grey _____________ morning,

A poor little baby child is ____________, in the ghetto.

And his mama ________________

'Cause if there's one ___________ she doesn't need

It's another hungry mouth to feed in the ghetto.

People, don't you ________________?

A child ____________ a helping hand.

Or he’s going to be an _________ young man some day.

Now, take a look at you and me,

Are we too blind to ______________?

Or do we simply turn our heads and _______ the other way?

Well, the world turns…

And a hungry little _________ with a runny nose

Plays in the _____________ as the cold wind blows, in the ghetto.

And his hunger burns.

So he starts to roam the streets at _______________

And he learns how to steal

And he _____________ how to fight, in the ghetto.

Then one night in desperation

The young __________ breaks away.

He buys a gun, steals a _____________.

He tries to ____________ but he doesn't get far.

And his mama cries.

As a crowd gathers round an ___________ young man,

Face down in the street with a gun in his _______________, in the ghetto.

And as her young man dies

On a cold and grey _______________ morning

Another little baby child is born, in the ghetto.

And his mama cries. In the ghetto. In the ghetto.

Notice that the missing words are easy words that I'm fairly sure my students know and can hear.  Even so, it's not simple for the students.  Often I chose "easy" words that my students did know, but could not recognize as they were sung.  "Some day" was an expression that they could not hear. So I have adapted my blanks to make the exercise doable.  The point to this kind of exercise is NOT to test our students' listening skills.  The point is simply to get them to listen several times to a song they can understand.  Comprehensible Input can't get any sweeter.  They should feel successful and enjoy doing it.  I always insist that they must not write while they are listening. I have them put their pens away and follow with a finger.  Then we go back and see what words they remember.  That is when I allow them to write in the blanks.

The song dates from 1969 but unfortunately, as my students realize, the problem it describes still exists, so the message is not at all dated.  Many have told me that they downloaded it and enjoy listening to it. 

Grant Boulanger says .....

Changes are coming in our local language instruction ecosystems. Administrators who are paying attention to what happens in their buildings have become openly concerned about the lack of equity in language education in the United States.

When administrators understand that method is important (it isn’t important in all subject areas) and shifting method (which we can do if we have a growth mindset instead of a fixed mindset) can increase results, they begin to understand that the goal of comprehension based language teachers is not a personal vendetta against colleagues who do things differently.

Rather, it’s about college readiness for more students by getting more and more people of all shapes and sizes through second year language classes and into the upper levels. It’s about growing, changing and adapting as professional educators to improve what we do for the benefit of our students.

Darcy Pippin, a teacher-leader in Oklahoma, has some amazing statistics as her department has transitioned to comprehension based instruction (TCI – Teaching with Comprehensible Input) over the last six years – going from approximately 15 kids in 4th year and 15 in AP to 30 in each. Besides that, she went from around 30% passing the AP test (that’s about 5 kids of 15) to around 75% passing (that’s about 23 kids of 30). Those are impressive stats.

If we contrast this with existing district statistics where TCI (Teaching with Comprehensible Input) is not used, it’s all the more powerful. What is your district’s retention rate over four years? Retention rate in a traditional public high school, which will be mirrored across the country, will be <10 4="" over="" p="" retention="" years.="">

Those students who make it to upper levels of study will be mostly white, mostly female, nearly all high-achieving students. Does that reflect your district’s student demographic? If not, why not? Does it reflect your district’s dedication to closing the achievement gap? If not, should it? If so, what changes do we need to make?

But these are just statistics. And people are naturally skeptical of statistics, as they should be. It’s only one part. The stories that are being told in schools across the country right now are what people are starting to notice and respond to. It is the stories about comprehension based instruction that will create in other teachers the feeling that they can be a part of this change.

Everyone wants to feel successful and feel like they’re good at what they do. Everyone wants their kids to buy in and feel successful too. So, there’s the special education student who shines in your class and, in fact, outshines many higher-achieving kids.

