The Bridge CLIL volume 1 | Page 55

TeachingEnglish | Lesson plans

CLIL lesson – Geography
The Atlantic Ocean
This activity is a running dictation (see here) using a text based on the Atlantic
Ocean. The text has been written for elementary/pre-intermediate learners of
English, but if you have higher level students you can follow the same
procedure with a harder text such as this, from Wikipedia.
Aims:
•
•
Content – basic information about the Atlantic Ocean
Language
o Grammar reconstruction
o Lexis – geography terminology
o Skills – speaking, reading and listening
Preparation
Print out a copy of the text (see below) for you and, if you want, one for each
student. You might need to pre-teach some of the key geographical vocabulary
if you haven’t covered it before.
Procedure
1. Ask the class what they know about the world’s oceans. Ask how many
there are. The answer is four or five, depending on whether or not the
Southern Ocean is counted (it’s not totally officially recognised).
2. Divide the class into groups of 3 or 4 students each.
3. Put the copy of the text either on a wall or on your desk.
4. Arrange the groups of students so that they are all sitting a similar
distance from the text, if possible. Make sure that no groups are too
close to each other or the text.
5. Tell students to choose a writer. The writer in each group takes a pen
and paper.
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