How do you get learners to develop thinking skills?

Why is it important to get learners to develop thinking skills?

Technology is advancing so quickly that it is impossible for us to predict what skills our learners will need in their future workplace.  What we can predict is that they will not need to be automised production line workers, which is what some argue  the present-day school system was designed to produce.  Robots are doing more of the automated jobs, so humans will do jobs that only humans can do, which require thinking skills.

What are thinking skills?

There are two types of thinking skills - lower order thinking skills (LOTS) and higher order thinking skills (HOTS).

LOTS include labelling, remembering, comparing, contrasting.

HOTS include predicting, hypothesising, possibilty thinking, reasoning, looking for cause and effect, analysing, creating, evaluating.

Clearly HOTS are more difficult than LOTS and require more complex language.

How do you get learners predicting and hypothesising?

Asking questions like "What will happen if...", "What do you think is going to happen?",  "What can/ might/ could happen next?" gets learners predicting.  As you can see we use modal verbs and the first conditional to make predictions.  With young learners you can make this simple by giving them alternatives.  With my class of 7-year-olds I showed them a glass of water and different powders like sugar, salt, sand, flour and asked them "What do you think?  Will it make a solution or a mixture?"  So, I was expecting them to understand complex language, but I only required a one-word answer from them to make the prediction.

Hypothesising about the past requires more complex language like the third conditional "What would have happened if the plant hadn't had sunlight?", or mixed conditionals "What would life be like if electricity hadn't been invented?".  With young learners we can make this simple by using visuals and giving alternatives.  "If the plant hadn't had sunlight, would it have grown like this or this?"

How do you get learners to develop reasoning skills?

Asking questions like "Why do think that happens/ happened?", "Give three reasons why...?", "What causes/ caused that to happen?" help to develop reasoning skills.  With young learners this is very difficult because they do not have the language to express reasons.  Again we can use visuals and give them alternatives in some cases.  In others we can allow them to use L1 then give them the words they need in L2.  For example, when showing a diagram of the water cycle I asked my class of 7-year-olds "Why does the water evaporate?" and I accept a simple one-word answer "sun", or even better "because sun".

Justifying reasons, analysing and evaluating alternative solutions are more difficult skills and require more complex language.  I think these are challenging tasks for young learners even in their L1.  However, we could start developing these reasoning skills in their daily life, talking about the choices they make and the school rules.

Do you use any tasks to help develop reasoning skills in young learners?  Please tell me about them in a comment below.

 

How do you get learners to think creatively?

School is often accused of killing creativity!  It's important to include activities that stimulate creativity.  These can be open-ended activities, where there is no right or wrong answer or right or wrong way to do the activity, so the learners can make choices and the teacher can be surprised.  This can be something simple like asking learners to categorise things (words, pictures of objects or animals, sounds) without telling them HOW to categorise them.  I gave a class of 8-year-olds cards with pictures of different animals.  I was amazed by how many creative ways they categorised them!

After a discussion on how to stimulate creativity at Primary School, a student teacher suggested using plasticine.  Kids love it and it is very versatile.  They can make things individually or in groups and it guarantees full class participation!  I have used plasticine in Science when talking about the life cycle of the butterfly using the book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar", and in Geography, asking the students to collaborate to make a model of their classroom.

Another learning tool, which stimulates creativity is the lapbook:
http://www.handsofachild.com/lapbooking/what-is-a-lapbook/

There are a lot of useful materials and ideas on the internet to help you make a lapbook.  I made a lapbook in Year 1 Primary School on the five senses:

http://homeschoolhelperonline.com/2015/07/27/five-senses-lapbook/

My colleague, Frances, developed a lapbook on living things in Year 3 Primary School.  The students started by drawing their favourite habitat then gradually added to the lapbook with information on living things and pictures and cut-outs of the living things in their habitat.  She used material on Mrs. Gren:

http://www.sparklebox.co.uk/topic/living/life-processes.html#.WDmhfH0t1Xs

How do you stimulate creative thinking in your classroom? Please share your ideas in the comments box below.

 

How can you incorporate thinking skills into your lessons at the planning stage?

Here's a useful too to help you remember to plan activities which help develop thinking skills:

This was given to me by Diana Hicks at her seminar on CLIL in May 2016.

 

Frequently asked questions about CLIL

How do you differentiate learning for different levels in a class?