There’s the social outcast who raises her head, laughs and smiles. There’s the obnoxious kid who gets kicked out of all his other classes but not yours. There’s the high-achieving kid who is writing better by March than many level three kids from grammar-centric classes.

There’s the shy kid who doesn’t say a word, yet scores at Intermediate Low on listening and writes beautifully. What’s the common denominator here? How do we tell these stories to colleagues and administrators?

Then there’s teacher X who, just three years ago was a staunch traditional grammar/book based instructor, honing his explanations and packets for years and who had written off TCI (an umbrella term that includes TPRS) because of an underlying fear of change. It probably sounded more like, “I tried that already and it doesn’t work”.

But, after more encouragement and better understanding of the method, he now says things like, “Wow, my kids are so much more engaged. They’re not resisting me anymore. We have so much more fun and I’m so much happier.”

These are the stories that are now being told in various parts of the country and tipping points are being reached inside many WL departments, one teacher at a time, even as the corporate model applied to education is moving students into a more robotic mode.

Teachers are being evaluated now largely in terms of work accomplished, and kids are increasingly becoming mere robotic memorizers plagued with more work that can reosonably be accomplished in one day. There is less pursuit of happiness and more pursuit of work.

When comprehension based instruction/TCI is used in a classroom, however, the opposite happens, as described in the examples above. The human part of language education, which alone guarantees mastery of the language, is preserved in language classrooms that are based on comprehensible input, and great gains in actual fluency (vs. bogus testing) are the result.

In my district, we’re reaching the tipping point. Working from within the existing structures, we have crafted and presented a TCI-friendly goal statement that will be adopted for the district secondary language classes. It’s only a starting point, but this statement is clearly drawn from our district’s own language around equity and the ACTFL 90% statement published in 2011.

It’s a statement of district intent that is very hard to argue with. The harder part will be putting the goal statement into action. But our district is supportive. They’re implementing Balanced Literacy in language arts and it’s a big shift for a lot of teachers.

So, the district people are saying that they will support our department in the same way, with ongoing training and a transitional period so people don’t feel as if they need to change tomorrow. This is critical. They’re recognizing that change is scary, but that transitioning to a growth mindset, rather than a fixed mindset, is the first step.

Grant Boulanger is a teacher of Spanish in St. Paul, MN.  

Big News!

There will be a TPRS workshop in Agen, France in August, 2013. As far as I know, this is the first TPRS workshop to be held in France.

I have been able to organize this opportunity for teachers in France with Teri Wiechart, who coaches at NTPRS.  Alike Last from the Netherlands and Lynnette St George from Wheaton Academy near Chicago are in on the adventure too.

When?

August 6^th – August 10^th, 2013

Morning sessions 9:00 am – 12:00 am

Afternoon sessions 2:30 pm – 5:30 pm

Why?

Teachers of English as a foreign language in France or elsewhere will discover TPRS in sessions where they are taught a new language with the method and then they will learn to use it in training sessions with students.

This international workshop is also designed for teachers of French as a foreign language who wish to visit France while improving their teaching skills with TPRS.  Teachers of other languages are welcome. Both beginners and advanced users of the method will benefit from being coached by our experienced staff.

Where?

Agen lies in the Garonne valley in Southwest France at the heart of a rich agricultural area.  You can get to Agen by high speed train (TGV). The trip takes about an hour from either Bordeaux or Toulouse and a little over four hours from Paris.  The site of the workshop is within easy walking distance of the main shopping area, a dozen hotels and the train station. There is a free bus to get around the city center every twelve minutes.

Prices at downtown hotels range from 25 euros to 125 euros a night. You can get a decent meal for 12 euros in numerous excellent restaurants. For more information you can visit the Tourist Office site:   http://www.ot-agen.org/

Who?

Teri Wiechart

Teri Wiechart worked as a French teacher at Delphos Jefferson High School from 1975 to 2010.  Since then she has been working as a consultant to the Ohio Department of Education, working on updating the learning standards for Ohio’s K-12 students and implementing the new standards.

