Master’s Degree in Advanced English Studies and Bilingual Education.

REPORT OF THE PLANT KINGDOM

(ICT-CLIL INTEGRATED TEACHING UNIT)

Subject: Information and Communication Technologies in Bilingual Contexts.

Author: José Luis Cabello Montiel.
START WITH CONTENT.

- Define it.

Natural Science helps us to know the world in which we live, understand our environment
and the contribution of scientific and technological advances in our everyday life. This
integrated teaching unit has been designed mainly to learn about The Plant Kingdom
from two subject areas in the curriculum: Natural Science and Arts and Crafts. Therefore,
students will learn about the classification of plants, the different parts of a plant and
their functions and the respiration and nutrition of plants by means of the Content and
Language Integrated Learning methodology (CLIL) and the Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT).

The url of this ICT-CLIL unit is https://naturalsciencesclil.blogspot.com.es/ (see “The

Plant Kingdom section).

- What will I teach?

a) Natural Science.

· The knowledge related to the environmental sciences, demonstrating practical attitudes

of the use of natural resources and the necessity to preserve these resources, especially
water.

· The knowledge of simple guidelines to classify living organisms such as those in the
plant kingdom, considering their more important aspects.

· The knowledge based on a complete overview of the behaviour of living organisms in

terms of cells, tissues, organs and systems.
b) Arts and Crafts.
· The Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as instruments for knowledge,
production and enjoyment, by using them responsibly.
· The production, combination, removal or transformation of artistic performances that
represent everyday situations both imaginatively and autonomously.
- What will they learn?

a) Natural Science

· To classify living organisms in different kingdoms considering their more important

aspects.

· To identify the inner structures of living organisms and the way cells, tissues, organs
and systems operate.
· To foster curiosity about the importance of water for plants (photosynthesis) and for
all the living organism. Water contamination and waste. Actions that promote a correct
use of water as a resource.
· To observe living organisms directly with appropriate instruments by means of audio-
visual and technological resources.
· To develop habits of respect and care to living things and their habitat.
b) Arts and Crafts.
· To develop artistic production creatively as a form of expression of sensations,
individually or in groups, using basic techniques (dots, lines, planes) and materials they
may find in their near surrounding.

· To prepare documents related to the artistic expression such as posters.

· To use professional graphic design software to lay out pictures, video, texts.

· To organise space in two-dimensional productions by using balance, composition and

size.

- What are my teaching aims/objectives?

a) Natural Science.
1. To know and classify the components in the ecosystem considering their
characteristics by recognising the forms, structures and functions of cells, tissues, organs
and systems that make possible living organism operate, relate among them to ensure
the species and equilibrium of ecosystems, by implementing behaviours that influence
positively in the conservation of ecosystems.
2. Specify examples of human behaviour in everyday situations that influence positively
or negatively in our environment, describing some of the effects that result of incorrect
use of the natural resources (pollution, wasting of resources…) by using observation
instruments that allow them to establish an analysis of the possible consequences of
those acts.
b) Arts and Crafts.
3. To apply the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in a responsible way
for the search of, creation and broadcasting of still or moving pictures, using them as
visual artwork of their own projects.
4. To know and apply different techniques, materials and instruments in a project carried
out in group and respect the varied opinions about the different artistic creations.

NOW LINK CONTENT WITH COMMUNICATION

- What language do they need to work with the content.

As the milestone of a CLIL unit is the teaching of content, Students will work on both
Spanish and English. Therefore, Translanguaging (understanding in one language and
producing in another), is considered as an effective strategy for the teaching-learning
process because students, despite having received the input in the target language, they
are able to assure what they have understood with their classmates by using the target
language

- Specialised vocabulary and phrases?

In this level we will define the ‘language of learning’.

