Science Class
Using CLIL Teaching Methods in the Preschool Classroom
This week at Hisaya International Preschool and Kindergarten, the Butterfly and Porcupine classes used CLIL teaching methods to study the concept of buoyancy.
The students predicted whether various items would float or sink and then placed the items in water to test their predictions.
In the end, we created a large chart to record our findings.
Buoyancy involves difficult concepts such as density and gravity, however, the students are able to increase their understanding through seeing and observing what happens when the objects are placed in the water.
Can you make a prediction?
Q: Does a one yen float or sink?
.
.
.
.
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The correct answer is...if you place the coin on the water carefully, it will float!
The five to six year old students in the Porcupineclass challenged themselves to make the one yen float.
If you would like to, please try this at home!
Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)
This type of instruction is called CLIL
or Content and Language Integrated Learning
, which involves teaching other subjects in the foreign language the students are learning.
We use CLIL teaching methods extensively in our upper level classes, the Butterfly
and Porcupine
classes. In these levels students have a high level of English ability so it is appropriate for teachers to focus on students using and practicing their English in an academic context.
