CLIL SKILLS:
CLIL is one of the most innovative and successful developments of Dutch and European education.
CLIL is a strong means to offer children a better preparation for their future life,
in which international contacts and mobility will be increasingly more widespread.
In CLIL Skills the team of authors, composed of teacher trainers working at Dutch teacher training institutions involved in CLIL. This document is a a comprehensive handbook, aimed at supporting teachers in their daily work.
LET'S CLIL! by Richamond/Santillana is a complete guide for those teachers interested in CLIL methodology.
Seelye (1984) explains that we can find a “Big C” and a “Small C”. The big one includes literature, music, film and symbols. The small one is focused on typical food, clothing, values, activities, manners and practices of a group. Clandfield (2008) talks about a “K culture” which is referring to behaviours or customs or stereotypes.
Then we use this chart to calculate approximately their energy intake. Building on that, my colleagues from the PE dpt. could calculate roughly the energy they use when practicing different sports and this would yield their energy balance.
Culture could be divided in two different
concepts.
Seelye (1984) explain that we can find a “Big
C” and a “Small C”. The big one includes literature, music, film and symbols.
The small one is focused on typical food, clothing, values, activities, manners
and practices of a group. Clandfield (2008) talk about a “K culture” which is
referring to behaviors or customs or stereotypes.
All these definitions of culture are included
on CLIL methodology and with this information we can prepare a unit for English
as a foreign language and talk about a typical meal for example.
TOPIC: The pancake day!
READING: Origins about the pancake day.
Shrove
Tuesday and Pancake Day are not so well known in the United States. Americans
are more familiar with Mardi Gras, which is also on the day before Ash
Wednesday and is a very similar celebration. Different countries hold different
events for Pancake Day. In England, some towns have pancake races. People must
run a race with a frying pan and toss the pancakes as they run. The winner is
the first person to cross the finishing line with a pancake that is still
intact. Children like to have a go at tossing the hot pancakes out of the
frying pan in their kitchens. In Newfoundland, Canada, the cook puts a ring or
a coin in the pancakes. The person who finds the coin will be rich and the
person who finds the ring will be the next to get married.
- Questions about the
reading.
- Pancake recipe:
It’s possible to listen de recipe or to watch
a video about it:
Finally we can prepare pancakes in class and eat
them! Mmmm Yummy!
In 2ºESO Physics and Chemistry we are learning to
differentiate and classify material system in mixtures (homogeneous,
heterogeneous) and pure substances (elements and compounds). So instead to take
any kind of examples, we can choose the ones related with the traditional food
the English speaking people make in Halloween.
We can choose since the typical pumpkin, chocolates
and sweets with specific brand, and also cider, toffee apples, boxty,
colcannon, etc… Firstly we are going to classify in the two big groups:
mixtures or pure substances. Then we are going to search how they are made and
which are their components. We classify those components until we find the
simplest one, that it should be an element.
Each student should choose at least one and classify
all its components. Display this work on a large poster board with photos of
each mixture and substance.
We can expand the activity with the separation methods
with the chosen food.
In 2ºESO Physics and Chemistry we are learning to differentiate and classify material system in mixtures and pure substances. So instead to take any kind of examples, we can choose the ones related with the traditional food the English speaking people make in Halloween.
Some collaborations of this subject with my Halloween theme could be:
Biology and Geology: studying diet, proper diet, and different amounts of sugar in Halloween candies.
Social Science: history and social recognition of this peculiar festival and others on the same day from other countries and / or religions.
English (as a foreign language subject): vocabulary of particular Halloween expressions, and learn about the traditional celebrations that take place on this day.
Arts: making special decorations and costumes for Halloween.
The PE teacher must take a list made by students with the calories they have -or haven't- burned.
The activity mentioned above can be closely connected with different subjects and worked through an interdisciplinary way.
Both in the subjects of Biology and Physical Education, students can study how basing the diet according to the nutritional pyramid has very clear benefits on people's health. In English, students can prepare a recipe book based on those types of food that must be consumed frequently.
