Practice II
- Practical Nº 14: CLIL
THEORY
3- CLIL can
provide advantages in acquisition/ learning in young children for many reasons.
For starters, the study of a topic from another subject that students may find
interesting and from which they have some previous, can lead to a more natural
class, in contrast with and normally-artificial language class. What is more,
the literacy development in the first class will transfer to the second or
foreign language. As the language is learnt in a real context it is thus viewed
as authentic, letting students see the usefulness of the L2.
Students also can develop the use of two languages
simultaneously until the age when lateralization occurs.
Moreover they will be able to enhance their thinking
processes as they will be provided with situations in which the learning of
another subject could even be more successful because of the effort of decoding
it and thinking about in a foreign language. This aforementioned ‘naturalness’,
provided by similar content will help YLE pick up the L2 more easily, and thus
will enhance the acquisition process.
As regards the role the learner has, according to
Piaget, it is that of an active learner. Using CLIL, the student is an
active learner who, with the necessary help provided by an adult, can make
sense of language with objects used through the development of tasks and
activities.
4) In CLIL
classes, English is taught in combination with other curriculum subjects, this
means that it is not taught in isolation and it makes easier for students to
observe the usefulness of learning the foreign language because they are
learning it in real contexts. In this way, teachers using CLIL are not only
raising language awareness but also increasing the intercultural
knowledge and understanding as very often the CLIL language will itself
only be a platform by which students may take an interest in other languages
and cultures as well. Furthermore, students are exposed to a different
kind of input, which is one in which they will feel more comfortable with due
to the motivation provided by a cross-curricula design of their interest. CLIL
classes cater for different learning styles and strategies through
project work and task based projects where cooperation and collaboration will be
needed to solve problems presented. Besides, these projects may be carried out
by ICT; that is to say that there is a lot of use of communication and
technology though CLIL in order engaged students in classes.
Students learn and use language in an immediate and
meaningful way. The target language is the vehicle through which they
meet social and academic needs, employ learning strategies and critical
thinking skills, and expand and display their knowledge of curricular content.
6) Bloom’s
taxonomy helps students reach a high-order thinking in class. It leads students
to a different form of organization of new information to be learnt. This is
why Bloom’s Taxonomy is based on six basic steps when teaching: remember,
understand, apply, analyze, evaluate and create. Going in this order, teachers
guide students from the simple to the more difficult and by doing this they
help students reach a high-order thinking.
At primary school level, we can achieve this by teaching
step by step, using lots of visual and audio materials in order to help
students to develop their L2. First, we should concentrate in making students
remember the topic (warm up) or prior knowledge. Then, we should help them
understand the topic so that later they could apply it. Afterwards, they should
be able to analyze and evaluate the topic. And, finally, they will be able to
create or produce something on their own. If teachers follow this order they
are guiding students to construct their abilities of thinking in a high-order
way.
DIDACTIC
SEQUENCE
Topic: Nutrients
and healthy diet
Areas involved: English and Natural Sciences
Aims:
·
To raise awareness of the importance of including healthy food on
student's diet;
·
To study the different nutrients involved in the oval circle;
·
To know about different healthy habits;
·
To compare and contrast the Argentinian food oval and the North-American
food pyramid.
·
To use the structure should/should not, imperatives.
School Context:
School: Nº 6 or Nº 25.
Group: 5º D – 5º C (School Nº 6) – 5º A – 5º C (School Nº 25). Ages:
from 10 to 11.
Frequency of classes: two forty-five minutes classes a week per group.
Estimated length of the project: 5 to 6 lessons
Content:
Nutrients, the Argentinian food oval and diet.
Language:
-Lexis: nutrients (carbohydrates, fats, minerals, proteins, water,
vitamins); different kinds of food (meat, vegetables, fruits, dairy products,
liquids, flours, desserts); the four meals (breakfast, lunch, tea, snacks,
dinner).
-Grammar: should/ should not; imperatives.
-Functions:
-Macroskills: Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing.
-Higher Order Thinking Skills:
Thinking critically about the products offered on the global market;
Recognizing the importance of water in the Argentinian food oval diet;
Acknowledging the importance of a varied diet;
Procedure:
Students will
be informed about the project that will be carried out with the Natural
Sciences teacher.
Class 1
·
Brainstorming:
Students will be asked what they know about nutrients. This previous knowledge
will be written down on the blackboard, getting as a result a c-map (containing
kinds of nutrients, different foods)
·
Flashcards of
different kinds of food and the meals will be stuck on the blackboard in order
to present the language they already know in English. Then students will
classify those into healthy and unhealthy. Why do you make that classification?
·
Students will
be asked to monitor the food they eat at home during a whole week using the
following worksheet. They should include the four main meals and the snacks in
between.
Breakfast
|
Lunch
|
Tea
|
Dinner
|
Snacks
|
Drinks (Nº and type)
|
|
Sunday
|
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Monday
|
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Tuesday
|
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Wednesday
|
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Thursday
|
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Friday
|
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Saturday
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Class 2
- Then students will be
shown this video about nutrients and food (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcNpcqtl2yU). Afterwards, some flashcards about nutrients
will be stuck on the blackboard.
- Student will work with
the complete worksheet. They will be asked to rate their diets from ‘very
healthy’ to ‘unhealthy’, based on their common knowledge.
- Then they should
compare it with their classmates’, giving each other advice on what they
should/should not eat. The structure will be explained as the urge of
using it will emerge.
Class 3
- As a warm-up the
flashcard from previous classes (meals, foods, and nutrients) will be
stuck on the blackboard so as to check that students remember the lexis
learnt on previous classes.
- The teacher will
introduce the Argentinian food oval.
·
And then, students will be
asked to compare it with the model taught in some English-speaking countries.
What are the differences between them? Which is the importance of water? Are
the other nutrients equally distributed? Which is the reason for the different
shapes?
·
Students will learn how to
give orders, using imperatives. The teacher will write examples on the board,
and then there will be oral practice.
·
After that, students will
decide whether they prefer the pyramid or the oval, and they will produce
posters using imperatives (such as ‘eat more fruit’, ‘drink more water’) based
on their choice. These will be hung all over the classroom so as to promote
healthy eating habits.
Class 4
·
As a warm-up the teacher
will bring pictures of food which students will classify into healthy and
unhealthy, pasting them on the board. Students will analyze that products and
think about what kinds of food the global market offers to consumers.
·
After that, the teacher
will show students flashcards about healthy habits, including doing exercise,
spending time in the outside, not watching much television, not playing much on
the computer, etc.
·
In pairs, students will ask
each other about their everyday habits, taking down notes.
Classes 5
and 6
·
As a final project,
students will be asked to produce in pairs, their own healthy diets, including
meals, different types of food, nutrients, healthy habits and choosing either
the oval or the pyramid.
·
Finally, they will share
their final projects with the rest of the class. And altogether they will
choose which is the healthiest of them.