Making meaningful links with other subjects in the curriculum provides opportunities to reinforce and extend learning, both in the new language and in the other subject.

It is vital that children are given ample chance to use the new language during the week if they are to make good progress. Bringing the new language into elements of other lessons is an effective way of making use of time available in the curriculum, without compromising learning in any subject. 

For example, a warm-up activity in PE could be conducted entirely in Spanish. This develops children’s listening and comprehension skills in Spanish whilst also achieving the objective of warming up for the main physical activity.

Teaching a whole lesson (a science lesson, for example) through the medium of the new language is known as Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and is addressed in more detail on the CLIL page.

Questions

- Do you use the new language in any other areas of the curriculum already? If so, how? If not, where do you think would be a good place to start?

- What do you feel are the benefits and challenges of linking languages with other subjects in the curriculum?

Activity

Mental maths activities can be a good place to begin integrating language, for example with numbers, simple calculations, colours and shapes.

Have a look at your weekly lesson plans for maths to see where the new language might be used effectively.

Which of the mental starters might you be able to conduct just as effectively in the new language? Number loop games work very well when conducted in the new language, as do ‘Show me’ quick fire activities using number fans.