2nd Oxford Seminar on Bilingualism for Pre-primary and Primary Education in Madrid
Workshops
In these six talks our trainers shared their expertise and experience, providing us with tools, techniques and ideas for teaching. The seminars were fun and highly practical, and explored a wide variety of topics related to teaching children.
Walk on the Wild Side: Eight CLIL speaking activities (1st and 2nd cycle) - Tim Herdon -
In this practical workshop we looked at activities that get children speaking. All the activities were based on the topic of wild animals. The highly practical focus of the workshop enabled participants to evaluate the effectiveness of each activity presented.
Encouraging children to communicate (Pre-primary & 1st cycle) - Vanessa Reilly
This practical workshop aimed at getting teachers to think about creating opportunities for their Pre-primary and early Primary age children to communicate and use the English they are learning.
In this session we looked at fun and fruitful activities to provide optimal conditions for these learners to start speaking.
What are words for? Vocabulary strategies for CLIL (2nd & 3rd cycle) - Patti Trimborn
Every subject has very specific vocabulary, even when it is taught in the students' first language. In this talk, we considered what kind of vocabulary students will encounter in CLIL subjects, and identified ways to work on content vocabulary in a systematic and fun way.
CLIL and Stories: Ideas for developing Cross-Curricular Teaching from stories (3rd cycle) - Tim Herdon
Stories have always played a central role in Primary teaching, and have been seen as the most effective way of developing children’s cognitive abilities and affective learning. This workshop looked at how to develop cross-curricular threads from stories, in ways that allow children to enjoy the multisensory aspects of storytelling.
CLIL & IWBs - they don't need to be such a puzzle! (2nd & 3rd cycle) - Vanessa Reilly
When introducing CLIL into our Primary curriculum, we must not forget how children learn a new language. It is important to still include all the techniques and methodology which have long been proven to work in the classroom like stories, songs, games and TPR. However, with the introduction of Interactive White Boards in our classrooms, we can make our classes even more successful by making the most of materials on the web and by creating our own materials.
Speaking and listening in Science (2nd & 3rd cycle) - Patti Trimborn
In CLIL, the focus changes from teacher-directed to student-centered learning. Simultaneous talking by groups of students in a class provides many more opportunities for practicing new vocabulary and structures while learning new content. In this session we practiced lots of different activities to help students engage more actively in CLIL classes.
Thank you to all the teachers who turned up, the event was a great success!
Our experts
Tim Herdon has twenty-five years of experience in teaching, training and school management. Recently he has worked on CLIL training projects at both Primary and Secondary level in England, and with a number of teacher centres in Spain and Italy. He is regularly involved in teacher training and writing projects with OUP.
Vanessa Reilly, a teacher, author and teacher trainer, has been working in Spain for 20 years. She has an M.A. in English Language Teaching specializing in very young learners. She currently runs courses for Primary teachers all over Spain and from around the world, and works at two Primary schools in Seville. She is also the author of the Primary course books Surprise 1, 2 & 5 (OUP) and Three in a Tree A & B (OUP).
Patti Trimborn studied Elementary and Special Education, and completed her Masters in Learning Difficulties. Since 1992, she has taught English and content subject areas to young learners in bilingual and international schools in Spain. She has worked as teacher trainer in Spain and the UK for the past three years, and has written articles on CLIL and ELT teaching materials.