Digited CLIL · Build a unit

Build your own unit

The pattern is eight boxes. Fill them in for one unit you already teach, and you have a literacy-rich plan. It works in your browser, it stays on this device, and you can print it when you are done. The worked example below is the Grade 6 mapping unit, shown faintly to start; type in any box and it clears for your subject.

Box 1

The unit in one line

What is this unit about (content), and what is the question driving it?

Box 2

The Language Triptych

Name the language students need at three levels. This is the core of CLIL: vocabulary alone is not enough.

Language OF learning

Language FOR learning

Language THROUGH learning

Box 3

The one load-bearing move

Name the single analytical move this unit builds. Say what the student physically writes, then the diagnostic rule: without this, the work cannot reach band X.

Box 4

The standing furniture

The consistent practices visible in every lesson. Tick the ones in place, and note where they live in your room.

A word wall, built up across the unit (term, definition, example).
Sentence-frame cards on every desk during writing.
A word bank printed on the assessment paper itself.
A short retrieval starter at the start of each lesson.

Box 5

Reading the hard text

What is the most demanding text in this unit, and how will you scaffold access so weaker readers can still engage?

Box 6

The assessment stance

How is the scaffold built into the paper for everyone, rather than a separate easier version? Where do you name the move next to the rubric?

Box 7

Identify early, support early

What early, low-stakes signal tells you who is falling behind before the summative, and what is your reteach move when it does?

Box 8

The culture and context anchor

Optional but powerful. Is there a local or culturally grounded case that makes the content land, and can be reused later?

Where this maps to the four C’s of CLIL: Content (Box 1), Communication (Box 2), Cognition (Box 3), Culture (Box 8). Boxes 4 to 7 are the disciplinary-literacy and inclusive-assessment layer that makes the four C’s land in the room.

Your unit is saved only in this browser, so it is here when you come back. On a shared computer, print it, then choose Start again.

The worked example, in full

The boxes above are the pattern. Below is the same pattern carried by real documents: the Grade 6 mapping unit, with the school’s identifying details removed. Start with How it fits, the eight boxes filled in on a single page.

How it fits together. The eight parts filled in, the weekly routines, and how the documents connect. Download (PDF)
The student booklet. The resource students write in every lesson: vocabulary, self-checks, the furniture. Download (PDF)
A week of slides. The board surface for one week, each task with its time, output, and a plain success line. Download (PDF)
The assessment guide. How students are readied for the paper: the one move, the bands, the built-in scaffold. Download (PDF)
The weekly family messages. A short message home each week, so families know what is being taught and how to help. Download (PDF)

See the full pattern How the training works