Bookworm Deluxe -

What is it?

TPRS® is a specific instructional strategy involves the co-creation of a narrative through story asking, using high frequency vocabulary, and providing lots of input in the target language with small amounts of translation for clarity. Story asking is the process where the teacher asks the the students questions to determine the details of a story. Skills involved in this process are circling, pausing & pointing, using gestures, comprehension checks, pop-up grammar, and so forth. Literacy is a huge component as the created narrative becomes a text for extension activities, follow up stories, and so forth.

Bookworm Deluxe -

Tell me more!

TPRS® was invented in 1990 by a Spanish teacher named Blaine Ray. Blaine was inspired by the works of Stephen Krashen as well as James Asher, who stressed the importance of gestures and movement to help in the language acquisition process. TPRS® has grown and evolved quite a bit over the past three decades. Formerly known as Total Physical Response Storytelling, TPRS has evolved thanks to the thousands of teachers who have contributed, expanded, and refined the strategy. There is also a huge body of research on the topic. For some of those resources and to see it in action, see the resources below.

TPRS in Action

Featured video: Watch Aya Shehata as she gives a TPRS demo in Japanese, including background about the strategy and how she incorporates it into her class.

Bookworm Deluxe -

At its core, is a strategic word-puzzle game that requires players to connect adjacent letter tiles to form words. The objective is straightforward: feed the resident bookworm, Lex, by spelling words at least three letters long. However, the game introduces layers of complexity through various tile types:

Today, while the original digital versions have become harder to purchase legally on mainstream platforms like Steam, remains a nostalgic icon for "word nerds". It proved that language could be dynamic and thrilling, securing its legacy as a cornerstone of the puzzle genre.

The game’s charm lies in its mascot, Lex, a green bookworm who encourages players with a high-pitched voice and provides definitions for some of the more obscure words discovered during play. This interactive dictionary feature made it a staple in classrooms and homes alike, earning it a place as Notable Computer Software for Children by the American Library Association. It effectively bridged the gap between a single-player game of Scrabble and a frantic puzzle experience. The Deluxe Legacy