Zombies are how I roll...

A pretty awesome Spanish teacher and I have been talking this year about teaching, and he reintroduced me to TPRS (if you need a short introduction its here).

Quite frankly, I had heard about TPRS before - even attended a conference. It was fantastic, and I learned a lot, but I struggled with that most ancient struggle...

... but wait, I teach Latin. And that's not how we roll.

I do teach Latin, and for years, that wasn't how we rolled. We read stories about Cornelia and Flavia sitting underneath the tree (and some of us made up hilarious and shockingly violent stories about the tree coming to life and exacting its revenge for having to deal with girls doing nothing but sitting under him for 50 some odd chapters...), we did grammar exercises, and try to come up with something wacky and crazy because otherwise violent images emerged in our heads concerning the fates of the rather banal and unimpressive (and sometimes, downright whiny) characters... well, you get the picture. 18 years later, it wasn't pretty.

So, rewind back to the part where I was talking to the Spanish teacher about TPRS. And then he showed me this and this blog. And I started to think - I wasn't sold yet, but I have heard such great things. So, I tried it. It was the 3rd day of school. Why not?

I had no idea what to expect. I had NO idea what I was doing.

But, about 5 minutes into it, I realized I was having fun. Like, serious, awesome fun. One hour later, I realized that I had screamed, bounced around, and joked my way through an entire hour without stopping, and using very little English.

You know runner's high? Yep, teachers get it too.

So, after introducing and circling (check out this site for instructions - it is almost permanently up on my  Internet browser, and its AWESOME. I'm such a fan.) through some basic phrases and basic sentence structure (S+V+DO quote+IO), we put it together and started a story as a class. When the kids could, they answered in Latin, where they needed to, they answered in English.

Here's why I love my job the most. The story below was created by the kids. So, naturally, it's violent. But, because my kids are good people, no one dies. They just become a zombie (after bursting out of the stomachs of others after being eaten of course). And I get to pantomime this story, and talk about it for a week. And the kids are learning.

Zombies. Latin. #yolo
______

In fabula, est puer. In fabula, quoque est puella. Puero nomen est Frank. Puellae nomen est Susie. Puella dicit “Salve” puero. Puer respondit “Salve. Quid agis?” Puella respondet, “nec bene nec male” puero. Puer et puella inveniunt leonem. Puella agit leonem. Weee! Deinde puer agit leonem. Puella cadit de leone ad terram. Unicornus venit, et salvat puellam. Eugapae! Omnes volant ad terram unicornorum, et salutant reginam unicornorum. Omnes simul contant et saltant. Omnes eunt ad KFC. Ecce! Est tigris venit et cenat unicornum. Miser unicorum! Deinde Batvir venit et tigrem necat. Tamen, tigris non est mortuus, est un-mortuus! Unicornus surgit e tigre un-mortuo. It ad kansas. Sed non vult habitare in Kansas, et it ad Hawaii. Est frigidus in Kansas! Navigat in nave ad Hawaii, et ferit icebergem, et cadit in mare. Unicornus in mare habitat solus semper.

Translation:
In the story, there is a boy. In the story, there is also a girl. The name of the boy is Frank. The name of the girl is Susie. The girl says "Hello," to the boy. The boy responds, "Hello! How are you?" The girl responds, "neither good nor bad," to the boy. The boy and the girl find a lion. The girl rides the lion. Weee! Then the boy rides the lion. The girl falls from the lion to the ground. A unicorn comes, and saves the girl. Hooray! Everybody flies to the land of the unicorns, and greets the queen of the unicorns. Everyone sings at the same time and dances. Everyone goes to KFC. Look! A tiger comes and eats the unicorn! Poor unicorn! Then Batman comes and kills the tiger. However, the tiger is not dead, he is undead! The unicorn rises from the undead tiger. He goes to Kansas. But he does not wish to live in Kansas, and he goes to Hawaii. It is cold in Kansas! He sails in his ship to Hawaii, and he hits an iceberg, and he falls into the sea. The unicorn always lives in the sea alone.