A CLIL DIDACTIC PROPOSAL FOR EARLY YEARS EDUCATION
UO297699@uniovi.es
Methodology II
Master’s Degree in Content and English Language Integrated Learning: Early-Years and Primary Education
Laura Seijas Zamora
INTRODUCTION
This didactic proposal titled “TheVery HungryCaterpillar”, is designed to be carried out with students in the 6th year of early-years education (students between 5-6 years old). For its development, the centre of interest will be based on the storytelling of “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle and then, different activities will be carried out around this story.
Through the development of the different activities of this proposal, students will learn about food (fruits, healthy habits), days of the week, the life cycle of a butterfly and review other aspects such as colours and numbers.
To ensure inclusivity and develop their speaking and listening skills, it is essential to create a supportive and collaborative learning environment where students feel comfortable expressing themselves in English. Group activities, discussions, and language games are incorporated to promote teamwork and peer interaction, fostering a positive language-learning atmosphere.
Furthermore, the story "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" is special because it addresses the theme of metamorphosis, and we can leverage that theme in the last term of early years education to help children understand and accept the changes they are experiencing. By relating them to the story of the caterpillar, we can teach them that, just like the caterpillar transforms into a butterfly, they too are blossoming and developing towards their next school stage.
In this didactic proposal, the curricular basis is presented (based on the Early Years Education curriculum of the Principality of Asturias) in which the related objectives, language contents, their connection to the 4 C's of the CLIL approach are developed. Then, the methodologies and strategies used are explained, followed by a description of the activities to be carried out throughout the different sessions. The bibliography section lists the documentary sources used for the design of the didactic proposal and includes annexed documents for both student and teaching evaluation, as well as materials designed to support learning.
CURRICULAR BASIS
CONTEXT
OBJECTIVES
• 6º Infant Education (5-6 years old)
• Learn vocabulary about fruits and food
• Know and recognise the days of the week
• Identify the life cycle of a butterfly
Language Content / Communication
•Fruitsandfood:apple,pear,plum,strawberry,orange, chocolate cake, cherry pie, sausage, cupcake, watermelon,...
Vocabulary
•Thedaysoftheweek
•Butterfly life cycle: egg, larva (caterpillar), cocoon (chrysalis),butterfly,metamorphosis.
•Reviewcoloursandnumbers
•Content: content related to food and healthy food, the life cycleofabutterflyandtheconceptofmetamorphosis,daysof theweek
The 4 C's
Language skills
•Communication: encouraging students to use the language relatedtothebook Expresstheirthoughtsandideas
•Culture:usingliteraturetolearnaboutdifferenttopicsandlove reading-hearing stories Discovery and appreciation of children'sliterature
•Cognition: comparing, analysing, contrasting, remembering thestory,...
•Throughouttheactivitiesofthisdidacticproposal,itwill bedevelopthefollowing:
•Listening: activelylisteningtotheteacher'sinstructions, thestoryandtotheclassmatesandunderstandthem.
•Speaking: ask in case of doubt, peaceful conflict resolution,sharingopinions,tellingthestoryintheir way,talkingaboutfood,imitatingpronunciation...
•Reading: usingmeaningfulmaterialssuchasthebook, thestory,theflashcards,
•Writing: initiateandpractisewritingusingflashcardsas aguidethroughdifferentmaterialsandsuports
Cognitive processes
•LOTS (Low Order Thinking Skills): remembering and understandingtheplotofthestory,identifyingfruits, foodandotheraspects,applying,memorising,
•HOTS (HighOrderThinkingSkills):makingpredictions aboutwhatwillhappeninthestory,creatingtheirown story,...
Key Competences
• Linguistic communication skills, throughout all the activities we will use oral communication, asking, answering, giving opinions, explaining observations, etc.
• Plurilingual skills, following CLIL approach throughout the didactic proposal, using codeswitching to understand vocabulary,...
• Mathematical, Science, Technology and Engineering skills.
• Personal, social and learning-to-learn skills, working in groups, respecting speaking time,
Evaluation
(tecniquesandinstruments)
Attention to diversity
•Assessmentwillbeglobal,continuousandformative, usingdirectandsystematicobservationoftheirprogress andproductionsastechniques,usingtheassessment criteriafromthecurriculumasabasistodesingarubric (annexed document I).Teachingpracticewillalsobe evaluated(annexed document II).
•The activities will have different degrees of implementationandwillbeadaptedtotheindividual needs of the pupils. Another measure will be the inclusionofcooperativeactivitiesandteamwork.Peer support will enable pupils to learn from others' strategies, skills, and abilities that will contribute to the developmentoftheircapacitiesandtheacquisitionof keycompetences
•Inclusionofallpupilswillbepromotedbyproviding accessibility to a variety of manipulative materials, designofactivitiesthatpreventdiscrimination.
•Inordertoofferattentiontodiversity,theactivitiesare designedfollowingtheUniversalDesignforLearning, respondingtothepersonalneedsofthepupils,basedon equity,inclusionanddiversity.
