Transcript English through music: effective CLIL lessons for young

English through music:
effective CLIL lessons for
young learners
Jane Willis
(ELT specialist)
Anice Paterson
(music specialist)
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English through music:
effective CLIL lessons for
young learners
Jane Willis
(ELT specialist)
Anice Paterson
(music specialist)
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OVERVIEW
What potential does Content & Language Integrated
Learning (CLIL) have for language development?
Why is music particularly suited to CLIL?
What kinds of musical activities are there? (with
brief demonstrations of some of them)
How can you ensure these music activities fulfil
conditions that are likely to promote language
learning?
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Content & Language Integrated
Learning (CLIL)
Learning a subject through English provides
young learners with:
• exposure to spoken English
• a clear purpose for listening to English and
trying to understand
• a context for using English
• a reason for reading and writing
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Music through English?
or
English through music?
Why music and English together?
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Singing
is an excellent way for
children to
• learn and memorise
words and phrases
• develop familiarity with
the sounds, rhythms
and stress of English
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Songs, rhymes and rhythm
activities
help children to
• learn to listen carefully – with a real
purpose
• respond to the ranges in tone, pitch, and
expression in the voice
• concentrate hard on small details of
pronunciation, stress and rhythm
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Musical pictures and musical
stories
help children to
• experiment and use the qualities of
sounds effectively
• express their feelings
• recognise the structure of stories and
poems and to sequence ideas
• talk about what they are doing and why
• tell and perform their own stories
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Rehearsing and giving musical
performances
• provides children with a real purpose for
developing and practising their English
• helps children to develop self-confidence
- in using English in a range of contexts
- in performing with control and expressiveness
• keeps children motivated and excited by their
experience of making music
Also, NFER has evidence of beneficial effects on
general behaviour and learning skills
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A giant
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The giant story
Recorded in a class of 9
year-olds who
• have various soundmakers
• listen to the story, bit by
bit, and suggest sounds
for each action
• perform the whole story,
with sounds
• create variations
CD 55
1. First of all, I want you to
imagine that there’s a
huge giant and he’s
eating his dinner at his
table. Can you make
eating sounds?
2. And on the door there’s
a tap tap tap tap… Can
you repeat that rhythm
for me? Keep it going –
tap tap tap tap…
3. The giant stands up and
slowly walks to the door
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The enormous carrot
Teacher with five-year-olds
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So what are they learning?
Musical skills
Experimenting with
sounds
Creating sound patterns
Remembering a
sequence
Performing a piece
Creating variations
Language
development
Exposure to story text
& to teacher talk that
engages attention
(imperatives, repetitions,
on-going commentary)
Opportunities for
participatory use of
language
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What kinds of music activities
are there?
These activities cover musical objectives
that appear in any typical music syllabus.
A
Warm-up activities
‘Listen and Do’ – physical and vocal
exercises to prepare children for music
making and to develop their co-ordination,
voice control, and pronunciation.
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Physical warm-ups
Some examples (all on CD)
• ‘Stretch, shake and
wiggle
• ‘Pat your head and rub
your tummy’
• Baby 1, 2, 3
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Vocal warm-ups
Breath control: snakes, bees, humming
Musical vowels: sirens, scales
Consonant patterns: slow - ping pong;
fast - ch ch ch ch
Voice expression: Boom chicka boom
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B Listening and experimenting
with sounds
• Hands and feet CD15
(Body Percussion)
• Let’s make a band
(Sound-makers)
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Action songs & rhymes
Section C (minimal language)
• The Rocket Rhyme
Count down, count down,
rocket leaving soon
Count down, count down,
leaving for the moon
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Blast off!
Section F (more language)
• There’s a tiny caterpillar
on a leaf
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A Rhythm Grid
Some very small creatures
‘OK, Let’s start with a steady beat…..
a very quiet beat.. Keep it going… Now listen
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D Rhythm games & patterns
Clap it back
(fruit, vocabulary sets)
Pop
Spider Ant
(small creatures, party food)
Language and music aims:
Syllable stress in words and phrases
Performing layered patternings (in parts)
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E Listening and responding to
music
• How long does it last?
(instrument sounds)
• I like it (different styles, images, moods,
countries) CD 40
• Let’s dance
Children hear about where the music is from, think
what it could be about, express how the music
makes them feel...
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Composing and performing
class music
G Story-based music
• Musical books (any story)
• The giant
• The enormous carrot (growing food and farm
animals)
H Musical pictures
• Rainstorm (tropical climate)
• Where shall we go today? (zoo, market…)
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Activity Page
• LANGUAGE
• MUSIC
• RESOURCES AND PREPARATION
• TIME GUIDE
AGE
………………………………………
• Activity (numbered steps and suggestions for what to
say in English).
• Variations (ideas for other similar musical activities)
• Language extensions
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Language extensions
Suggestions for building on the language
used in the activity:
• same music aims but new context or song
• mini-dialogues for intonation work
• games for vocabulary revision e.g. miming
• tongue twisters
• follow-up chats / discussions
• mini-projects with cross-curricula links.
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Questions
1. How does this fit my English syllabus?
2. Are the activities graded?
3. How to use the CD?
4. Musical expertise? Teacher support?
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What language learning
opportunities do these CLIL lessons
provide?
Four main sources
1. general classroom management and
instructions
2. the language used to introduce the topic,
to set up the music activity itself,
to attain the music aims & lead to a
musical performance
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What language learning
opportunities do these CLIL lessons
provide?
3. the words and phonological features of
the songs, rhymes, chants, stories, and
mini-dialogues,
4. further development of specific language
features and topic themes
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And finally…
the three most important things…
• use the musical activity to generate
opportunities to interact with the children in
English
• encourage children’s language and music
development by being positive
• make sure you all enjoy making music.
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‘English Through Music’
Anice Paterson & Jane Willis
OUP 2008
[email protected]
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