My personal thought

What did you learn?

I learnt to identify which communicative skills pupils need to develop or use during this unit plan. I also leared some cooperative techniques to develop in my classes in order to promote a cooperative work and learning. I learnt how to create an useful display to use in my lessons according to the contents I want to teach. Finally I learnt to think about the KWL chart and the needs that my students can have. 

How did you learn?

I lerant through the theory and all the activities that I had to do.

Do you have any problem?

Apparently  didn't had any problem.

Would you like to investigate a bit more about any subject?

Yes, I would like to know more about  displays and how to design this kind of material. I think it's so important to have an accurate material and an useful too. In this way students can have some supports that are going to let them be more autonomous with their work because their are going to believe in their possibilities and their succes.

Which question do you propose to someone who read this post to help you with CLIL?

I will say that I accept all kind of opinions because I would like to improve my task as a teacher.

The KWL chart

K What do my students know about the topic befote I started the unit?	W What do I want my student to learn along this unit?	L What have my students learnt at the end of this unit?
- Which are the European countries; their name and their capitals. - The main characteristics of each country: location, population, language, currency, culture, food, custom... -  Understand concepts and apply them. - Use and interpret globes, atlases and maps.  - Use different sources of information.	- Describe the main characteristics of each European country and identify them in a mute map. -  Carry out independent research and investigation: search, organize and synthesize information. - Cooperate in group work. - Use ICT tools to support and complete the work.	- The Europeans' politic geography and the countries' organization. - The differences between Europeans' countries (landscape, food, culture, currency…). - The existence of  the multiculturalism  and the multiples ways of living. - How to cooperate in group. - The value of others' people work.

My display for the class

For this unit I created a display for the class in order to help and support kids in their daily routine task.

 

This are posters with pictures and words about the vocabulary about the main topic.

There are another kind of posters with the main sentences structures to help pupil's oral expression. 

Here you go the full links with all the necessary vocabulary :

https://www.dropbox.com/s/46j0xsk25no70vn/UNIVERSITY%20PRESS%287%29.pdf?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/l4mlhkb5t4j2n0a/POPULATION%282%29.pdf?dl=0

Cooperative learning

The class organitzation is about six cooperative groups of four people each one. There are also two of the cooperative techniques we are going to use during the unit plan

Cooperative Learning Technique 1: Jigsaw.

Task you are going to work: Pupils are going to search information about an European conuntry.  Each student is going to have a different role inside the group (spokesperson, secretary, moderator...).

At the same time they are going to get speciallized in one area of that country like geography and climate, culture and food, demography, popullation and currency, politics and flag, etc. In this way each kid is going to become an expert of some content related with the main topic which they are studing.

Cooperative Learning Technique 2: Round Robin.

Task you are going to work: Pupils are going to explain and share through turns to their group the information that he/she found from the country they are investigating.

This tecnique has to be implemented after the jigsaw technique. After this technique all the students of the group are going to know about one Europan country because all the kids are going to have the opportunity to share and express something new with their mates (opinions, ideas...).

At the same time they explain all the new contents, they are learning too because they have to remember what they learned and use an specific vocabulary. Sometimes is esay to understand something if somebody else explain it to you instead of read the information in a book.

Communicative skills

These are the communicartive skills that pupils are going to needand use along the unit plan:

CALP (Content Language)

Vocabulary Nouns: Country, borders, north, south, west, east, culture, food, celebrations, population, millions, currency, city, town, countryside, urban, climate, temperature, degrees, flag, region, area, landscape, sea, ocean, mountain, river, forest, trees, lake, name of the Europeans' countries in English. Adjectives: Big, small, medium, huge, far, near, large, close, beautiful, noisy, quiet, calm, warm, cold, high, low, up, down. Structures - Superlatives and comparatives: the most, bigger than / the biggest, smaller than / the smallest, the best, the worst, better than…, worse than… - Position prepositions: between... and..., next to..., ... is in... - Countable uncontable: there is a..., there are... - Verb to be and verb to have: …is... /…are..., this is…, … have/has... - Present simple: we can see…,  we can imagine… - Articles and connectors: … and…, but…, also, too…, the… of…

BIC (Basic Interpersonal Language)

Can you repeat it please?, Can I ask you something?, I have a question, I don’t understand that, How do you say… in English?, What is the meaning of …?, What we have to do?, Could you help me?, May I help you?, Can we do it in pairs/groups?, Can we do it at home?, Which activities we have to do?, What we have to look for?, Can I serach it on…?, Can we use…?, What materials we are going to need?, Can we start?, When can we do it?, Can we do it in this way?, Can you explain me…?, Can I tell you something?, What do you mean?

Language Through Scaffolded Language

In my opinion…, I think…, This is..., Because..., Maybe..., What do you think?, What is your opinion?, Why do you say that?, Can you explain that?, Are you agree?, I agree / I not agree, Please pay attention, Could you help me, please?, I understand your point of view but I think..., Can I add something?, How do you do that?, Who has the same opinion as me?, Can you argue that?, Which ideas do you have?, I’m going to explain what I found / think, I think like you, I share the same ideas as you, I’m not an expert but..., According to...

My personal though

• What did you learn? How did you learn?

During this module I have learned to reflect on a SWOT analysis about my current job experience. So I could search, find and think about where are the positive and the “negative” aspects about implementing the CLIL methodology in my lessons.

I also learnt about which six steps I have to follow or consider before plan a CLIL project. And which aspects I have to bear in mind.

• Do you have any problem?

Initially I thought that I didn’t have any problem but I was reading my mates SWOT analysis and I realized that their was different as mine. I focalize the four aspects in a context, specifically in the school where I work. So the aspects that I talk about where related with my experience and the context where I am. So I’m not sure if that was the idea or it was closer to just cite the general aspects.

• Would you like to investigate a bit more about any subject?

For sure I would like to investigate more about any subject. I think is very important and essencial know and be a little bit experts about the contents that we want to talk about.

• Which question do you propose to someone who read this post to help you with CLIL?

I would say to every body who reads this post that please feel free to comment, say and share what he/she think about my ideas and my plan. Because I just started to study and know about this methodology so I’m like a beginner in this topic. I would appreciate all those people who wants to help me and propose me modifications that can improve my work and all the objectives that I want to reach. Thanks a million!

My unit Planning. Step 6 Soft Skills

 This are the skills pupils are going to develop along the unit plan:

• Work in cooperative groups helping their mates.

 

• Investigate and know how are the other countries and how people live in there.

• Search and find information from different sources.

• Understand the infromation that they find through differnt ways (books, videos, articles, audios...).

 

• Contrast and summarize the most relevant information.

• Expose the information clearly, in a short way and using the appropriate language.

 

My unit Planning. Step 5 Content

Which interdisciplinary subjects could be connected to in this unit? 

 

• Mathematics: we can introduce high numbers (millions), population density concept and differnent kinds of currency and their equivalences (euros, pounds...).

• Natural Sciences: we can talk about the different climate, landscape, geographycal features we can find in each country around Europe.

• New tecnologies: during all the project and in the final task pupils will have to find information and expose it using digital resourches (slideshow presentation, video, audios, digital photographies or pictures...).

My Unit Planning. Step 4 Law aspects

• Linguistic competence: Students are goint to adquire linguistic skills to exposes a content (in an oral and writting way), participate in a discussions, share ideas/opinions, listen the other people…

• Mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology: Puplis are going to know and talk about populations (high numbers), population density, currency, etc.

• Digital competence: Kids are going to search information on Internet. They are also going to create a presentation through Power Point, Prezzi... or other tecnological posssibilities.

• Learning to learn: Children are going to work individually in groups… using different methodologies and ways to get the information. They will have to find information, understand it, communicat it, contrast it with their partners and expose it.

• Social and civic competences: Pupils will work in a cooperative groups so that means they have to work in their own way but at the same time they will be part of a group. They have to respect and help the other people to get the common aims.

• Initiative and entrepreneurship: As an autonomous students they will have to have personal initiative that helps them to transform their ideas into an actions, undertake and evaluate individual and collective projects.

• Cultural awareness and expression: All the kids through the work about the other countries they are going to be able to understant, percept and respect other cultural realities and ways of living.
  

My Unit Planning. Step 3 The easiest and hardest section

Here you go the easiest section and the hardest section of the unit:

Easiest section: form the work groups and start the searching about the topic (the firsts lessons).

 

Hardest section: The oral conversations and discussions specially the final project (oral exposicion) that englobes everything they learnt along all the lessons.

My Unit Planning: Step 2 The preview of the whole unit

This is the main or the most common language that kids are going to use during the unit:

Vocabulary: culture, food, celebrations, population, location, currency, city, town, countryside, urban, climate, temperature, flag, landscape, region, area, sea, ocean, mountain, river, degrees, forest, trees, lake, borders, name of the Europeans' countries in English.

Adjectives: small, big, medium, huge, far, near, large, close, beautiful, noisy, quiet, warm, cold, high, low, up, down.

Nouns: north, south, west, east. 

Structures: the most, bigger than / the biggest, smaller than / the smallest, between... and..., next to..., there is a..., there are..., we can see...and..., I think...this is..., maybe..., because..., what, why, how, who, when, is... /are..., have/has..., ... is in..., the... of ... 

My Unit Planning. Step 1 The driving question

How are the countries in Europe?

I think it’s important to know how are the countries of the world and their main caractheristics: name, territorial expansion, location, population, language, currrency, geographical features, climate, culture, food, life style... 

In this way you can get close to their thoughts, their customs and how they understand life. Knowing other people's opinions you can grow as a person and get more tolerant and respectful with the others who live in the same world as you.

 

The SWOT analysis about CLIL

STRENGTHS	WEAKNESSES
It can be a new school’s project so it can be attractive for the new families in the school. The school building is big. So we can have enoughspace if we want to paractice this method with small groups. If we start this project with the youngest pupils at the end of the primary school period they will have a good command of the English language.	It takes a long time the preparation of projects and  materials we’re going to use. Maybe some teachers or parents ar not agree with this methodogical change. Most of the teachers are going to need a specific formation about what does it mean CLIL, how to plan the projects, etc...
OPPORTUNITIES	THREATS
It’s a good way to introduce a foreign language. Kids are going to expand their vocabulary, their speaking and their writing. Students will get more English inguistic skills.	We don’t have enough time in the 6th grade because we have to finish the grammar book and prepare the basic competentes. The student’s timetables are not able to do this methodology We don’t have enough English teachers who can prepare this kind of projects.