UNDERCOVERING CLIL- chapter 3

ISFD y T 55

English and Its Teaching III

UNDERCOVERING CLIL

CHAPTER 3: Starting CLIL in the Classroom

 SUBJECT: English and Its Teaching III

TEACHER: Sara Racker

STUDENTS: Bapp, Colombano and Rochelle

Starting CLIL in the Classroom

This chapter translates CLIL methodology into classroom practice. It proposes activities for the first week in a CLIL classroom at the primary, secondary and vocational levels. The lessons are based on the main features of the CLIL method and guiding principles of CLIL (described in Chapter 2).

HOW DOES THE CLIL METHODOLOGY TRANSLATE INTO CLASSROOM PRACTICE?

• A WEEK IN THE LIFE OF A PRIMARY SCHOOL CLIL TEACHER:

-There is an overview of activities that teachers can use in year one during the first week of school at the start of a CLIL programme.

-It is assumed that most of the students entering school have very little or no prior knowledge of the CLIL language.

-Students will often answer questions in their first language, but this is natural. The teacher can help them to answer in CLIL language or she/he can provide praise to students for at least trying to use the CLIL language.

-The length of the activities may need to be modified. It is not the same, for the students, learning in their first language than learning in a second language, because CLIL students need not only to concentrate on the content, but also on understanding the language.

SOME ACTIVITIES IN A HIGH- INTENSITY CLIL PROGRAMME (IT TAKES A WEEK):

• FIRST CONTACT: The teacher is at the door of the classroom and greets the students saying “Hello” or “Good morning!”

• SETTING THE STAGE: THE MORNING CIRCLE: The class sit on the floor in a circle or semicircle. There are books on the carpet. These are picture books and might also contain a small amount of text. The books help reinforce the image of school as an interesting place.

• NAMES AND FIRST PHRASES (CIRCLE CONTINUED): Introduce yourself: A student says “My name is XXX!”. Then, the same student points another one and asks “What’s your name?”. That student answers and points other student and asks the same, and so on.

After it is clear that the students understood how to answer, they will also be encouraged to say “Hello” to each student and repeat his or her name.

• CALENDAR (CIRCLE CONTINUED) A calendar with empty squares is prepared. Cards with the names of the days of the week, months and ordinal numbers are also prepared. The students are asked to place the days of the week and the numbers on the calendar. Then, they are asked to repeat the names of the days several times. After that, the teacher continues

Here, there are four in one:

• COGNITION: Thinking skills
• CONTENT: Dates, concept of time
• COMMUNICATION: -New words and phrases. -Listening, speaking and reading.
• COMMUNITY: Building self-confidence in morning ‘school family’ circle.

• ENDING THE DAY: Bring the learners back into the circle. Review a few of the things you did during the day, making certain that the students feel successful. Tell them how you feel. Ask them how they feel, modelling three possible answers with a happy face, a sad face or a so-so neutral face. Say goodbye to them on an individual basis using their names.

A WEEK IN THE LIFE OF A SECONDARY SCHOOL CLIL TEACHER

With secondary school CLIL programmes students make the decision to join themselves. They are likely to have a strong basis in the CLIL language, but could not be considered fluent. It is possible that many of the students coming together in a CLIL class will not know each other. Taking the first class to get to know one another and to give information to students about how class will proceed and what the students can expect will help establish a positive work culture and lessen anxiety. Students are concerned about whether their grades will suffer and if they will be able to cope with learning a second language, too.

Maybe the first CLIL class take place outside the classroom in order to set the tone for a new experience and provide the space to play name games that requires movement. The aim of that class is to have fun, lower stress, get to know one another, provide information and to give the students an opportunity to discuss some concerns regarding CLIL class. It is suggested that the getting-to-know exercises be conducted in the CLIL language and the discussion be held in the students´ mother tongue.

Getting to know one another

·         Name games in circles repeating their mates names;

·         Name game together with a word in the CLIL language. For example: Zany Zelda or Cathy Computer;

·         Mixer activity. Find someone who… the students interview their partners.

Then you make a discussion using the first language. You may tell them the outcomes concerning CLIL. Students ask questions that have been on their mind so you may need to use prompts like the following:  “Is there anything about CLIL that makes you nervous?” You may also reach an agreement in time for them to cease their first language during class. If a student switches to speaking in the mother tongue and he/ she has the skills to get to the point across in the CLIL language you will ask some guiding questions and give some clues to help students to use circumlocution. For example: “You don’t know how to say ´submarine´ in the CLIL language?”

In order to help students better to understand the learning process and to help them manage their time and expectations you can tell them they will face some challenges such as frustration. The major concern students will have is whether CLIL will have a negative impact on their grades. Tell them spelling and grammar mistakes will not affect their final mark as long as progress is improving.

GETTING TO THE CONTENT:   The first week will be devoted to a science unit on volcanoes for fourteen to sixteen years old. The amount of time in activities may vary from the suggested duration depending on the language level, if the students are used to doing group work and moving from one activity to another.

DAY 1

Activity 1: warm up with a video on volcanoes

Activity 2: Students write down three things that came to their minds when watching the film. Each passes his/her sheet to another student. They read what others have written identifying similarities and differences thoughts. You connect the activity with the students´ feelings, interests and their prior knowledge.

Activity 3: outcomes are discussed for the first week.

