Language Skills
Language is key to knowledge and social participation. Already in primary school, the skills gap should be closed through systematic language-promotion. Experiments on natural scientific phenomena in everyday life with an inquiry-based approach are particularly suitable for the promotion of language skills.
In the new Science on Stage teacher project 'Lilu's House', an international teacher team of ten primary school teachers develop a teaching brochure that offers specific ideas and practical advice for hands-on experiments.
In bathroom, kitchen and living room the children come across 'inexplicable' observations which they examine with entertaining experiments while simultaneously training their language skills. These experimental units are complemented by methodological recommendations. The diverse difficulty levels of texts and tasks consider mixed-ability classes in learning and skills and help to create inclusive lessons.
The brochure was published on 21 September 2018 in Brussels with hands-on workshops following the presentation. The material will is available for free on our website.
The project was supported by the Joachim Herz Stiftung.
Petra Breuer-Küppers
Teacher for special education, LVR-Hanns-Dieter-Hüsch-Schule, Viersen, Board Member of Science on Stage Deutschland e.V.
Area: Primary education, language promotion, inclusion
Jenny Schlüpmann
Physicist, Freie Universität Berlin - Didaktik der Physik, in charge of 'Sonnentaler' (www.sonnentaler.net) Board Member of Science on Stage Deutschland e.V.
Area: Science in primary education, outreach universities
Mario Spies 
Principal Grundschule Landkern
Area: primary school, language promotion, teacher training
Inquiry-based learning with biographies makes the promotion of language skills in primary school possible in a special way. The pupils experience the connection between science and language. Reading, understanding and sharing what they have learned are the main elements that promote language skills.
The natural sciences in particular provide children with reasons to talk about the things they have done or found out like in our brochure "Lantern Moon and Hot Ears - Promoting language skills in primary school with science".
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