When teaching a subject in English you have to deal with learners of different levels.  Some learners are good at language and good at the subject.  You may even have native speakers in your class.  Some learners are good at language but not so good at the subject and vice versa.  Some learners struggle with both the language and the subject.

There are 3 ways you can differentiate learning.  You can differentiate the objective, the task and the support.

If you differentiate the objective you expect less able learners to understand or use a smaller range of concepts.  This is not usually possible in the context where I teach, Italian state Primary Schools.  However, it could be negotiated with the class teacher in order to provide achievable objectives for all the students.  In my experience, the class teacher and I agree that the less able students can explain the concepts in their L1, and we praise them for understanding the concept and the use of one or two key words in English. On the other hand, we encourage the more able students to make sentences in English and use linking and sequencing words.

If you differentiate the task you expect the less able students to complete a smaller number of exercises.  An effective way to do this is to write a worksheet where the easier questions are the odd numbers (1,3,5,7,9) so the students feel they have completed the worksheet even though you have asked them to only answer the odd numbers.  You can stimulate the more able students by giving them a more challenging task if they finish the main task quickly.  For example, you can ask them to write 3 questions for the other students, or research the topic further and present their findings to the class.

Some students need more support in order to complete the task.  This can be content support, for example a labelled picture or diagram, or language support.  A nice idea is to have laminated cards of high frequency words, which cause problems, for example "because" and "again".  You can also give the students speech or thought bubbles with sentence starters or gap-fill sentences, so the students know that you expect them to use that form when speaking, or that they have thinking time to prepare some sentences.

Research has shown that improving literacy in students' L1 improves their literacy in L2 so you can use dual texts, especially for students whose L1 is different to the rest of the class.  When studying the coast with a Year 3 Primary School class I enrolled the help of the support teacher to prepare a presentation of the coast in Italian, English, Spanish and French - all the L1 languages of the class.  The whole class found it a very rewarding and interesting experience.

What different types of visual organisers can you use to support content?

• Diagrams such as cycles for processes like the water cycle, soil cycle, rock cycle or to represent levels such as flora and fauna at different altitudes, different layers in soil.
• Mind maps to represent different types of similar things, for example mountain formation, activities in the mountains, etc.
• Venn diagrams to show similarities and differences, such as classifying animals that live in the sea
• Fish bones to show time lines, sequencing events or showing cause and effect

Does CLIL "dumb down" the subject?  Do students learn less if they learn the subject in English?

Class teachers and parents are frequently concerned about this aspect of CLIL. In my experience students learn more through CLIL, because the methodology addresses all learning styles, and it is essential to check that the students have learned the concept when teaching the subject in English.  It is not enough to simply ask "Is that clear?" and accept a "yes" from the class, so quite often students clarify misconceptions through CLIL.  For example, when checking previous knowledge in a Year 4 Primary School class, I asked students to write down 3 fish.  One student wrote "dolphin, penguin, jellyfish" shocking the Science teacher, who believed that all the students knew what a fish was.  In another class, it took 3 lessons to convince a student that a bat was not a bird.

When teaching a subject through English it is not possible to simplify the concept.  You can simplify the language, but where there is good collaboration between the CLIL teacher and the class teacher, you can ensure that the students learn complex language in L1 if necessary.  For example, when teaching hills in Year 3 Geography, the students had the term "case colloniche" in their Italian text books.  The English term is "farmhouses" but it does not fully explain the Italian concept, so I asked the class teacher to intervene and explain "case colloniche" in Italian.

It is also useful to have clear language objectives for the subject, and good collaboration with the English teacher.  For example, if the students need to use comparatives in the subject you are teaching, you can ask the English language teacher to teach them that language.  And vice versa.  If the English language teacher is teaching the form "have got", you can use this form in your subject to reinforce and practise that language. 

Can you use L1 in CLIL?

There are different points of view abiut the use of L1 in CLIL.  I recommend following two golden rules:

1.  Find out how use of L1 is viewed in the context where you teach and follow the guidelines you are given.
2. Make sure there is a valid reason for using L1 each time you are using it.

How can you encourage students to participate actively in CLIL lessons?

