This magazine will be useful for novice and old teachers that want to evolve on their teaching journey
In this magazine
11 pages · tap a page to read its text
- Magazine´s SectionsRevisiting the Spark The CLIL Explorer´s Map
- Revisiting the SparkWhat challenges have been foreseen when applying CLIL in Colombian schools? These sceneries offer diversity of possibilities and materials if deciding to apply this approach, it sounds like an effective and meaningful process to boost foreign language acquisition that is polished into applicable and personally relevant knowledge which makes it so useful for any context; moreover, it could go through some challenges according to the following contexts of implementation:
- Page 4How does integrating science content into language learning contribute to learner motivation, critical thinking, or deeper comprehension? In fact, motivation comes out from the first engagement that a person has with some subject, once it seems interesting and relevant to him, he feels that should work for it. Here, it is important to mention that is aligned with the label of “what students already know”, where they will contribute to determining the road that they want to reach out through the teacher´s support. In the next stages of this approach, the students are going to realize that at the end of the lesson when they are able to understand and communicate assertively by having followed those steps, that gives them a road that could be polished according to their personal style and preferences as a reflection of whether they felt effective or didn´t, such they construct their own learning path fostering the autonomy for further lessons.
- The CLIL Explorer´s MapCLIL Framework Development through Meaningful Lessons When creating the Digital Mural, the most important discovery was how the principal core of CLIL rises on the 6 principles of quality to make it effective when integrated to lessons, each one of those signal the road and the moments the lesson will have gone through, when getting started the rich input represents the way the content will be presented. When the assertive communication takes place, come out the scaffolding, and interaction to develop a good understanding, for later developing the cognition process to boost the H.O.T.S through the guided practice. Finally occur the intercultural dimension in which the communication process is related to the topic towards sense of reflection and recoginition that will lead towards the sustainable and applicable learning for each one of the students.
- Science in ActionIn the specific stage of lesson called " Production" were developed some activities that are the next, after of the guided practice, the students are going to carry out a couple of activities to assess their understanding in the set context of communication ( photosynthesis and food chains) and the way that the input was decoded to the educative science linked to the communicative purposes according to the B1 level and everything what it should be aligned with Qualifying Ecosystems and describing their importance The students will be assigned a "threatened" local ecosystem, they must identify the producers and consumers and then create a short presentation. They will include connectors of cause and effect such as “consequently, due to, as a result of”, to explain how the energy from the sun is transformed by producers and why the loss of a specific predator would cause an "ecological collapse."
- Environmental Impact Case studiesThe students will be provided with short, authentic news snippets about invasive species, so, they must work independently to write a "Impact Report". Activity 1.
- My Local Food ChainActivity 1. Objective: Identify the flow of energy in a local food chain.
- Page 9Teachers´s Toolkit
- Personal ReflectionI consider that the whole purpose of this course and the teaching approach we have abraded during this time was fruitful for our further teaching performance as futures professionals; furthermore, I believe the most meaningful this course let me was the orientation about how the approach is expected to work, it offered us a framework to base on, but the autonomy we are encouraged to, at that moment each learning experience becomes authentic and non- repeatable which makes it engaging and totally memorable for students. As any emerging approach, CLIL Approach application seemed to be complex when integrating the expected level of proficiency with adequate vocabulary and grammar structures practice along the topic such as human body systems and how defining adequate strategies to present input and create practice activities as well as for practice as for production stages to integrate culture. I solved this struggling thanks to the analogy of human body that works as an engine to apply appropriate and simple communication to convey understanding, respecting to the special tools to present information and construct communication, each topic offers the same framework of action, such as healthy and unhealthy foods, good and bad habits, key phrases that allow to include present simple statements( considering the lesson was made for A1 level students), the key was how the topic permitted taking situations owners from real-life situations that can be transposed to the lesson, sometimes digitally, other times presential and through kinesthetic and movement activities. This Approach taught me that the core is not to have access to easy or hard topics, simple or complex levels of proficiency, here comes out the task of considering how each one of the quality principles will be taking place to climb through the CLIL Pyramid, each moment will be determined by a couple of principles, since we interpret adequately each one of them, we will be permitted to show our creativity and authenticity as professionals to adapt effectively to every context, it will become a repeating pathway that not only will orient us about what to do, it also will give us useful tools to reflect constantly, to evidence results, and to turn them into improvements for further lessons, as I read when beginning this course, the science of education looks for becoming strategies into style of live, I think I could be useful when defining that core of us as evolutionary teachers.