She has been a TPRS/CI trainer since 2001, working as a Presenter and Coach at the National TPRS Conference since 2007.  She has also served as the coaching coordinator at the International Forum for Language Teachers, 2010, 2012, and 2013. Teri has a Masters of the Arts in Teaching and she studied abroad at l’Université de Strasbourg. She is currently President of the Ohio Foreign Language Association.

Lynnette St George

Lynnette St. George grew up in a French-American family in New England in a community infused with multi-cultural influences  from France and Canada. Lynnette holds 2 Masters degrees, an MATL from Nova Southeastern University in Miami in Florida and an MA in French with a specialization in pedagogy and linguistics from L’école française of Middlebury College. She recently adapted the novel Le nouvel Houdini and its teacher's guide for TPRS publishing. Currently, Lynnette is the head of World Languages at Wheaton Academy, a Christian prep high school in the Chicago suburbs. Lynnette is a frequently requested speaker at professional conferences as well as a guest lecturer for University methods classes. 

Alike Last

Alike Last lives in the Netherlands. She is a French teacher and organization psychologist. She introduced TPRS in the Netherlands in 2007 and organized several TPRS workshops for Blaine Ray and Susan Gross in the Netherlands. Alike Last initiated network meetings for Dutch and Belgian TPRS teachers who are interested in TPRS and she is co-founder of a Dutch platform for TPRS. Alike Last bases her French lessons on Multiple Intelligences and she teaches French with TPR and TPRS to adolescents at a Hotel school and in her own language institute she teaches French to adults. Alike Last is also a TPRS-teacher trainer and in 2012 she gave several workshops at the NTPRS in Las Vegas, one with Bryce Hedstrom, called: "The art and genius of going slowly".

Judy Dubois

Judith Logsdon-Dubois began teaching English to French speakers in 1967 as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Cameroon.  Married to François Dubois, she moved to France in 1984 with their four children.  She began teaching adult learners in 1986 and earned a Masters and then a DEA in English Literature and Civilization from the University of Bordeaux III.  In 1991 she began teaching translation and American literature at the DEPAA, an antenna of the University of Bordeaux for future English teachers.  In1995 she passed the French civil service exam for teachers and obtained the aggrégation in 1997. She taught at the Lycée Jean-Baptiste de Baudre in Agen from 1996 to 2012.  She is a published author and since her retirement has been giving private lessons and travelling around France to talk about TPRS. She has led TPRS workshops in France and in Switzerland.

What?

The workshop program will be centered around experiencing the method, first as a student, learning Dutch from Alike Last in Fluency Fast sessions, then observing experienced teachers work with real students, and finally practicing with the same students while being coached.  There will be sessions on classroom management, Embedded Reading, working with films, Krashen’s underlying theories, and French literature and culture. Considerable time will be spent in debriefing sessions, so that there will be more back and forth communication between the presenters and the participants than can be handled in larger programs.  On Saturday, August 6^th, there will be an optional  trip to Bordeaux with a guided tour of the city.

We will help participants to find lodging if requested, but we cannot advance the cost of booking a hotel.

How Much?

For five days, morning and afternoon sessions, the price is 395 euros. We are deliberately keeping the price much lower than is usual for a five day workshop with such highly qualified presenters in order to encourage European teachers to discover TPRS. We are able to offer this exceptional price only because of the generosity of our workshop presenters who hope to see TPRS develop in Europe as it has in the United States.

Contacts:

We will be glad to answer any questions.  Don’t hesitate to contact Judith Logsdon-Dubois by e-mail: judyldubois@aol.com  

Special early bird price : 295 euros

The Hungry Cowboy

This is the second story which I use to introduce the vocabulary which my students need to understand a song. I give the students more liberty with this story than I did when I presented Michael Jackson, the blind grey bat.  They decide on the cowboy's name, how many children and grandchildren he has and where he goes.  We do the arithmetic of figuring out how many mouths to feed he has on the board, practicing our numbers.  In almost every TPRS story you ask how many there are, in order to work in the use of numbers as often as possible.  When students do arithmetic regularly, instead of in a specific unit, they retain the numbers better and no longer flinch when they have to say anything larger than twenty. This story is fun to act out and the entire class can play the "angry crowd".  Have you guessed what song we are going to listen to?