 Groupwork is an effective way to encourage active participation.  The ideal number for groups is 3 to ensure all members of the group participate.  Give each member of the group a clear role, for example:

• getting materials and time-keeping; monitoring behaviour
• taking notes; writing; drawing
• giving feedback; presenting

Make sure the students know the task objective.  Give clear and simple instructions - one sentence at a time, orally and written.  Give adequate support, for example sentence starters and gap-fill sentences.  Give the students a lot of praise for their participation, not only for good content knowledge, but also for good use of English or effectiveness in their group roles.  Focus on communication rather than accuracy.

How long does it take for the students to speak English? 

 Parents often have very high expectations of CLIL projects, especially when they are paying for them.  It is important to remember that there is a "silent" period when learning a language.  The students will understand more than they can speak for the first few years.  It can take about 7 years to become fluent in a language, and it can depend on a lot of factors.  One of the most important factors is a stress-free, positive environment.  So you need to be patient with your students and give them the time they need.

Do you have any questions about CLIL? Write your comments below.

 

Why is it important to ask learners for explanations?

Do you ask your learners for explanations of the concepts they have learned?

There are several reasons for asking learners for explanations:

• Learners gain a better understanding of the subject concepts.
• Learners develop skills of recall.
• Learners develop their thinking skills (understanding, remembering, applying their knowledge)
• Learners are more engaged when they participate in active learner-centred learning.
• Learners can create a positive classroom culture and discover the joy of learning.
• Learners consolidate what they have learned.
• Learners learn important social skills -  presenting their ideas and listening to others.
• Learners have the opportunity to try out their new language skills.
• Teachers can check what the students have learned.
• Teachers can evaluate the effectiveness of the methods they are using.
• Teachers have the opportunity to acknowledge learner contributions.
• Teachers can identify problems with content knowledge and language skills. 

Which of these reasons are important for your students?

How do you prepare to ask learners for explanations?

It is important to plan also this stage of a lesson.  You can:

1. Write down the concept and what you expect your learners to say to explain it.  Do they need any language support?
2. Are you going to ask them to explain the concept as the whole class or in pairs or small groups?
3. What are you going to say to elicit the explanation?  Do you need a picture or a diagram or a graphic organiser to help you elicit the explanation? 

Here's a link to a padlet where you can share your plans for this stage of a lesson:
Padlet: CLIL Asking for explanations 

Describing, explaining and giving examples

How do you teach your students to describe and explain concepts?

 We spend a lot of our time describing, explaining and giving examples, but it is also important to teach our students the language they need to do this.  We can help students learn how to describe things by giving them a written model, with the language they can use to describe similar things.

For example:

Monte Bianco is in the Alps.  It is 4809m above sea level.  It has glaciers on the summit.  Monte Bianco is a fold mountain.

 Black = verbs (present simple of to be and to have)
 Green = specific vocabulary to describe mountains.

Using different colours or underlining in the text can help the students identify the language they need to use to describe mountains. 

When asking students to explain concepts or processes, diagrams and graphic organisers can support them in their explanations. 

For example, a diagram of the water cycle will help students remember the processes they need to explain:

 

Again, it may be useful to provide the students with a written model of an explanation.  Normally, when we describe processes, we use the present simple passive:

When the water in the sea is heated, it evaporates. 

With younger or lower level students it may be necessary to avoid the passive form:

The sun heats the sea.  The water evaporates. 
  Black = present simple


 Here is an example of a graphic organiser to help students explain how hills are formed:

 We can provide language support in a simple gap-fill:

Mount Etna is in _____________ . It is 3,350m _________ _______ __________.
It has a ________ at the summit.  Mount Etna is an active ________________.

Or with sentence starters:

Most mountains in Italy are _____________.
Here farmers produce/ grow ______________.
Other activities on mountains include ____________.

Or with substitution tables:

                                 evaporates                                it's cold
Water                               condenses        when
                                        freezes                                       it's hot

Do you use these methods for describing, explaining and giving examples?

How do you help your students acquire the language they need to describe and explain concepts?

 

   

Helping learners understand subject-specific content

Collaboration

One of the most important aspects of CLIL projects is collaboration.  If you are the subject teacher, you need to collaborate with the English teacher in order to find the best strategies for the learners to understand and learn the required language.  If you are the English teacher you need to collaborate with the subject teacher in order to know the content the learners are required to learn, and how their knowledge will be evaluated.  If you are an external CLIL expert you need to collaborate with both the English teacher and the subject teacher in order to know their expectations from the students.

