ISTITUTO COMPRENSIVO STATALE DI VIALE LIBERTA’

Scuola Secondaria di Primo Grado “G. Robecchi”

Viale Libertà, 32 – 27029 Vigevano (PV)

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CLIL 2015/16

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Coordinator

Antonietta Silvestri

Teachers involved

Cristina Bellazzi, Alessandra Ferrari Bardile, Alessandra Gravagna,

Claudia Limiroli, Massimo Magnani, Raimonda Zini, Sergio Positano, Milena Porcaro,

Maria Luisa Tibaldi, Antonella Ramazzina

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INTRODUCTION

Working hard is important, but there is something that matters even more: BELIEVING IN YOURSELF

Harry Potter

Too often the teachers miss the opportunity to use new teaching approaches in their classes owing to constraints of time or lack of desire to experiment that surely limit students’ learning experiences.

Without thinking about the difficulties that we could meet and the increased workload, we decided to use our sixth sense, intuition, and accepted with great pleasure this adventure called CLIL.

At the beginning we didn’t know how to organize our project plan but above all in which way we could involve our students. In spite of this, we started to work and, step by step, our pupils began to be interested in what we, all together (students and teachers), were doing.

In the long run they were more and more motivated and excited to participate!

As for us, we often praised them recognizing and valuing their contributions because we strongly believe that if a class is a friendly place in which students feel themselves accepted and respected, they will be eager to learn.

Now, after ending our lessons and activities, our students are proud of the opportunity they had to learn English using a cooperative and interactive way.

Here are their free feelings, impressions and opinions about this experience.

CLASSES

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CLIL...what is it?

Well…

we made this fantastic experience together

and now…

if I say “CLIL”

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Firstly we think it is a project in a foreign language!

III E

A project to strengthen the English language!

Amina, III B

I think about school subjects explained and learned in English!

Antonia, III E

Well… me too. You have to deal with school subjects in English!

Angelo, III B

As for me, I thought about the topics chosen:

they were linked each other according to a specific order and not at random.

Elisa, III E

I thought : “Another thing to do… another trouble… Dear me!”

Mohamed, IIIE

Oh my God! History, Science … in English!!! I will understand nothing!!!

Mattia, III B

:-O

Well, actually we didn’t know what to do and in which way!

Nevertheless we were curious to live a new experience that, in my opinion, was exciting!

Eleonora, IIIE

Will it be difficult? Will I be able to fellow carefully the lessons and understand them?

Carolina, IIIE

It will be boring! I’m sure.

Matteo, III B

ALL RIGHT…

THESE ARE OUR IMPRESSIONS …

BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN “CLIL” ?

Let’s explain it all together! CLIL is an acronym, that’s to say an initial, that means Content and Language Integrated Learning.

It is a teaching methodology that refers to teaching subjects such as History, Geography, Science, Art and so on to students through a foreign language. That’s all!

Good…

now we know that, but before starting …

What were our expectations?

For example…

When our teacher said,

“You have to come back to school in the afternoon”…

What was our reaction?

Everyone was ready!

III E

I felt happy! I am fine with my classmates.

Camilla III E

I was a little bit upset and I thought: “I hope it won’t be boring and…

anyway I hope to enjoy myself!”

Mohamed, III E

We were all curious to know what CLIL was...

III B

I was afraid of wasting time.

Ester, III B

I thought it was an opportunity to improve my knowledge of English.

Sebastiano, III B

Now the project course is over,

we followed five lessons…

That's what we remember freely …

lesson after lesson…

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FIRST LESSON

BITTER RICE

WATCH OUR VIDEO

...some images of our lessons

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A nice film and an intricate plot!

Black and white colours made us think of something old but also sad…

III E

It is a very dramatic and tragic film!

III B

I think it is boring .

Kevin, III B

:-(

No, it isn’t boring. The story is dramatic but charming!

Irene, III B

As for me, black and white colours gave me the possibility to concentrate above all on the plot and not on scenic effects, that could be more evident and as a consequence more perceived in a technicolor film.

Giulia B., IIIE

I expected a different ending: the way in which the film ended let me disappointed! In the school remake of the film I played the part of Marco who, according to me, is very good, maybe …too good!

Constantin, IIIE

As for me, I felt close to Silvana because I remembered, through her character and behavior, an experience that I lived with a friend of mine.

Giorgia, IIIE

I played the part of Walter but… to be sincere he is the kind of man I hate: he believes to be more cunning than the others!

Mohamed, IIIE

I like Walter: he is a real bad-boy!

Mohamed, III B

In the film I “am” Silvana. In my opinion she is too naive! She lets herself be influenced and I don’t like that!

Beatrice, IIIE

I don’t like Silvana! She is a selfish woman!

Alessandra, IIIB

Silvana is naive and lets herself be tricked by a wicked man.

Ester, IIIB

Francesca, on the contrary, is experienced but sometimes too determined.

Camilla, IIIE

Francesca is a clever girl…maybe too clever!

Irene, IIIB

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WATCH OUR "RISO AMARO"

WE MADE THE REMAKE !!!

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SECOND LESSON:

GUTTUSO & MORBELLI

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...some images of our lessons

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Oh…Guttuso! He reminds me of the brochure for “Bitter Rice”.

Lady, III B

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Giulia Barci, Guttuso brochure's reproduction

Not only Bitter Rice brochure… when we look at this drawing we also remember other things: for example Guttuso paintings and above all Sicily… the place where he was born.

III E

A few minutes before starting our lesson… I was afraid of not understanding anything owing to the use of English.