The Hungry Cowboy

Mark was a cowboy. He lived in Kansas City. He had thirteen children and 26 grandchildren. He had 39 mouths to feed. He had no money and no job. His children and his grandchildren were very hungry. They were cold because they didn't have jackets.  They had runny noses. Mark decided to break away. 

 He went to Chicago. He wanted to buy 39 hamburgers, but he didn't have enough money. He asked Bill Gates to give him 152 dollars, but Bill Gates didn't understand. He looked the other way. 

Mark roamed the West. He got to Phoenix, Arizona. In desperation, he stole a horse with three legs. He went into a bank with a gun. He stole 318 dollars, but he didn't get far, because the horse had only three legs. An angry crowd gathered round him. Mark cried.

Michael Jackson the Blind Grey Bat

This is a story that I use to preteach vocabulary which my students need to understand a song that I use often in class.  I'll not give you the title of the song, an old classic, older than Michael Jackson.  Let's see if you can figure it out.  

There was a blind bat.  He wasn't black and he wasn't white.  He was grey.  So his name was Michael Jackson.

Michael Jackson, the blind grey bat, lived in Alaska.  He had a big problem.  In Alaska it snows every day and the cold wind blows.  In Alaska there are not a lot of insects.  Bats eat insects.  Michael Jackson, the blind grey bat, was a very hungry bat.

So Michael Jackson, the blind grey bat, decided to break away.  He flew to the ranch of Michael Jackson the singer in California.  

In California it doesn't snow and the wind doesn't blow.  It isn't cold in California.  There are a lot of insects in California.

Michael Jackson, the blind grey bat is no longer hungry.  Now he is a fat blind grey bat.   

*     *     *

This story is easy to circle and you can get in a lot of repetitions.  It's good for weak students or beginners.  It's possible to use the present tense throughout the story if you prefer. I explain to my French students that "blind as a bat" is an expression that corresponds to "myope comme une taupe."  I also point out that any verb followed by "away" is likely to mean partir.  So they are able to grasp the idea that to break away would imply a kind of rupture with the past.  And they often use the French expression se casser to translate it.

New Year's Eve and the Yellow Ferrari

This story was made up by my class of adult beginners.  It's based on Anne Matava's "Who's paying?"

It’s New Year’s Eve.  Gerald and Frank go to Le Tal Toul. They go on foot, slowly.  Gerald wants six bottles of champagne. One bottle costs 46.32 euros.  Six bottles cost 277 euros and ninety-two cents.  Laura asks, “Who’s paying?”  

Gerald says, “I’m not paying!”  

Frank says, “I’m not paying!”  

No one pays.  Laura says, “Get out!”

Gerald and Frank go to Le Ranch in Aiguillon.  They go on foot, very slowly. At Le Ranch Frank orders six bottles of Veuve Cliquot champagne. One bottle costs 125.05 euros.  Six bottles cost seven hundred and fifty euros and thirty cents.  The manager asks, “Who’s paying?”  

“I’m not paying,” says Gerald.  

“I’m not paying,” says Frank. 

No one pays.  The manager says, “Get out!”

Frank and Gerald walk. They go on foot, very very slowly.  Angelina Jolie sees them.  She drives a yellow Ferrari. She stops and smiles at Frank.  She says, “Get in.”

There are only two seats in a Ferrari.  Gerald is in the trunk.

They go to Bordeaux.  They go by car and they go very quickly.  They go to the Grand Théatre.  Gerald orders six bottles of Dom Ruinart Rosé 1996. One bottle costs 204 euros.  Six bottles cost one thousand two hundred and twenty-four euros.  The barman asks, “Who’s paying?” 

Frank says, “I’m not paying.”  

Gerald says, “I’m not paying.”  

“I’m paying,” says Angelina Jolie. 

The champagne is very good.  Happy New Year!

Adults can make stories too.