The activity mentioned above
can be closely connected with different subjects and worked through an
interdisciplinary way.
Both in the subject of Biology
and Physical Education, students can study how basing the diet according to the
nutritional pyramid has very clear benefits on people's health.
In the English, students can
prepare a recipe book based on those types of foods that must be consumed frequently.
In this way, the students will surely learn
linguistic and content aspects but at the same time we are creating a very
important environmental awareness that makes future generations responsible for
the planet on which they live.
Currently I'm teaching "Excel sheets" as part of the syllabus of Technology for 1º ESO. We are learning how to make budgets, so, there are plenty of subjects and activities with which we can relate. For instance, I asked my students to choose a country they wanted to visit and plan a 2-weeks budget trip including the main sights and landmarks. To make the budget they should take into account flights, transports, accommodation, meals, excursions, tickets, souvenirs… so at this time the geography department could be the obvious collaborator.
Also I could ask them to make a Thanksgiving or a Christmas dinner budget. This would be a great collaboration with the Biology teacher talking about “food and nutrition” or the English teacher that shows them “traditional celebrations”.
In my opinion, it is a very attractive topic to be taught in 3rd ESO, because it may connect the learning of both content and language with the student’s culture and the foreign language culture. It is also part of the official curriculum, especially in relation to 'territorial organisations and states'.
The topic will mix history (the history of the USA and its representative system), tradition (based on the Virginia Declaration of Rights, 1776, and the Constitution of the United States,1787), geography (to know the American territorial organization and the location of the different states and capitals) and citizenship (through the analysis of democratic values and the will of the people, exercised through the right to vote).
When planning my CLIL lesson about ‘the United States presidential election’ I will consider to collaborate with the following subjects:
-English: sharing and improving a specific vocabulary and expressions in relation with the topic.
-Philosophy or Ethical Values: analysing the characteristics of democratic systems and the way democracy is put into practise in the United States.
-Mathematics: calculating the number of votes for each candidate, their percentage in each state and the distribution that the different states have in terms of electoral votes.
1. Research the war which broke out between the Achaeans and Trojans.
2. Write a summary of the most important figures on the Achaean and Trojan sides and name the gods who supported each side.
3. Investigate Ulysses’ travels and create an itinerary of the imaginary places he visited.
4. Discover which of these imaginary places correspond to real places.
5. Find films and other literary or artistic works from other periods which are based on these plots.
In my opinion, the topic chosen matches perfectly with “Spanish Literature and Language”. In fact, during the current term we have been working both subjects together. Students have read adapted versions of The Iliad and The Odyssey in Spanish language, but after reading they have developed the different activities mentioned above in Classical Culture.
One of the contents to study in Spanish Literature is epic poetry in Ancient Greece. The two most important literary works are The Iliad and The Odyssey, written in verse and attributed to the poet Homer. Besides, students also learn medieval epic poetry through literary works like “Cantares de Gesta” and the only one that remains is “Cantar de Mio Cid”.
I usually teach the characteristics of secular music during the Middle Ages and their relationship with the poetry and literature. Troubadours composed poems designed to be sung and their songs expressed feelings of the romantic nature. I explain the difference between minstrels and troubadour too and the main instruments used in this time.
I think this topic about medieval music can be improved or developed with the collaboration of the department of Spanish Literature and Language and even Technology making together the following project:
Creation of a symphonic poem:
-Students would become troubadours and would have to create a poem with the structure of a sonnet.
-They´d choose sounds or melodies that have been important in their lives, or musical pieces that express personal experiences or feelings.
-The final product consist of an audio or video recording their “symphonic poems”, including a recitation of each sonnet and clips of the sounds chosen.