Giulia B., IIIE

Aliaga Guadalupe,Crucifixion’s reproduction

As for this painting, when I saw it for the first time, it seemed strange to me for its dark and unnatural colours… I felt confused!

Giulia B., IIIE

Later on, I thought that it was necessary to look at it carefully and reflect:

now I perceive a deep sense of suffering and sadness!

Mohamed, IIIE

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As for me, I could see only a few blurred colours but…

the sense of dynamism of this painting struck me!

Valentina, III B

This picture inspires me confusion and restlessness.

I like its colours… they are bright.

Mohamed, III B

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Antonia Ricciuti, Eighty Cents’ reproduction

Looking at this painting “Eighty Cents” we think, first of all, about the tiredness of the mondine, the heat, the summer… Nevertheless, what mostly disturbs our look is the contrast between the lightness of the colours and the social theme developed, that’s to say the difficult lives of the rice workers!

III E

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It makes us think of the hard work of the weeders, their low pay and their sacrifices.

III B

THIRD LESSON:

MONDINE

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...some images of our lessons

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Looking again at these pictures, we think that also these women were young like us, but they had very hard and sacrificing lives. They were tenacious, determined and courageous…we can say necessary in the real meaning of the word!

IIIE

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They remind me of my grandmother: she was a rice worker too and she told me that, for fighting their tiredness and toil, they sang!

Elisa, III E

They are women

who remember

their past with pride and passion.

III B

AMINA(IIIB)

“Mondine” make me think about their famous song Bella Ciao.

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And now ... we sing...

our

"Bella ciao"

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FOURTH LESSON:

RESISTANCE

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...some images of our lessons

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The Italian Resistance pictures remind us of the partisans: courageous men and women who lost their lives to free our country.

Now, thanks to the project, we think about the Liberation Day, 25^th of April, in a different way: we have acquired a new awareness about what happened!

III E

It was useful to deepen our knowledge on Resistance.

War, partisans and liberation are very important moments of our history!

III B

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Nilde Iotti’s face reminds us that she was a partisan who later, thanks to her strong temper, went into politics too.

Her eyes seem a little bit sad, but her gestures communicate great self-assurance.

III E

Before CLIL we didn’t know Nilde Iotti, but now, after the lesson, we think she is a woman that deserves being admired .

III B

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FIFTH LESSON:

POPPIES

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...some images of our lessons

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Before starting our project the common poppy was simply a wildflower…

Now, when we look at it we think about the battlefields and the soldiers who died there;

we think about its colour… red like the blood and its delicacy reminds us of an ephemeral,

apparent and brief beauty.

On the other side, if we think about its seeds…. wow…We are happy! We can use them to make the bread, the cakes! They are delicious!

III E

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Teacher Claudia Limiroli's poppy seeds cake... the best you have ever tasted!

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As for the poppies… we have two memories:

a sad one referred to poppy fields full of dead soldiers

and a good one referred to a poppy seeds cake made by our Maths teacher!

III B

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Would we like to do this project again ?

Yes, certainly!

III B

Yes, of course! We are ready…

III E

Yes, surely! Because we understood the topics developed!

III E

We have discovered things that we didn’t know before.

III B

Yes… because it was interesting!

Sebastiano, III B

Yes, of course because we lost some hours of lessons such as Maths that is very boring and difficult!.

Mattias, III B

Yes, I would. I liked the CLIL project very much! We learned new things…

in a different way.

Moreover, at the beginning, not all of us had the same knowledge about these topics.

Now, after this fantastic experience, it seems that all of us are at the same level!

Mohamed, III E

;-)

I would like to study in detail some topics and go on with our lessons!

Camilla, IIIE

The methodological choice to do the test immediately after the lesson was good because,

in my opinion, it helped us to fix what we learned!

Octavio, III E

…AND IF CLIL WERE AN ANIMAL…

WHICH ANIMAL WOULD IT BE ?

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It would be an elephant! A pachyderm!

elefante Jacopo Gatti — The elephant, by Jacopo Gatti

So big that it could contain millions of information!

Antonia, III E

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camaleonte jacopo gatti — The chameleon, by Jacopo Gatti

I would imagine it as a chameleon because, through this project, every time we learned a different topic it seemed as if we changed our skin!

Giulia P., III E

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ragno Jacopo Gatti — The spider, by Jacopo Gatti

It would be a spider because it builds its web, that has got a detailed structure, through which it can arrive everywhere!

Lorenzo Previderé (the Hystory Teacher), III E

I agree… a spider because its web recalls the concept maps used in the CLIL lessons.

Guadalupe, III B

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cammello Jacopo Gatti — The camel, by Jacopo Gatti

I have no doubts! In my opinion it would be a camel! Because, in spite of the difficulties to afford, it is a resourceful animal that, at the end, reaches its goal.

Mohamed, IIIE

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Cane Jacopo Gatti — The dog, by Jacopo Gatti

As for me, it would be a dog because it is an animal to which you feel close immediately.

Stella, IIIE

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pavone Jacopo Gatti — The peacock, by Jacopo Gatti

In my opinion it would be a peacock, because its tail is full of colours just as our CLIL lessons.

Ester, IIIB

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Moreover, after every lesson, we did on line interactive exercises to verify what we learned ...

OUR INTERACTIVE EXERCISES

At the end of the course, our teachers asked us for

filling in a satisfaction survey.

Here are the results...

As you can see, they are good!

Would you like to try an e-CLIL experience like this?

We are sure you could learn a lot of things enjoying yourself!

;-)

E-book authors

Antonella Ramazzina & Antonietta Silvestri

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