I recently discovered that the English teacher for the second year Primary School classes, where I teach subjects in English as an external CLIL expert, had taught the structure "It's (red, a tree, etc.)".  So my acceptance of one-word answers from the students "Red/Tree,etc" was in conflict with her expectations, and slowing their progress in the English lessons.

On the other hand, I have weekly planning meetings with the subject teachers, and I am in the classroom with them, so there is close collaboration on the subject-specific content to cover, and which content needs to be covered in both L1 and L2.

How do you give definitions?

There are many different ways you can give definitions, and it is a good idea to use a variety of different ways in order to keep your lessons novel and interesting.  However, remember the golden rule:

KISS:         Keep It Short and Simple

Here are some ideas:

• Realia or real objects or experiments, e.g. plants; ice; maps
• Images - pictures; digital images; photos; flashcards; diagrams; charts; mind maps; network trees; create mini flashcards and put them on a keyring
• Reading definitions from internet or coursebooks
• Audio-visual material - videos or power point presentations
• Sentence gap-fill, e.g. "A   (root)   is the part of a   (plant)   that takes in  (water)   and   (minerals)   from the soil.
• Matching terms and definitions in a game or a quiz
• Clarifying differences between similar terms
• Creating a glossary
• Giving the students language frames with:

                      - the language of learning, e.g. root, stem, leaf

                      - the language for learning, e.g. "What is it?"  "It's a ...."

      - the language through learning, e.g. "I don't understand."  "Can you repeat, please?"

Please add your ideas in the comments section below.

 

Planning

It is important to plan how you are going to give your students the definitions they need.  The definitions need to be clear, precise and unambiguous.  You also need to plan how you are going to check that the students have a clear understanding of the definitions you provide.

How do you check that students understand the definitions?

Here are some ideas of tasks to check understanding:

• Realia - give the students a definition then show them the wrong object to check understanding; ask the students to compare different objects.
• Images - matching exercise; describe and draw; guess the picture; true/false
• Reading definitions - true/false; answer questions; students explain the definition (in L1 or L2); compare definitions; identify examples of what is being defined
• Audiovisual - worksheets with gap-fill exercises to complete during the audiovisual presentation; jigsaw pairwork activities; making lists (this task can become a team competition)
• Sentence gap-fill - explain how/why (in L1 or L2); what do you think about...?; write comments about...

To keep students' interest during an audiovisual presentation of the flora and fauna in the mountain habitat, I asked them first to make a list in teams of what they thought would be in the presentation (predicting).  If the plant or animal on their list was in the presentation they got points for their team.  If they had written the name of the plant or animal in English they got 2 points, in L1 they got 1 point.

Please add your ideas in the comments section below.

Word Clouds and Key Words

How do you identify the key words in your subject?

There is always a lot of vocabulary when you are teaching a subject in English, so how do you identify which are the most important words to define, explain, clarify, etc?

One tool which can be very useful for this task is a word cloud.  But how do you use them?  I am not very technologically adept, and I got stuck this week trying to use Wordle.  Then I saw another student on the course had made a word cloud using a different word cloud tool and posted it on his blog.  Thank you Juan Carlos!  http://juancartsxxi.blogspot.it/p/nubes-de-palabras.html So I did some research and found this page:

the-8-best-free-word-cloud-creation-tools-for-teachers

From here I tried a few and still had problems!  Then I tried Tagxedo:

http://www.tagxedo.com/app.html

And this one worked and did the things I was hoping it would do!

So here's my wordcloud:





I'm quite impressed with myself!  What do you think?  What subject do you think these words come from?

I created this wordcloud by simply typing in the keywords.  However, if you copy and paste text into the wordcloud tool it should pick out the key words for you.  Have a go and let me know if it works.

So now you know the key words, you have a nice image of the key words that you can print out and give to your students, and you can start thinking about how you are going to define, explain, show, clarify, etc. these words to your students, and you know which words you need to make sure your students learn.

Eliciting subject knowledge and ideas

Why is eliciting good for learners and teachers?

Eliciting is good for learners because it activates their knowledge and stimulates communication.  It also sets the tone for the lesson, because it lets them know that they are starting an interactive lesson where they will be expected to actively learn and think productively.

Eliciting is good for teachers because it helps them know what the students already know or remember from previous lessons.

What techniques can you use to elicit?

You can use visual prompts, such as pictures, diagrams, graphs or videos.  You can also use linguistic prompts, such as words or statements.  You can do a kinesthetic exercise, asking students in groups to classify pictures or words on cards into simple groups or groups of their choice.