Activity 4: anchor the student´s knowledge. Brainstorm in groups. They can project or write on board their thoughts.

Activities 5&6: Students read the text individually. Then they fill in the empty boxes and create a Venn diagram to show similarities and differences between the types of volcanoes.

Activity 7: Students work in groups sharing volcano characteristics with diagrams using comparative.

Activity 8: achievement barometer is an activity in which the students have to stand, you read an outcome and they place their hands up to certain high depending on the achievement of the outcome.

DAY 2: In this day you review volcanoes and comparatives. Students develop critical thinking and they connect the stories to personal experience through different types of activities such as location of places, reading eyewitness report, looking up words in dictionary and information in a text. They will also analyse content of a letter in groups; observe, agree and set up notes. After that they will do a written activity. The teacher asses group work and gives feedback.

DAY 3: Students will make a jigsaw for learning about tectonic plates and volcanoes. In this part of the class the managements may be difficult due to the fact that many students may be resistant to this method if they are highly competitive or if they are used to a teacher-centred approach.

-weaker students may find it difficult to teach others;

-stronger students may not have patience to listen to weaker students;

The teacher need to circulate actively, ask questions, make suggestions, provide encouragement and tell them behaviour expected.

DAY 4-: Students may use knowledge gained about tectonic plates and volcanoes. They may construct accurate dialogues about volcanic activities and reinforce group work skills.

DAY 5: Students will use knowledge accurately working on a project about filming a scene for a TV show. The teacher circulate help keep them on task and ask supportive questions. In an activity called the big circle each student can say one to three words about how he or she feels about the week. They will need support in speaking about feelings. Having some words on the board can help. If a student is having difficulty coming up with something, move on to another person. You can always try coming back to the person later.

A WEEK IN THE LIFE OF A VOCATIONAL EDUCATION CLIL TEACHER:

As an example of how to proceed the following activities will look at how to prevent occupational risks.

Vocational students tend to be more focused on benefits to be gained from the programme. The students in this level is,generally ,mature adults.Some of them already have work experience.Moreover,many vocational clil programmes include a practicum on work placement where both the language and vocational content skills as well as learning skills, are applied and further developed. This factors help to create a favourable climate for clil.

Nonetheless, some students may consider themselves less able than those in more academically inclined streams.Those students may not be fully confident in their ability to succeed. As a result, they could be easily discouraged when they are faced with a difficult challenge. So it is important to instil self-confident in the students specially during the first week of clil course.

Empowering students to recognized and point out their learning needs will help teachers to keep on the road to success. Another important matter to take into account is that teachers should encourage students to know when and how to interrupt in order to ask for repetition and clarification.The purpose of doing it is to support students taking in charge of the their own learning. Teachers also should provide them useful feedback, support as well as transparent evaluation criteria since these help students to understand the path that need to be followed, the criteria that need to be met and how to measure progress.

SOME ACTIVITIES IN A HIGH- INTENSITY CLIL PROGRAMME (IT TAKES A WEEK):

DAY 1  Activity 1: warm-up/setting the stage

Have each student take a sheet of paper. In the center, they print their names in large block letters. In the upper left-hand corner, they complete the sentences “i like…..”.In the upper right-hand corner,they complete the sentences”i learn best when…..”.In the lower left-hand corner, they complete the sentence” we have an accident in our home when…..”and in the lower right-hand corner they write” in this class, i want to……”Students pin or tape the sheet of paper somewhere on their body. Then, they are asked to get up and walk around and learn as much as they can about the others. By participating in the activity teacher can demonstrate his/her interest in the students.

DAY 1  Activity 2: learning outcomes

Use a graphic organizer to summarize the focus of the week’s lessons. In addition to showing the organizer, speak about each section, ask some simple questions and ensure that students understand any vocabulary, The visual representation helps them to understand what will be happening during the week. The graphic organizer and questions also contribute to building the students’ sense of security.

DAY 1  Activity 3: setting the stage;

Have each student individually estimate in writing:

a.                  the number of work-related deaths worldwide last year;

b.                  the number of work-related deaths in the European Union(or your region)last year;

c.                  the extent which 18 to 24 year olds are more likely than older workers to have a non-fatal accident in the workplace;

d.                 finally, to share the answers.

DAY 1  Activity 4: Accessing existing knowledge- brainstorming

Have the students in three groups brainstorm the CAUSES of workplace accidents.They list in a chart as many causes as they can in a  particular column, in this case in the left-hand column, leaving the other columns blank.Once the list of causes has been developed, have the students fill in the titles for the other three columns; negative consequences, positives consequences and prevention measures. After finishing the chart, they have to read and analyze it in order to make a summary.

DAY 1  Activity 5: Thumbometer

Students stick out one arm with a clenched fist with the thumb pointing out. The thumb acts as a gauge. When it is pointing out, a student is saying that he or she is pleased with an activity or that he or she understands the topic at hand.As the thumb is turned downwards, it indicates lower levels of satisfactions or understanding, When the thumb is pointing straight down, there is a serious lack of satisfaction or a total lack of understanding . The purpose of this activity is to get feedback in a very simple way.Teacher can use it during or after any given activity, assignment or lesson.

Another useful activities are: watching and discussing related videos, receiving former students who uses languages in the workplace and receiving an employer, reading texts about prevention of risks at work and doing related assignments.