- ReferencesBillabong High International School. (2022, September 8). The necessity of science education in building a strong foundation. Billabong High School Blog. https://www.billabonghighschool.com/blogs/the-necessity of-science-education in-building-a-strong-foundation/ Cambridge Assessment English. (2016). Teaching Science through English – a CLIL approach. Cambridge University Press & Assessment. https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/Images/179514-teaching-science-through english-a-clil-approach.pdf
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Page 2Magazine´s Sections
Revisiting the Spark The CLIL Explorer´s Map
- Revisiting the Spark
- The CLIL Explorer´s Map
- Science in Action
- Teachers´ Toolkit
- Personal Reflection
- References
Page 3Revisiting the Spark
What challenges have been foreseen when applying CLIL in Colombian schools? These sceneries offer diversity of possibilities and materials if deciding to apply this approach, it sounds like an effective and meaningful process to boost foreign language acquisition that is polished into applicable and personally relevant knowledge which makes it so useful for any context; moreover, it could go through some challenges according to the following contexts of implementation:
What challenges have been foreseen when applying CLIL in Colombian schools?
These sceneries offer diversity of possibilities and materials if deciding to apply this approach, it sounds like an effective and meaningful process to boost foreign language acquisition that is polished into applicable and personally relevant knowledge which makes it so useful for any context; moreover, it could go through some challenges according to the following contexts of implementation:
• Urban site: It allows to apply different digital tools when having access to information, when scaffolding the information and developing the cognitive challenge, it should be personally relevant that seems complex for the teacher to support each one of the students effectively, because of the large size of students these schools have
• Rural site: Lack of adequate digital tools to present the information, when it is necessary to diversify the way to present the input or defining the output to make the understanding more effective they seemed limited to simply present the information as it has been traditionally
• Virtual Site: The online meetings and synchronous encounters often struggle when doing collaborative work, some of the students have issues with their laptops or mobile phones, it interrupts the smooth of the interaction linked that is related to meaningful experiences from these kinds of activities
Which ICT tools could make CLIL more accessible or effective in your teaching context?
The most adequate tools would be laptops or tablets that allow the teacher to present the information in the way that each student can interact with while the teacher is supporting him, also through different senses like visual, auditive, kinesthetic that makes the retention as effective as possible consolidating a strong understanding and association of meanings about all the most adequate tool would be laptops or tablets that allow the teacher to present the information in the way that each student can interact with while the teacher is supporting him, also through different senses like visual, auditive, kinesthetic that makes the retention as effective as possible consolidating a strong understanding and association of meanings about all
Page 4
How does integrating science content into language learning contribute to learner motivation, critical thinking, or deeper comprehension? In fact, motivation comes out from the first engagement that a person has with some subject, once it seems interesting and relevant to him, he feels that should work for it. Here, it is important to mention that is aligned with the label of “what students already know”, where they will contribute to determining the road that they want to reach out through the teacher´s support. In the next stages of this approach, the students are going to realize that at the end of the lesson when they are able to understand and communicate assertively by having followed those steps, that gives them a road that could be polished according to their personal style and preferences as a reflection of whether they felt effective or didn´t, such they construct their own learning path fostering the autonomy for further lessons.
How does integrating science content into language learning contribute to learner motivation, critical thinking, or deeper comprehension?
In fact, motivation comes out from the first engagement that a person has with some subject, once it seems interesting and relevant to him, he feels that should work for it. Here, it is important to mention that is aligned with the label of “what students already know”, where they will contribute to determining the road that they want to reach out through the teacher´s support. In the next stages of this approach, the students are going to realize that at the end of the lesson when they are able to understand and communicate assertively by having followed those steps, that gives them a road that could be polished according to their personal style and preferences as a reflection of whether they felt effective or didn´t, such they construct their own learning path fostering the autonomy for further lessons.
Finally, personal experience happens rather than grammar structures or tenses, during the collaborative work, they conveyed insights to peers indirectly while interacting with, also they developed deeper connections individually by association all at the same time that just was the clearest explanation for them
Science and CLIL evolved understanding
Actually, the first assumptions about how integrating CLIL and Science of Education were true in the most of the situations; moreover, something that was clearly interpreted was the task of defining a concise and detailed items for evaluating the process, they will not ask for complex rubrics or assessment processes, but they could be evidenced by easy going strategies that allow to assess for furtehr lessons, in cases in which feedback is needed, and as well as summative and formative dynamics that allow to evaluate wheter directly or indirectly for the teacher to demonstrate the process was meaningful
Page 5The CLIL Explorer´s Map
CLIL Framework Development through Meaningful Lessons When creating the Digital Mural, the most important discovery was how the principal core of CLIL rises on the 6 principles of quality to make it effective when integrated to lessons, each one of those signal the road and the moments the lesson will have gone through, when getting started the rich input represents the way the content will be presented. When the assertive communication takes place, come out the scaffolding, and interaction to develop a good understanding, for later developing the cognition process to boost the H.O.T.S through the guided practice. Finally occur the intercultural dimension in which the communication process is related to the topic towards sense of reflection and recoginition that will lead towards the sustainable and applicable learning for each one of the students.
CLIL Framework Development through Meaningful Lessons
When creating the Digital Mural, the most important discovery was how the principal core of CLIL rises on the 6 principles of quality to make it effective when integrated to lessons, each one of those signal the road and the moments the lesson will have gone through, when getting started the rich input represents the way the content will be presented. When the assertive communication takes place, come out the scaffolding, and interaction to develop a good understanding, for later developing the cognition process to boost the H.O.T.S through the guided practice. Finally occur the intercultural dimension in which the communication process is related to the topic towards sense of reflection and recoginition that will lead towards the sustainable and applicable learning for each one of the students.
Page 6Science in Action
In the specific stage of lesson called " Production" were developed some activities that are the next, after of the guided practice, the students are going to carry out a couple of activities to assess their understanding in the set context of communication ( photosynthesis and food chains) and the way that the input was decoded to the educative science linked to the communicative purposes according to the B1 level and everything what it should be aligned with Qualifying Ecosystems and describing their importance The students will be assigned a "threatened" local ecosystem, they must identify the producers and consumers and then create a short presentation. They will include connectors of cause and effect such as “consequently, due to, as a result of”, to explain how the energy from the sun is transformed by producers and why the loss of a specific predator would cause an "ecological collapse."
In the specific stage of lesson called " Production" were developed some activities that are the next, after of the guided practice, the students are going to carry out a couple of activities to assess their understanding in the set context of communication ( photosynthesis and food chains) and the way that the input was decoded to the educative science linked to the communicative purposes according to the B1 level and everything what it should be aligned with Qualifying Ecosystems and describing their importance
The students will be assigned a "threatened" local ecosystem, they must identify the producers and consumers and then create a short presentation. They will include connectors of cause and effect such as “consequently, due to, as a result of”, to explain how the energy from the sun is transformed by producers and why the loss of a specific predator would cause an "ecological collapse."
Activity 1.
Objective: Identify the main characteristics of a threatened local ecosystem.
Instructions:
Students read a short text and observe images or a short video about their ecosystem.
- They complete a fact sheet including:
- Location
- Climate
- Main plant and animal species
- Environmental threats
- Activity 2.
Objective: Understand the roles of living organisms in the ecosystem.
Instructions:
Students classify the organisms found in their ecosystem as:
- Producers
- Primary consumers
- Secondary consumers
- Apex predators
- Decomposers
They organize the organisms into a simple food chain or food web.
- Example:
- Present Simple to describe ecological roles.
- The frailejón is a producer.
The Andean fox is a secondary consumer.
Activity 3.
Objective: Describe how energy moves through the ecosystem.
Instructions:
Students write four to six sentences showing how energy flows from the Sun to producers and then to consumers.
Required Connectors:
because due to therefore as a result
Example:
Plants absorb energy from the sun. As a result, they produce food through photosynthesis. Consequently, herbivores obtain energy by eating plants.
Page 7Environmental Impact Case studies
The students will be provided with short, authentic news snippets about invasive species, so, they must work independently to write a "Impact Report". Activity 1.
The students will be provided with short, authentic news snippets about invasive species, so, they must work independently to write a "Impact Report".
Activity 1.
Objective: Identify the main ideas and ecological impacts of an invasive species.
Instructions:
• Students read a short, authentic news snippet about an invasive species.
- • Individually, they highlight:
- o The invasive species.
- o The affected ecosystem.
o The organisms involved in the food chain.
o The environmental impacts described in the text.
• They complete a graphic organizer summarizing the information.
Activity 2. Predicting Ecological Consequences
Objective: Use first conditional sentences to predict the long-term effects of invasive species.
Instructions:
• Based on the news article, students write five predictions about what may happen if the invasive species continues affecting the ecosystem.
• They must use the First Conditional in each sentence.
Examples:
• If the lionfish continues to eat the primary consumers, the algae will grow uncontrollably.
Activity 3. Writing an Impact Report
Objective: Produce an individual report explaining the ecological consequences of an invasive species.
Instructions:
• Students write a 150–200-word Impact Report based on the information from the news snippet.
• The report should include:
o A brief description of the invasive species.
o Its impact on the ecosystem and food chain.
o At least four First Conditional sentences predicting future consequences.
o A concluding recommendation to reduce the environmental impact.
Page 8My Local Food Chain
Activity 1. Objective: Identify the flow of energy in a local food chain.
Activity 1.
Objective: Identify the flow of energy in a local food chain.
Instructions:
Each student chooses a local animal from their community (e.g., hummingbird, toucan, frog, hawk, or squirrel).
They research what the animal eats and identify the organisms that are part of its food chain.
Students create a simple diagram beginning with the Sun, followed by the producer, consumer(s), and ending with their chosen animal.
Example:
Sun → Coffee plant → Caterpillar → Bird
Activity 2.
Objective: Connect scientific concepts to the local environment through visual representation.
Instructions:
Students design a poster illustrating a food chain found in their own community.
The poster must include:
The Sun as the original energy source.
At least one producer.
Two or more consumers.
Arrows showing the direction of energy flow.
Students label each organism according to its role and add a short explanation describing why it is important in the ecosystem.
Activity 3.
Objective: Explain how energy moves through a local ecosystem using a real-life example.
Instructions:
Students give a 2–3 minute presentation about the food chain they created.
- They describe:
- The local ecosystem.
- Their chosen animal.
How energy travels from the Sun to the producer and through the consumers.
Why each organism is important for maintaining ecological balance.
At the end, classmates ask one or two questions about the food chain.
Page 9
Teachers´s Toolkit
Teachers´s Toolkit
Page 10Personal Reflection
I consider that the whole purpose of this course and the teaching approach we have abraded during this time was fruitful for our further teaching performance as futures professionals; furthermore, I believe the most meaningful this course let me was the orientation about how the approach is expected to work, it offered us a framework to base on, but the autonomy we are encouraged to, at that moment each learning experience becomes authentic and non- repeatable which makes it engaging and totally memorable for students. As any emerging approach, CLIL Approach application seemed to be complex when integrating the expected level of proficiency with adequate vocabulary and grammar structures practice along the topic such as human body systems and how defining adequate strategies to present input and create practice activities as well as for practice as for production stages to integrate culture. I solved this struggling thanks to the analogy of human body that works as an engine to apply appropriate and simple communication to convey understanding, respecting to the special tools to present information and construct communication, each topic offers the same framework of action, such as healthy and unhealthy foods, good and bad habits, key phrases that allow to include present simple statements( considering the lesson was made for A1 level students), the key was how the topic permitted taking situations owners from real-life situations that can be transposed to the lesson, sometimes digitally, other times presential and through kinesthetic and movement activities. This Approach taught me that the core is not to have access to easy or hard topics, simple or complex levels of proficiency, here comes out the task of considering how each one of the quality principles will be taking place to climb through the CLIL Pyramid, each moment will be determined by a couple of principles, since we interpret adequately each one of them, we will be permitted to show our creativity and authenticity as professionals to adapt effectively to every context, it will become a repeating pathway that not only will orient us about what to do, it also will give us useful tools to reflect constantly, to evidence results, and to turn them into improvements for further lessons, as I read when beginning this course, the science of education looks for becoming strategies into style of live, I think I could be useful when defining that core of us as evolutionary teachers.
I consider that the whole purpose of this course and the teaching approach we have abraded during this time was fruitful for our further teaching performance as futures professionals; furthermore, I believe the most meaningful this course let me was the orientation about how the approach is expected to work, it offered us a framework to base on, but the autonomy we are encouraged to, at that moment each learning experience becomes authentic and non- repeatable which makes it engaging and totally memorable for students. As any emerging approach, CLIL Approach application seemed to be complex when integrating the expected level of proficiency with adequate vocabulary and grammar structures practice along the topic such as human body systems and how defining adequate strategies to present input and create practice activities as well as for practice as for production stages to integrate culture. I solved this struggling thanks to the analogy of human body that works as an engine to apply appropriate and simple communication to convey understanding, respecting to the special tools to present information and construct communication, each topic offers the same framework of action, such as healthy and unhealthy foods, good and bad habits, key phrases that allow to include present simple statements( considering the lesson was made for A1 level students), the key was how the topic permitted taking situations owners from real-life situations that can be transposed to the lesson, sometimes digitally, other times presential and through kinesthetic and movement activities.
This Approach taught me that the core is not to have access to easy or hard topics, simple or complex levels of proficiency, here comes out the task of considering how each one of the quality principles will be taking place to climb through the CLIL Pyramid, each moment will be determined by a couple of principles, since we interpret adequately each one of them, we will be permitted to show our creativity and authenticity as professionals to adapt effectively to every context, it will become a repeating pathway that not only will orient us about what to do, it also will give us useful tools to reflect constantly, to evidence results, and to turn them into improvements for further lessons, as I read when beginning this course, the science of education looks for becoming strategies into style of live, I think I could be useful when defining that core of us as evolutionary teachers.
Page 11References
Billabong High International School. (2022, September 8). The necessity of science education in building a strong foundation. Billabong High School Blog. https://www.billabonghighschool.com/blogs/the-necessity of-science-education in-building-a-strong-foundation/ Cambridge Assessment English. (2016). Teaching Science through English – a CLIL approach. Cambridge University Press & Assessment. https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/Images/179514-teaching-science-through english-a-clil-approach.pdf
Billabong High International School. (2022, September 8). The necessity of science education in building a strong foundation. Billabong High School Blog. https://www.billabonghighschool.com/blogs/the-necessity of-science-education in-building-a-strong-foundation/
Cambridge Assessment English. (2016). Teaching Science through English – a CLIL approach. Cambridge University Press & Assessment. https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/Images/179514-teaching-science-through english-a-clil-approach.pdf
Google. (2026, July 7). NotebookLM response on CLIL production stage and activity design for photosynthesis and food chains [Large language model]. https://notebooklm.google.com/
Meyer, O. (2013). Introducing the CLIL-Pyramid: Key Strategies and Principles for CLIL Planning and Teaching. En M. Eisenmann & T. Summer (Eds.), Basic Issues in EFL Teaching (2nd ed., pp. 295–313). Heidelberg, Germany: Universitätsverlag Winter
Karabassova, L., & Oralbayeva, N. (2023). CLIL materials: From theory to practice. The Routledge handbook of content and language integrated learning, 328-340.
[Author Unknown]. (2026, July 17). Image 1 Happy Body [Clip art]. Google Images. https://www.google.com/search?q=happy+body+images+cartoon...
[Author Unknown]. (2026, July 17). Image 2 Sad Body [Clip art]. Magnific. https://www.magnific.com/free-photos-vectors/sad-person-clipart Google Gemini. (2026, July 20).
Annex 1 Healthy Fuel Spelling and Sorting Challenge [AI generated worksheet]. https://gemini.google.com/
Google. (2026, July 20). Pedagogical Structure and Lesson Plan: Human Nutrition and Healthy Habits for Fifth Grade (CLIL & Science Integration) [AI-assisted curriculum framework].
NotebookLM. Google. (2026, July 20). The Human Body Engine [AI-generated infographic]. NotebookLM.
Karabassova, L., & Oralbayeva, N. (2023). CLIL materials: From theory to practice. In The Routledge Handbook of Content and Language Integrated Learning (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003173151-27
Lamanauskas, V. (2011). Some aspects of natural science literacy and competence of primary school teachers. Problems of Education in the 21st Century, 36, 5–9.
Ntuli, T. G., Nkanyani, T., & Mudau, A. V. (2022). The influence of instructional strategies on natural science teachers teaching practices in rural classrooms. International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science, 11(7), 258–266. https://doi.org/10.20525/ijrbs.v11i7.2014
Cambridge English. (2016). Teaching science through English: A CLIL approach.
Coyle, D., Hood, P., & Marsh, D. (2010). CLIL: Content and language integrated learning. Cambridge University Press.
Google. (2026, June 23). NotebookLM response on CLIL approach and Digital Mural design [Large language model]. https://notebooklm.google.com/
Zemach, D. (2024, agosto 3). What are the benefits of CLIL in bilingual education? BridgeUniverse - TEFL Blog, News, Tips & Resources. https://bridge.edu/tefl/blog/benefits-of-clil/10