Theme Based Teaching & Learning

Theme Based Teaching & Learning
By: Bishara Adam
1

Theme Based Teaching & Learning
Theme based units are a vehicle for teaching a range of skills and
content by integrating curriculum areas around a topic.
This method of teaching links curriculum strands and capitalizes
on children’s interests, creating a sense of purpose and community
in the classroom.
By building on their interests and life experiences, young people’s
attitudes, skills and knowledge are developed in meaningful ways.
Inquiry and communication are activated by a desire to know
more, resulting in enthusiastic participation in the learning process
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Issues Around Theme Based Teaching
The structure and duration of the Theme based teaching vary according
to the resources available and the objectives of the unit.
Often this type of activity is limited to a single day or several half days
because of the complexity of organization required.
One advantage of Theme based teaching is that teachers benefit from
the interchange of ideas when they come together to work
collaboratively.
Plan your student groupings according to your goals for the theme study
and the types of activities you wish to use.
Theme based teaching can be wonderful spirit builders and an excellent
way to celebrate special days (e.g. World Food Day) and holidays.
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Theme Based Teaching of a
Foreign Language
 How children naturally learn.
Creative thinking and skilled
organisation - a long list of activities
relating to all areas of the curriculum
under one theme.
The potential of theme-based teaching is
to provide realistic and motivating uses of
language.
Variations on Theme.
Valuable to the overall educational and
social development of the child.
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Planning Theme Based Teaching
 This type of teaching demand years of
practising and experience.
Even the expert teacher will need careful
planning of a theme, to prepare sub-themes
and to identify the language learning goals.
 ‘choice-points’ - Direction, activity or
timing
Find a theme
Planning content
Planning language learning tasks
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Learning Language Through
Theme Based Teaching
 It is necessary to select from the possibilities to match the interests of a
particular class and then build on what pupils already know.
Theme-based teaching can help the children to contribute from partial to
more complete knowledge by building links and connections in the networks
of children´s language resources.
Learning vocabulary
Language learning through communicative stretching
Learning discourse skills
Using information texts, on paper and on computer.
Outcomes and products from learning language through theme-based
learning.
6

Increasing Target Language Use In
Theme Based Teaching
 Tell the words in the doing
and making process
Teacher support
Give feedback to each other
Talking to oneself
Background language
exposure
Sing, saying rhymes, playing
tapes of songs as the children
work.
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Theme Based Teaching & Learning

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