· vocabulary: flowering, non-flowering, angiosperms, gymnosperms, ferns, mosses,

seeds, fruit, spores, leaves, stem, roots, raw sap, stomata, Xylem cells, Phloem cells,
Photosynthesis…
· phrases (they are mostly in simple present tense): “There are two types of…” “These
plants reproduce through…”, “These plants produce / don’t produce…”, “most plants
have…”, etc.

- What kind of talk do they engage in?

In this level we will define the ‘language for learning’. There are two types of talk in
CLIL lessons, teacher talking time and student talking time. On the one hand, teachers
tended to speak in the target language most of the time. On the other hand, students
use L1 and L2 interchangeably, sometimes ‘on task’ and sometime ‘of task’ In these
regards, students engage in different types of talk such as responding (L2), asking for
clarification (L1 + L2), collaborative talk (L1 + L2), reading aloud (L2), repeating
language (L2) and comments on pairs (L1 + L2).

- Will I need to check out key grammatical coverage of a particular tense or

features?

It will be necessary to check out the correct use of the simple present tense when
describing a group of plant by using the third-person plural form (Flowering plants
produce fruits with seeds inside), in contrast to the description of an individual plant in
which students will use the third-person singular form (e.g. This fern reproduces through
spores).

- What about the language of tasks and classroom activities?

In this level we will define the ‘language through learning’. The tasks that students
will carry out in this lesson will be in English. This unit is mainly focused on the use of
ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) so, the activities that students will
work on by using the English language are listed below: investigation task (Padlet),
collaboratively task/project (WebQuest), quizzes (Kahoot) game (online game about
watering plants), interactive activity of sharing projects (Instagram), reading task
(Prezi).

- What about discussion and debate?

Students will be allowed to use both Spanish and English in discussion and debates,
although the English language is preferred by the teacher. Students can share their
opinions in the different blogs posts made by the teacher in the subject blog.

NOW EXPLORE THE KIND OF THINKING SKILLS YOU CAN DEVELOP

ACCORDING TO THE DECISIONS MADE ABOVE.

- What kind of questions must I ask in order to go beyond “display” questions?

In order to raise the level of our own questioning by using question stems related to the
higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. There are some examples that students can use to
go beyond “display” questions. For example, they can write their own tests or quizzes or
as focus points for research. An example of incorporating Bloom’s Taxonomy in the
classroom, “Stick Pick” is a great app for helping you to choose random stems for class
discussion.
- Which tasks will I develop to encourage higher order thinking?
I can do a lot to encourage higher order thinking, even when I am answering children's
questions. According to Robert Sternberg, answers to children's questions can be
categorized into 7 levels, from low to high, in terms of encouraging higher levels of
thinking.

· Level 1: Reject the question.

· Level 2: Restate or almost restate the question as a response.
· Level 3: Admit ignorance or present information.
· Level 4: Voice encouragement to seek response through authority.
· Level 5: Encourage brainstorming, or consideration of alternative explanations.
· Level 6: Encourage consideration of alternative explanations and a means of evaluating
them.
· Level 7: Encourage consideration of alternative explanations plus a means of evaluating
them, and follow-through on evaluations.

(note: more information in http://www.readingrockets.org/article/how-increase-higher-

order-thinking)

- What are the language (communication) as well as the content implications?

When planning lessons or units, we must place great value on using effective language,
so students learn to build on their current understanding. Allowing them to construct
learning, while building on prior knowledge is key to their ongoing development and
crucial for teachers to plan. Employing a Bloom’s taxonomy ensures that we are providing
clear language that identifies where we are scaffolding learning for those who need our
support. Simultaneously, we are encouraging students to become creative thinkers and
problem solvers.

- Which thinking skills will we concentrate on which are appropriate for the
content?

In this integrated teaching ICT-CLIL unit, a broad range of thinking skills will be taken
into account for content acquisition. They are listed below:

· Remember: recognise, list, describe.

· Understand: summarise, paraphrase, classify, explain.

· Analyse: compare, organise.

· Evaluate: check, test, monitor.

· Create: design, plan, produce, make.