The most important part of eliciting is asking the students questions.  This requires a lot of preparation, as you need to formulate your questions in a way that is simple for the students to understand, so they will feel able to respond.  You also need to do some lateral thinking and predict what the students will answer so you can prepare some follow-up questions.  You also need to predict the vocabulary and language structures that the students will need to answer your questions, so you are ready to supply them with the necessary language.

If you are eliciting what they remember from previous lessons you can insist on them using English, and maybe just jog their memories by giving them the first sound of the word.

If you are eliciting what they know about a new topic, it is acceptable for them to tell you in their L1.  You can ask them if they know how to say it in English, and if they don't, you can stimulate their curiosity by telling them that they will know it by the end of the lesson.

What questions do you to elicit knowledge and ideas from your students?

Do you remember?  What do plants need?

Is this (picture of a cat) a plant or an animal? Why is it an animal?

In pairs write the names of 3 vertebrates (or mammals/fish/birds/etc) in English.  Why is a cat a vertebrate?

Do you know the names of mountains in Italy?  Where is Monte Bianco?  Why is Monte Bianco a mountain?  Is Monte Bianco a volcanic mountain? How was it formed?  Do you know any volcanic mountains in Italy?

Here are some adjectives to describe music in English.  Can you put them in two groups - positive and negative?  Discuss together in your group.

Here are some pictures of musical instruments.  Can you put them in four groups?  You decide the groups.

Over to you

Write an example of  a question you use to elicit knowledge and ideas from your students in a comment below.

Ways to start a CLIL lesson

How do you start your lessons?

It's important to start your lessons effectively to help your students switch from their language into English, and to switch from whatever they have been focussing on to focus on the subject you are going to teach.  You also might need some help in focussing on your lesson!

With young learners, I find that songs are useful.  I try to find a song that the students can associate with the subject.  With Very Young Learners this can be a simple song like "Head, shoulders, knees and toes" for Science, and "Wind the bobbin up" for Geography.  There are lots of songs available on YouTube, which are more specific to the topic you are teaching in Upper Primary School, for example "The Invertebrates Song"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVsUkVTjZyg for Science or "Cardinal Directions Song" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2I81_BFb-s for Geography.  Getting the kids to stand up and do some movements to the song gives them a "Brain Break" from their previous lessons, too.

It is also important to review previous lessons.  Children learn and forget, so they need reminding of the vocabulary and concepts from the previous lessons.  You can't assume that they are going to remember vocabulary that they may need in order to understand the new lesson.  You need to refresh their memory.  Maybe there were students absent in the previous lesson, so they need to hear and understand vocabulary that you are going to use in the new lesson.

You can review the previous lesson by:

• asking open or closed questions, e.g. "What do you remember about invertebrates?", "What season comes after Summer?"
• showing the students a picture or a flashcard - you can also vary how you do this: Ideas for using flashcards
• asking a student to tell a student who was absent what they remember in English or in L1.
• checking homework
• asking a student to present what they did in the previous lesson to the class, or mime an object from the previous lesson
• asking the class "What did you learn last lesson?"
• asking the class "What don't you know about String Instruments?" and getting the students to write a question that they would like to know the answer to.
• playing a review game like "Hot Seat", where one student sits at the front of the class with their back to the board.  The teacher writes a word on the board, for example "peak", and the class has to describe the word so the student can guess it, e.g. "It's the top of a mountain".
• doing a quiz in teams

These activities stimulate interest and confidence in the learner, while helping the teacher find out what they know and remember.  They also activate the students' prior knowledge and help them to focus on the subject and the language they are learning.

When starting a lesson you can also share the learning objectives with the students.  You can write on the board what you hope they are going to learn in the lesson and use this to elicit their knowledge in L1, for example "What do plants need to live?".  This is very useful for helping the students and the teacher to focus on the lesson, and it stimulates the students to want to learn it in English.  It is also useful to return to the learning objective at the end of the lesson, and ask the students "What have you learned?"  You can also ask upper Primary students to have an exercise book that they use as a Learning Diary.  For homework they write what they did in the lesson and what they learned.  They can write this in L1 or in English, and you can also ask students to read their entries at the beginning of the next lesson as a way to review the previous lesson.

I look forward to reading your comments and ideas.