CLIL sample lesson plans (https://bridge.

edu/tefl/blog/clil-lesson-plans/)
1. Lesson: Density

Target content: Understanding what density means and how it can be demonstrated

Target language: Sequencing words (first, next, then); vocabulary (nouns: oil, water, food coloring;
verbs: put, add, sink, float, rise, fall; adjectives: heavy, light, dense); grammar (comparatives:
heavier/lighter/denser than)

Exposition: Demonstration of density through an experiment. Students will predict, observe, and report.

Procedure:

Lead in activity:

Show students a tank of water and several objects, such as a stone, a feather, a scrap of paper, a coin, a
piece of Styrofoam, oil, food coloring, etc.

Ask students if objects will float or sink in the water and why (to elicit It is heavy/light, It is
heavier/lighter than water).

Define density (density = mass/volume). Ask students which objects they think are the densest and the
least dense.

Ask students which objects they think are denser than water and which are less dense than water.
Encourage them to use the correct comparatives: I think oil is less dense than water. I think a stone is
denser than water. To reinforce the language, have them speak in pairs and then write their guesses
down. Ask them how they can test their theories.

Drop the different objects and substances in the water and have students describe what they see. The
oil is sinking to the bottom! Oil is denser than water.

Have students write a paragraph about which substances are denser and which are less dense than
water. They can use sequencing words to describe the experiment. First, Ms. Kim put a stone in the
water. The stone sank to the bottom. This means that the stone is denser than water. Next, she…

Follow-up/application

Ask students, “Why is understanding density important?” If students are stuck or lacking ideas, ask,
“How do we know if a boat will float or sink?”

2. Lesson: Reading Maps

Target content: Being able to read and interpret a basic map using directional words

Target language: Directional words (above, below, left, right); vocabulary (nouns: compass, north, south,
east, west; verbs: walk, drive, cross, wait; adjectives: small, large, busy, slow); grammar (comparatives:
larger/smaller, higher/lower)

Exposition: Students will be able to read and interpret maps through a simple town map.
Procedure:

Lead in activity:

Show students a simple map of a town with landmarks and streets that includes a compass.

Ask students if they can point out which direction on the map is north, south, east, and west.

Show flashcards with each directional word and have students repeat after you.

Give each student a copy of the map, and then as a class, show students how to use directional words to
find directions (e.g., Go north on Main Street to find the library) and trace the path on the map.

Have students pair up and give them a list of directions to follow on their maps (e.g., Start at the school,
go south to the museum, then go west to the zoo, etc.).

Have students take turns following directions on the maps.

Follow-up/application

Ask students, “How can reading maps and using directional words help you in real-life situations? Can
you share an example?

CLIL lesson plans for teens or adults

3. Lesson: The Sun

Target content: The nature and composition of the sun

Target language: Names of elements (i.e., aluminum, carbon, copper, helium, hydrogen, iron, etc;
include elements related to the sun and some distractors); vocabulary related to energy (atomic,
electricity, energy, fusion, gas, heat, light, nuclear, sunlight, temperature)

Exposition: Explanation of the composition of the sun and how it shines through a song. Presentation
and discussion of how and why scientific theories change over time with new information. Students will
predict, learn, and practice content vocabulary, listen and check, discuss, and assess one another.

Procedure:

Lead in activity:

Show students a photo of the sun. Ask, “What is this? What is it made of? What does it produce?”
Accept all answers, even in students’ native language (L1).

Present the target vocabulary on index cards spread on a table. You could define, classify, discuss, etc.

From YouTube, play the song, “Why Does the Sun Shine?” (Tom Glazer). Divide students into two teams,
one on each side of the table. As students listen, they grab the appropriate index card when they hear
the word.

At the end of the song, the teams exchange the words they grabbed. Have students take turns reading
the words aloud, and go over any pronunciation or questions about meaning.
Play the song again, and have students return each card to the table when they hear the word sung. This
reinforces listening comprehension and recognition. (Note that the same song has been covered by the
group They Might Be Giants, so on the second listening, you could use a new version of the song.)

Pass out a sheet of gapped song lyrics – you could gap certain STEM words, rhyming words, or
linguistically significant words (such as past participles or auxiliaries), or even create two different
worksheets and put students in pairs to listen for different language and then compare with one
another to check answers.