I have a new group of students, adults who want to improve their English in order to travel.  Some of them are planning a trip to Australia.

We often think that TPRS stories are for kids, but adults can have fun with them too.  Here is a story that my new students came up with.  I used Anne Matava's script "The Thirsty Boy".  The original structures were : is thirsty, goes to and I'm sorry. I suspected that my students were already familiar with I'm sorry, so I replaced it with an expression they will certainly hear often when they travel, What would you like to drink?  

There was a very handsome vampire.  His name was Edward and he looked like George Clooney.  He lived in a castle in Scotland near Loch Ness.  Edward was very thirsty.  He wanted to drink.

He took the Eurostar from London to Marmande.  Then he hitchhiked.  Angel was driving from Marmande in her yellow Ferrari and she saw the handsome vampire, so she stopped. 

“Where do you want to go?” she asked.

“I want to go to Aiguillon,” Edward answered.  “I’m very thirsty.”

So Angel drove Edward to Aiguillon and they stopped at the Terrace.

“What would you like to drink?” asked the waitress.

“I’d like some champagne,” said Angel.

“I’d like some blo….. cranberry juice,” said Edward.

The waitress brought a glass of champagne for Angel and a glass of cranberry juice for Edward.  Edward drank and said, “Yuck! This is horrible.”

So Edward and Angel left the Terrace and went to the Bierbel café.  “What would you like to drink?” asked the waiter.

“I’d like a glass of champagne,” said Angel.

“I’d like some ..... tomato juice,” said Edward.

The waiter brought a glass of Buzet for Angel and a glass of tomato juice for Edward.  Edward drank and said, “Yuck!!! This is awful!” 

So Angel and Edward went to the Ranch. “What would you like to drink?” asked the barman.

“I’d like some champagne,” said Angel.  “I’d like some pink champagne,” said Edward.

The waiter brought a big bottle of pink champagne.  Angel drank the whole bottle and Edward was very happy.  He likes champagne-flavored blood.

The End

Kim's Game

Kim is Rudyard Kipling's best character, a lovable little scoundrel that jeers at all that is pompous.  Trained by a master spy, he develops his memory and gift for observation by playing what is now known as Kim's game. I used it to help students remember vocabulary before I discovered TPRS.  I still play the game with my students, but in a more effective manner.

I go into class with a large covered basket filled with things that I've picked up around the house.  I uncover the basket and I start taking items out of the basket one by one.  I ask the students if they know what it is, and if they don't know the word in English I tell them.  When the basket is empty we count the objects and then I start putting them back in the basket, asking if the students remember the words.  Then I cover the basket and ask what is in it.  When a student says a name I take out the object and set it on the table. They try to remember everything and I give hints to help them out. 

How has TPRS changed the way I play the game?  Well, for one thing, I try to set up pairs of objects.  A little pink monkey and a big black monkey.  A little white shoe and a big red shoe.  an old blue toy car and a new green toy car.  Constantly repeating the adjectives helps them get a feeling for the place and order of adjectives in English.  

And I no longer simply call out the names of the objects.  I make a constant running commentary.  "What is there in the basket?  A little pink monkey?  Is there a little pink monkey in the basket?  Yes, there is!  There's a little pink monkey in the basket."  

" A green tractor?  Is there a green tractor in the basket?  No, there isn't.  There isn't a green tractor in the basket."  

So my students are not hearing isolated words, but words in context so that they acquire the structures words need to make sense.

Once they know the items in the basket and can remember and identify all of them, you could start a story with an object or several objects.  The little pink monkey and the big black monkey can have lots of adventures.

This is a simple game that can be played with very small children, but older students and adults can also enjoy Kim's Game.  It's a good way to familiarize them with vocabulary dealing with meals and everything we find on a table, cups, glasses, napkins, etc.  It can also be used to teach specific vocabulary such as tools and office material. Doll house furniture is a lot of fun.  You could even use a woman's handbag instead of a basket.  If you do, be sure beforehand to teach them the expression "everything but the kitchen sink."  And then put a miniature kitchen sink in the handbag.