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

2. 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

3. 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)

4. 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)

5. 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)

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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
readers/cambridge-young-readers

9. 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)

10. 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???