TITLE: The Very Hungry Caterpillar
AREA SPECIFIC COMPETENCES ASSESSMENT CRITERIA BASIC KNOWLEDGES
Specific competence
4. Establish social interactions in conditions of equality,valuingthe importance of friendship, respect and empathy, in ordertobuildtheir own identity based on democratic values and respect forhumanrights.
Participate with initiative in group gamesandactivities, relating to other peoplewithattitudes of affection and empathy, respecting the different individual rhythms andavoidinganykind ofdiscrimination.
• Socio-affective and coexistence skills: communicationof feelings and emotions and basic guidelines for coexistence, including respect forgenderequality and the rejection of any type of discriminationand stereotyping.
AREA I: Harmonious growth
AREA II: Discovering and exploring the environment
Specific competence
3. Adoptingmodels, norms, and habits, developing confidence in their abilitiesandfeelings of achievement, to promote a healthy and eco-socially responsiblelifestyle.
Specific competence
1. Identify the characteristics of materials, objects and collections and establish relationships between them, throughexploration, sensory
Perform activities related to self-care and environmental carewitharespectful attitude, demonstrating selfconfidence and initiative.
• Use the most meaningful basic quantifiersinthe context of the game and in interaction with others.
• Friendship as an element of protection, prevention of violence and developmentofa cultureofpeace.
• Symbolic play. Observation, imitation and representation of people,characters andsituations
• Sustainable and eco-socially responsiblehabits and practices related to food, hygiene,rest,selfcare, and environmental care.
• Qualities or attributes of objects and materials. Relationsoforder, correspondence, classification and comparison.
AREA III: Communication and reality representation
manipulation, the useofsimpletools and the development of logical and mathematical skills to discover and create an increasinglycomplex ideaoftheworld.
Specific competence
3. Recognise elements and phenomena of nature
• Establish relationships between the naturalandsocial environment based on knowledge and observation of environment.
• Contextualised basicquantifiers.
• Functionality of numbers in daily life.
• Time and its organisation:days oftheweek.
• Empathy, care, andprotectionof animals. Respect fortheirrights.
Specific competence
1.Showinterest in interacting in everyday situations by exploring and using their communicative repertoiretoexpress their needs and intentions and respond to the demands of the environment.
Specific competence
5. Value the linguistic diversity present in their environment, as well as other cultural manifestations, in order to enrich their communicative strategies and their culturalbackground
• Participate actively, spontaneously and respectfully with individual and linguistic differences in communicative situations of progressive complexity, accordingtotheir individual development
• Participate in communicative interactions in a foreign language related to everydayroutines andsituations.
Oral language in everyday situations: conversations, social interactiongamesand the expression of experiences.
Approach to the foreign language. Elements for basic functional communication1
1 Source: Decree 56/2022, of 5 August, which regulates the organisation and establishes the curriculum of Early Childhood Education in the Principality of Asturias
METHODOLOGY
The activities developed throughout the didactic proposal, will be characterized by following the global approach typical of the early years education, addressing the three areas of knowledge in this stage.
On the one hand, the CLIL approach will allow students to learn contents about nature, health and nutrition, etc. while learn vocabulary and the use of English (dual focus), using strategies such as flexibility, code-switching (providing support by allowing children to use their mother tongue when necessary, gradually transitioning to more English usage as their language skills and vocabulary develop), through educational scaffolding (offering guidance and support through visual aids, props, and simplified language to facilitate comprehension and language production)
On the other hand, the use of the storytelling as an educational tool is a useful way to awake child's interests, above all in this stage (early years education). With this motivational approach, pupils will learn about food, life cycle, the week, numbers, colours... through the global perspective following the Decree 56/2022, of 5 August, which regulates the organisation and establishes the curriculum of Early Childhood Education in the Principality of Asturias
Throughout the activities in this learning plan, different strategies that encourage active student participation will be employed, such as the use of thinking routines (compare and contrast routine, zoom in routine), which contribute to the development of critical thinking, making their ideas visible (through their representation in graphic organizers), inviting to communication, and practising their communicative skills in a contextualized way. As mentioned before, if students are unable to express themselves in English, they can do so in their native language, as teachers we can use these moments for scaffolding, in addition to using realia for support. During storytelling and song interpretation, the TPR (Total Physical Response) strategy will be used, emphasizing pronunciation and imitation. Collaborative work in heterogeneous groups and the use of cooperative strategies like rotating flipchart (“pass the paper”) will also be incorporated.
In addition, we will also use ICT, another motivational tool to give more dynamism to the sessions through games designed around the central theme of the story.
During the development of this didactic proposal, most of the activities will be done with the whole group, in assembly, others, as in session 4, in little groups using the cooperative learning technique of “pass the paper” (folio giratorio), or individually as in session 5, where each pupil need to use their own imagination and explore with different manipulative materials.
The different sessions are described in the following section. It should be noted that each session is divided into two parts, a first preparatory or introductory part (pre-activity) and then the main part.
Regarding to the timing, this plan is designed to be implemented in the third term, specifically during the spring season, preferably in May or June and it has 6 different sessions. It can be done 2 sessions per week. Each session will take 50 minutes
