Open House/Back to School Parent Night can be an important time to showcase what you do in a TCI/TPRS classroom.  Recently, there have been many conversations and questions about what people do during Open House.  We want to show the parents what it is like in a TCI/TPRS classroom which is completely different than any other classroom.  Here are some possibilities:

• Do a short TPR lesson (2-3 minutes).  You can do stand up, sit down, and walk.  Have parents do the actions.  This is a way to show how we acquire language and how much fun we have in class.
• Act out a short story.  Here are some possible story scripts:
  • Susie Gross’ Cat & Mouse story  Lesson Plan/Story Script  |  Pictures
  • Using a parent volunteer: There is a boy/girl.  His/Her name is ___.  ____ says hola.
• Show a highlight video.  One year I showed a video movie trailer style of what happens in my class.  Here is the video.  Or film a class prior to Parent Night and show a clip.
• Explain language acquisition.  One thing I always do is explain briefly how language acquisition works.  Not many details, just the basics as in first is listening and reading (lots of comprehensible input) and then writing and speaking (little output).  I tell the parents that it is similar to how they learned their native language: no verb conjugations, lots of input, speaking only when they are ready, and writing (writing is the result of lots of reading).
• Play Kahoot!  Have language acquisition questions like: 1) True or False.  According to research, learning verb conjugations will help you acquire a language.  2)  If input is also ________, acquisition will occur more quickly.  A-difficult B-compelling C-in a list.  Or have questions about Spanish speaking questions or the benefits of learning a second language.
• From Darcy Pippins: If your school does an open house or parent night, send out an email invitation to parents. Schedule a “demo” in 15min intervals, include those start times in your email. Parents can experience it first hand! Then send out a survey asking them for feedback!
• TCI/TPRS Research.  Share research/bibliography of TCI/TPRS with the parents. This is the letter that I have made available some years. (The grade breakdown is no longer valid)
• MovieTalk.  Do a MovieTalk with a short video or part of a video.
• PollEverywhere survey.  Using their cell phones, have the parents take a quick survey on www.polleverywhere.com.  Possible question: I took a language in high school and now:  A-I speak/read it fluently B-I speak/read it somewhat C-I can only say a few words  D-I don’t remember it all all.  Since most parents learned a language using the traditional way, I tell them that my goal is proficiency and the methods that I use will lead the students on a path towards fluency and the words will stick in their heads whether they know it or not.
• Make a brochure.  Use Canva, Piktochart, Pages, etc. to create a brochure explaining your class.
• Scavenger Hunt.   Check out this post.
• iFLT/NTPRS/CI Teaching Facebook page.  Here are the posts with “parent” in them that contain other ideas.

What do you do for Parent Night?