Building Thematic Units for Early Language Learners

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Building Thematic Units for Early Language
Learners SUNY Cortland Second Language Educators
Conference September 20, 2008
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Nathan Lutz
Lower School World Language Teacher Manlius
Pebble Hill School DeWitt, NY Vice
President Foreign Language Association of Central
New York New York State Representative National
Network for Early Language Learning
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Content-Based Content-Related Instruction
vs. Thematic Instruction
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Lessons that teach vocabulary and language
structures while exploring the themes and/or
content of another subject are or
discipline, such as math, science, social
studies, art, health, etc. Hiding/embedding
content into fun/interesting themes.
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Benefits
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• Hook into what students already know.
• Hook into what interests students.
• Give language a context, a meaning.
• Show that LOTE time is time well spent it
• supports the other areas of the curriculum.
• Co-planning with other teachers helps
• generate new and innovative ideas.
• Teach students to take a holistic approach
• to learning

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How to Build
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• Choose a theme.
• Decide student outcomes backward design.
• Plan activities, striving for a mix, hitting as
• many of the multiple intelligences as possible.
• 4. Consider interdisciplinary relationships.

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Examples
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Theme Caterpillars (Kindergarten) Outcomes
colors, names of animals names of
habitats learning about growing
changing
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• Theme Caterpillars (Kindergarten)
• Objectives
• repeat short words and phrases
• respond to simple questions with one word answers
• list objects and people in a picture
• ask and answer simple questions
• sing short songs and say chants
• identify colors
• listen to and follow directions
• carry on a simple conversation
• make predictions about the story
• count the number of objects in a picture
• understand basic life cycles of plants and
  caterpillars
• understand the roles of community helpers
• understand ordinal numbers first, second, third,
  etc.

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Theme Caterpillars (Kindergarten) Literature
La chenille Songs Oruguita, dónde
estás? Soy una oruga Crafts Caterpillar
Stick Puppet Games Find the _____. Game
Cubes Picture Dominos
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• Theme Clowns (grade 5)
• Organizer Expressing feelings attributes
• Communicative/Experiential Content
• Singing about clowns
• Reading about clowns
• Describing others
• Finding out what makes a clown look happy or sad
• Imitating different types of clowns
• Making a clown mask
• Presenting oneself as a clown
• Project Creating ones own clown character

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• Theme Clowns (grade 5)
• Core language
• Je suis. . .
• Tu es. . .
• Il est. . .
• Elle est. . .
• Supplementary language
• confus/confuse la bouche
• content/contente les cheveux
• fâché/fâchée les levres
• fatigué/fatiguée le nez
• nerveux/nerveuse les sourcils
• surpris/surprise le visage
• timide/timide les yeux
• triste/triste

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Theme Clowns (grade 5) Introduce the theme with
a song and picture Show different emotions via
the clowns faces Song Je suis un
clown Reading activities Cultural connection
types of clowns Listening comprehension
activities Learn body parts Describe others
physical characteristics Games Drawing Becoming a
clown
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other organizing themes television making
choices/decisions pets expressing
likes/dislikes heroes expressing
feelings/attributes paws going places/doing
things dance movement forest life spatial
relationships island life animals, habitats
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Lets Build!
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