Developing STEM literacy in primary CLIL lessons Svetla Mavrodieva Cambridge English Consultant(Bulgaria)

Aims of the seminar to explore what STEM literacy means to compare and contrast literacy development in primary STEM and CLIL contexts to discover practical ideas for developing multiple STEM literacies in primary CLIL lessons

What is literacy? the study of literature knowing the alphabet and how to write words and sentences the ability to read and write the ability to speak and listen, read and write something more than A, B, C and D ‘the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute, using printed and written materials’ (UNESCO, 2006)

Literacy across the curriculum in CLIL ART: Landscape paintings (e.g. river, mountain, sea) GEOGRAPHY: Physical landscapes (e.g. coast, desert mountain) HISTORY: Old settlements (near rivers, on hills) SCIENCE: Sources of water (rivers, glaciers, wells and springs)

Bacteria and food key Science Literacy and CLIL Evidence in book materials CLIL across the curriculum Science + focus on healthy habits ( = food hygiene) Increasingly complex subject concepts Explanation of bacteria with types of bacteria Instructions about how to be careful with food Some academic language for thinking about and communicating subject content Vocabulary Bacteria: e.g. listeria monocytogenes; E. coli strange names (adj. = Cambridge English: Flyers level) Phrases: before cooking; before you cook (= Cambridge English: Flyers level language)

How to develop literacy in CLIL lessons Help learners to notice subject-specific language in CLIL materials Support content and language learning at word, sentence and text levels Encourage learners to read a range of subject text types Develop not only subject literacy but also other literacies in CLIL

Support at word, sentence and text levels Sentence box has some/many leaves. The plant doesn’t have any flowers. Leaves grow in the stem. Flowers from the soil. Roots under the ground. Word box flower leaf/leaves stem roots soil thick ↔ thin big ↔ small smooth ↔ serrated recount first then next after that finally flower Plant life-cycle seed leaf shoot stem

Encourage learners to read a range of subject text types Examples are: simple explanations, recounts (e.g. science) charts, maps, graphs (e.g. geography/maths) reports, descriptions (e.g. science/geography) instructions (e.g. physical education) short biographies (e.g. art/music) video clips with all of the above non-fiction books for extended reading http://www.cambridge.org/gb/cambridgeenglish/catalog/ readers/cambridge-young-readers

Develop multiple literacies: key Task 1: develops subject and visual literacy Task 2: includes multimedia input to develop digital literacy Task 3: develops age-appropriate subject literacy (explanation of science concept: underwater food chain) Tasks 4–6: develop reading, writing, speaking; critical and creative thinking skills linked to subject literacy Guess What! Student’s Book 5, Cambridge University Press (2015)

Round-up and questions defined literacy and identified multiple literacies examined more closely how literacy is developed in CLIL compared and contrasted how literacy is developed in ELT and CLIL discussed and considered practical ideas for developing multiple literacies in CLIL lessons Questions, questions, questions???