For extra credit, let students (alone or in pairs) memorize and perform the song.

Tell students, “This song was believed to be correct when it was recorded in the late 1950s. However, it
contains one piece of information we now know to be incorrect. What do you think it is?” Let students
guess and discuss.

Explain the meaning of “retraction.” Then, say that the band They Might Be Giants, who recorded a
cover of the “Why Does the Sun Shine?” song, later recorded a retraction song when they learned about
a scientific update.

Play the song “Why Does the Sun Really Shine? (The Sun is a Miasma of Incandescent Plasma)”, and let
students follow the lyrics on a printed sheet.

Follow-up/application

Conclude with a discussion of why and how scientific information gets updated and why retractions are
important. Offer some useful sentence frames, such as, “People used to think X, but now we know Y.”

Have students work in groups to write quiz questions based on factual information about the sun.
Circulate to help with language as necessary. Groups can exchange quiz questions in a subsequent class,
or you can collect them, collate the questions, and distribute one quiz to the whole class in a future
session.

4. Lesson: Types of Governments

Target content: Recognize different types of world governments

Target language: Vocabulary (nouns: democracy, monarchy, dictatorship, citizen; verbs: govern, elect,
rule; adjectives: democratic, elected)

Exposition: Students will be able to identify and describe different forms of government and understand
their characteristics.

Procedure:

Lead in activity:

Show students images of government buildings and activities (e.g., voting stations, parliamentary
sessions, congressional sessions, etc.). Ask students why they think governments are important.

Show images of different types of governments and ask students what they know about them.
Name and explain the different types of governments, providing some characteristics of each.

Divide the class into small groups and assign each group one type of government.

Pass out poster materials (poster paper, markers, magazines for images, etc.).

Have each group create a poster that includes:

The definition of their government.

Its key characteristics and features.

Examples of countries that have this type of government.

Visual representations (images, symbols, drawings, etc.).

Follow-up/application

Have each group present their poster to the class. You may also encourage a Q&A session in which
students can ask questions for the presenters to answer.
Based on the lesson plan you provided, here is the completion of the required points:

Formulation of Learning Objectives

• Language Objectives:

o Students will use comparative structures (e.g., "Oil is denser than water.")

o Students will use sequencing words (e.g., "First, we dropped the stone in the water.")

o Students will use content-specific vocabulary (e.g., "density," "float," "sink")

• Content Objectives:

o Students will define and understand the concept of density.

o Students will make predictions and test hypotheses about the density of objects.

o Students will describe observations using appropriate language structures.

• Communicative and Cognitive Skills:

o Predicting and hypothesizing (e.g., "I think the stone will sink because...")

o Observing and describing (e.g., "The oil is floating on top of the water.")

o Writing structured reports using sequencing words.

Instructions Used to Activate Prior Knowledge

• "Can you guess if this object will float or sink? Why?"

• "Have you seen oil and water mixed together before? What happens?"

• "What do you think makes some things float and others sink?"

• "Let's compare these objects. Which one do you think is heavier or lighter?"

Language Focus

• Vocabulary: nouns (oil, water, food coloring), verbs (put, add, sink, float), adjectives (heavy,
light, dense)

• Grammar: comparatives ("denser than," "lighter than")

• Sentence Structures:

o "The object is heavier than water."

o "The feather is lighter than the coin."

o "First, we put the object in the water. Next, we observed what happened."

Media

• A tank of water
 • Objects of different densities (stone, feather, paper, coin, Styrofoam, oil, food coloring)

• Worksheets for writing predictions and observations

• Flashcards with key vocabulary

Assessments

• Formative:

o Teacher observation of student predictions and discussions.

o Verbal explanations during the experiment.

• Summative:

o A short paragraph describing the experiment using sequencing words and comparatives.

o A class discussion on why understanding density is important.

Activity 2

• Students conduct their own small-group experiments with new objects.

• Each group selects two new objects, predicts their density, and tests them in water.

• Students describe their observations and compare them to their predictions.

• Groups present their findings to the class using key vocabulary and sentence structures.

Would you like to add or modify any details?