-The work would be done in pairs to promote teamwork and they can use material resources as the workbook, mobile phone, tablet or computer, virtual apps or programs (Audacity, youtube video editor, Magistro…)
- A pre-vocabulary of material systems (heterogeneous and homogeneous mixtures, pure substances, compounds and elements) and Halloween foods (pumpkin, cider, toffee apples, boxty, colcannon, etc…). This second part could be a mix between my examples and their pre-knowledge and research.
- Design a general graphic organizer like a mental map of scientific concepts and ideas. Fill the organizer with some examples, it may not be related to Halloween.
- After exposing their cardboard with their Halloween food, we comment on the classification they have made. See if the others agree with it or, if not, discuss the alternative exposing the changes with appropriate arguments. Like the technique: “give time to talk”.
These activities are for Physics and Chemistry in
4ºESO.
Completing the periodic table.
Using photocopies of periodic table only with symbols of the elements, they have to cut them out, and write the complete name in English of the element. They’ll use sticky tape, Velcro, bluetack… to attach it to the silhouette of a big periodic table on the wall.
Deciding which chemical bond.
After this we can take out any elements, usually two
at a time to learn and realized which kind of chemical bond they are going to
make. We put in another panel with the four different kinds of bonds, and also
select the subscripts the compound has to have the correct formula. They have
to say in English the different properties of the bond formed, one by one, and
the rest of the class have to guess which kind of bond it is. At the end, they put
the formula with the correct bond.
Whenever possible, I start presenting the content like a story. It's easier if you have an author or inventor relevant to your contents: for example, two weeks ago I had to explain Mendel's laws.
After a short introduction to the unit, we visualize an image/painting that illustrates the contents of the unit (e.g. the image of some barricades in France in 1848 for the unit 'the liberal revolutions during the 19th century'). From this image, ideas are brainstormed while the teacher writes them on the board.
In some ways, this activity (which takes 10 to 15 minutes) allows the students to focus the attention on the contents that will be worked on in the unit, but specially, it provides students a first contact with the key-words of the unit that are usually new to them (linguistic part).
I use a simple, but effective activity with my
students in order to learn new content and vocabulary. We use cards: In one
part of the card there is an image related to the new content we are studying
(e.g. Map of plate tectonics), while in the other part the definition/explanation
appears.
Shuffling them before ‘playing’, students
should connect the images with their correct definitions. And finally, we do a ‘reminder
round’, projecting the images on the board and asking the definition to the
students.
For the digestive and respiratory system (biology and geology for 3º ESO) I have prepared some activities that I hope will work.
• The first one is a clastic model of the digestive system. Using photocopies with images of the organs or the digestive system, they have to cut them out, colour and arrange them correctly on the silhouette of a man/woman drawn on a cardboard and fixed to the wall. They’ll use Velcro to attach it to the silhouette on the wall, so that a single organ can be removed to talk about it. They will also stick a tag with the name of the organ in English.
• Another activity is a “digestion domino”. Each tile (a small card) is divided by a line in two halves: on one side there’s a name (an organ, a digestive process, an ezime…) and on the other there’s the definition of one of these names (not the one on the same card). The students have two cards each and they have to find the people with the matching cards. Finally, they have to “build” a domino with their cards.
• The last one is a classic: taboo. Each student is given a card with a name on it (in this case it’ll be an organ/action/enzyme, etc) that they have to describe avoiding certain words. Depending on the English level of the class or the student, it can be modified adding or removing words from the list of “forbidden words”.
First I divide students into 4 or 5 groups and I give them a paper for them to write their answers. Second, a child from every group does/uses the sense that is selected.
In order to make this activity more appealing and with a defined purpose, I use ‘gamification’ with it. According to this, students accumulate points after every game.
https://tsoktok.blogspot.com/2015/07/science-assessment.html
This site holds some interesting information about assessment and the use of rubrics in Science (Secondary):
-Short interview with teachers about formative assessment rubrics,advantages and impact on the students' learning.
-Formative assessment rubrics on: scientific questioning, predictions and hypotheses, and analysis of patterns and relationships in data. (samples, interpretation of the students' learning, reflections and their relation to the curriculum).
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario