We have had our first serious brainstorming session on our project. We find it really difficult to think of activities that will be carried out only in English and will have meaning and interesting content.
First, we thought it would be nice to prepare activities about literary creation, because we enjoyed so much the unit on children literature and we really wanted to do a project where children were active players, and not passive recipients. But when we began to design activities, we realised that we couldn't think of ways to make children analyse stories in order to learn how create them, doing it all in English. It seemed far too complicated for our first trial. So, we thought we had to forget about the idea, although it was dissapointing.
So, for now, we have decided to start off with a bit less ambitious and complex idea. Following what we have learnt so far in the unit, we are aware that children need a lot of contextual information in order to build meanings when they are learning a new language. Therefore, we think that illustrated books can be a very interesting way to get in touch with the language, because children have already learnt the structure of story books and the relationship between text and image through their experience in Basque and Spanish, both at home and at school. Thus, illustrated albums offer them an awful lot of information that can compensate their limited understanding of English itself.
We have chosen two illustrated books that will enable us to work on content that is very close to children's everyday experiences and will give us plenty of opportunity to propose activities in which children will play an active role, as we decided when we set our principles for the project:
We have been asked to design several activities that could be integrated within the Zerain project. These activities should help children learn English, as well as which ever contents we might decide, all set in a CLIL approach where context will play a fundamental role.
We have decided that our set of activities would develop around a question that could well be posed to the children towards the end of the Zerain project: who else was born in Zerain at the same time Uxue and the other three newborns? In this case, it wouldn't be humans, but farm animals (or other living organisms). This question could lead to a single activity, in case children didn't find it too interesting, but it could also be the beginning of a whole new project; this time regarding other living organisms. We have prepared several activities around farm animals, but if at the moment of being questioned children would show interest in researching other kinds of living organisms (wild animals and plants, for instance), we would obviously have to design new activities.
In the following lines, we will list the activities we have designed, together with a short description of each. The last activity is the one we intend to put into practise in class through role-playing.
We assume that our group of pupils in Zerain would be aged 3 to 8. Therefore, the situation would be very well suited for creating interactive groups where cooperative learning and peer tutoring could be applied. Children would be distributed in several small groups, making sure that each group had children of different ages and abilities.
The activities and exercises would be conducted in a coordinated way by the class tutor and the English teacher (if there is one). Therefore, the set of activities would have unitary sense, contents would build on, and some would be conducted in Basque, and others in English.
Activities and exercises set within each of them:
Activity number 1: Visit several farms in Zerain in order to know the animals that were born at the time Uxue was born
Exercise 1: Interview with Zerain's farmers' cooperative representative
Since the mother of one of the pupils is a member of Zerain's farmers' cooperative, she will come to class in order to have a conversation with the class about the farms where different animals have been born lately.
Previous to that interview, children will prepare questions and detail their interests, so they can conduct the interview with the cooperative representative.
The objective of the interview will be to select the group of farms the class would like to visit and the animals they would like to know, so the member of the cooperative can consult the farmers involved afterwards.
Exercise 2: Naming farm animals
Once children have selected the farm animals they would like to know more about, and the farmers' cooperative representative clarifies which farms they will visit, the class will do a bit of research on the animals' names.
For the purpose of this exercise, we have assumed that children select the following farm animals, which are quite common in the farms of Gipuzkoa: cattle, pigs, horses, chickens and sheep. Children will thus divide into five mixed groups, and each group will select one farm animal kind to research about.
Children will ask their parents, grandparents and neighbours about the different names given to their group's animal in Basque, and they will write (or ask the adult to write) the differences that each term implies. One same kind of farm animal will have very different names depending on sex, age, moment of the reproductive cycle they are at, function, etc. For an example of the names given to farm animals in Basque, you can consult a text by Juan Ignazio Iztueta written on the 19th century.
Each group will explain in class the different terms related to their animal that have been found during the research, as well as what they mean. The objective of the exercise will be to gather information prior to the farm visits that will enable them understand the explanations that farmers will give them, as well as recognise each animal. Children should be able to list at least the following for each animal: name given to the cub or young, name given to the adult female (mother of cubs), name given to the adult male (father of cubs).
Exercise 3: Basic characteristics of farm animals as opposed to humans
Since children have conducted some research on human babies during the Zerain project, they will discuss and select the attributes and characteristics that they would like to ask about during the farm visits. These are some of the things they might like to ask about:
The differences in hair/feather and skin colour that each animal can have, depending on the race.
What each animal eats when they are born, and when they are adults.
Where each animal is born from: mother or egg.
How long it takes for each animal since the egg is laid or conception until it is born.
How many cubs are born in each litter or clutch.
How much each animal grows since they are born until they become adults (weight and height).
The names of the body-parts of animals.
Children will write down the list of questions they would like to ask about and will design a field record sheet to take with them to the visits.
It tells the story of an unfortunate duck who is unfairly treated by the farmer, who is portrayed as a dictator. The duck does all the work while the farmer lies in bed. The duck grows tired, sad and hopeless. Then, his animal friends (cow, sheep, hens) decide to start a revolution and they kick the farmer out. From that day on, the farm animals own the farm and work in cooperation.
The story will offer a great opportunity to learn animal names in English, but will also arise other interesting issues about social conflict: social injustice, dictatorship, rebellion, cooperation, etc. Children might want to ask farmers about animal well being, how they are treated, etc. They might also like to share personal experiences of being treated unfairly, and reflect on these issues.
Exercise 5: Farm animals song
After learning farms different animals names, we will learn a couple of songs about farm animals:
1. Old MacDonald had a farm. A really known song, in different countries and different languages.
These are the lyrics:
" Old MacDonald had a farm (Ee-Aye-Eee-Aye-O), And on that farm he had a cow (Ee-Aye-Eee-Aye-O), With a Moo Moo here and a Moo Moo there, Here a Moo there Moo everywhere a Moo, Moo.Old MacDonald had a farm (Ee-Aye-Eee-Aye-O),
Sheep - baa
Pig - oink
Ducks - quack
Horse - neigh"
2. Astoak ia ia ia.This are the lyrics:
"Astoak ia ia ia
zakurrak uau-uau!
oilarrak ku-ku-rru-ku!
katuak miau-miau!
Eta kanta, kanta
kanta, kantari;
eta dantza, dantza
dantza, dantzari.
Eman, eman, eman bai
danborrari,
eman, eman, eman bai
turutari..
Gaur arratsaldean abere denak
menditik zelaira etorri dira. (bis)
Eta kanta, kanta…
Astoak ostikoz, zakurrak hozka,
oilarrak mokoka, katuak zarpa!
Eta kanta, kanta…
Astoa beheraka, zakurra gora,
oilarra hegan, katua jiran. (bis)
Eta kanta, kanta…"
Exercise 6: Conducting the farm visits
After having completed the planning exercises, children will visit the farms, where they will ask questions, write down notes on the survey sheets and take pictures of farm animals, so they can have an extensive record of what they have learnt when they return to school.
Activity number 2: Processing the information gathered
Exercise 7: Creating farm animal family cards
Using the pictures taken and based on the knowledge children have constructed, each group will make a set of cards of their animal, with at least three cards: one with the cub or young, another one with the adult female (mother of cubs), and another one with the adult male (father of cubs). They will write down the name in Basque and English for each on the cards.
Exercise 8: Card games
Once the complete set of farm animal cards has been completed in cooperation by the whole class, children will play several games with them: Meet the offspring with their parents, Who am I?, Shuffle-shuffle, Which has ...?, The Photographer and The Intruder.
1. Match the baby animals with their parents: the children will be divided in five groups. Each group will have five cards with the five baby animals, and the parents' cards will be sticked in the wall. The teacher will say, for example, "take the lamb with it's mother", so the children will have to stick the card next to it's mother.
2. Who am I?: a child will take a card, without looking it, and will put it on her or his forehead. The rest of the group will have to explain which is the animal that he or she has; for example, talking about the mare, it runs a lot, it has a tail ... With the information given, the child will have to discover which animal he or she is.
3. Shuffle-shuffle: For this game, children will sit down in pairs on the floor face to face. Each pair will have a pad of cards with all the animal families. One of the children of each pair will have the cards and will start shuffling them saying “Shuffle, shuffle…” until his/her partner says “stop!”. Then, the child who has the cards will have to say which animal is the one that appears in the chosen card. If he/she guesses correctly the partner will take the cards, now it’s his/her time to do shuffle-shuffle and guess the animal. When they don’t guess correctly they will do shuffle-shuffle again, until they guess an animal.
4. The Photographer: This game is played by all the classmates together. The teacher will put an animal family on the floor faced up and teacher will choose a photographer and a person who will turn over one of the cards. Before turning over one of the cards, the photographer will make as if he/she will take pictures of all the cards so as to memorise the animals on the cards. He/she won’t see which card is being turned over and will have to guess right which animal is the one missing. After that, other children will be the photographer and the one who turns over a card.
5. Which has ...?: every child will have a card with an animal. The teacher will ask for an animal but just asking features; for example, "which has a beak?". The children who have the animal with that features, would stand up and go to the centre of the circle, and explain why that animal respond to that feature.
6. The intruder: the teacher will create different piles. In
each pile will be four different card; three of them will have a
feature on common and the fourth card no. For example, three cards of
three offspring and the fourth one a mare.
After debating in the group, we have decided that Zerain project is CLIL. It is considerate CLIL because they are learning integrating language, contents and context based on the children knowledge. In that way, they learn languages at the same time they are learning another kind of knowledges such as maths, reading, writing and speaking.
Our Happy Class Beginnings died silently at the age of 2. We miss them deeply, even more now, when we will have three classes every week.
We pray in hope for a quick and full resurrection that will bring back joy into our lives. Oh, Lord (actually, Ladies), please listen to your children praying!
One of the members of our group summarised it during the time we had on Wednesday to read about and discuss CLIL in small groups: CLIL actually is Learning Language Without Noticing (LeLawn, a poor acronym, half French and half English). As a matter of fact, others seem to have reached the same conclusion, such as El Taller de Arte Akademia, which offers craft workshops for children, where through "creativity, imagination and fun" children will learn English without realising.
This view over the CLIL approach leads us to uncomfortable questions, such as those spitted by Pedro García Olivo in one of the readings (Educador irresponsable) proposed by our teacher, that bring him to say things like these:
"Caí, al fin, en la cuenta de que yo era el peor de todos, de que constituía el “éxito supremo de la Institución” -el tipo de profesor que ésta requería para ‘reformarse’, ‘modernizarse’, embaucar astutamente a los alumnos y adaptarse a la perversidad de los Nuevos Tiempos. Me había convertido en algo mucho más deplorable que un ‘profesor’: me había convertido en un ‘profesor amado’."
Since we had some spare time in class, we have read the second section of the UK National Guidelines for CLIL, which deals with what is CLIL.
In summary, the reading didn't help us understand the details about what CLIL is, as it didn't give much more information than previous readings, but it broadened our view about the benefits of CLIL (introducing cross-curriculary aspects, raising interest about othe languages and cultures, etc.).
Last day in class, I spoke about
some aspects of Artigal’s methodology, which I saw in my Practicum. Here I would like to explain a little more
of what is on the subject.
“Ready
for a story” is an innovating method for preschool children to learn the English
language as a foreign language. For this, a story is the mainstay. At the
beginning the story doesn’t have visualsupport, teacher tell children the story using body language and making
them feel part of it; students and teacher stage jointly the story. Once
children know the story, they start working it with pictures. This way,
children learn English words and give them a meaning in relation to the story.
When they see a word’s picture for which they know the word in their first
language, they make a relation between the word they knew and the new one that
both mean the same, what appears in the picture.
To
tell the story with pictures and everyone together, this method gives children an
especial material. It is a cardboard stage and the story’s characters that are
stickers which can be glued and detached from the stage, so children can follow
the story moving the characters stickers from one side to another. After they
learn how to tell the story with that material at classroom, they bring it home
to tell it to parents, brothers or sisters, etc. After that, they do more
things in relation to the story, such as songs, card games, a wall, a drawing,
etc. After that, they start with another story. Also mention that teacher
speaks to students everything in English.
Finally
say that I really liked this method, because at the Practicum I could see how
children had fun and enjoyed their English lesson while they improved their English.
We had three different materials to
read for this week about CLIL. After having read them all, we have
discussed what each of us understood in group. Our debate has been
quite heated, and we have come to a general conclusion about CLIL: we
understand the global concept about CLIL, that it deals with content
and language at the same time, and that language is a tool for learning,
besides being a tool for communication in itself.
We
have had the chance to know a bit more about a CLIL project developed
in preschool in Catalonia. These are the main ideas that we would
highlight from this experience:
It is important to bear in mind that a CLIL project implies producing
materials for children, leaving behind the view of the traditional
English teacher. In other words, we must broaden the view about what we would like children to learn about.
Regarding the language part, we should place the focus on fluency and global understanding, rather than accuracy.
All activities should be geared towards creating debates among children, making them talk.
What we didn't particularly like about the example from Catalonia was that the topics and activities of the project were fixed beforehand, even though they are supposed to be based on children's interests. It didn't seem like a flexible project.
We would underline the following ideas regarding the videos and text about CLIL contained in a different set of materials we read:
CLIL is about using language to learn and learning to use language through the development of content.
There is no "good" CLIL and "bad" CLIL, just bad and good ways to mix language and content. CLIL happens to be a successful way to combine language and content learning.
CLIL is about "doing things", it is about having fun.
Finally, we have read an article on a project about newborns in Zerain. These are the most interesting ideas we have drawn from it:
The project is about meaningful learning, about following the interests of children. If this project is CLIL, then clearly CLIL must have it's base on meaningful learning.
A single project could be used to learn contents about very different
subjects in an integrated way. In this project children learn about
mathematics, spoken language, written language, analysing and plotting data,
magnitudes, rhymes, English, Spanish, Basque, etc. Therefore, the general idea
underlying CLIL could be applied to learning many contents in an
integrated way.
Still, we feel that we would
like to know CLIL more in depth, as we have only managed to grasp the
general idea in an intuitive way so far. Besides, while the examples from
Catalonia and Zerain are very practical, the other readings and videos
were a bit more abstract and sometimes not that easy to follow.
