Category: Lesson planning

Purpose
The goals of an educator using Bloom's taxonomy are to:

• Encourage higher-order thought in his/her students by building up from lower-level cognitive skills.
• Promote the development of a new skill, knowledge or attitude.
• Discuss and exchange learning and assessment methods.

1. Remember
Action verbs
Arrange, define, describe, identify, label, list, match, memorize, name, order, recognize, recall, select and state.
Purpose of the level
Recall or recognize information and ideas.
Questions prompts

• What do you remember about…?
• What happened after...?
• Where is/are…?
• Who was/were…?
• When did…?
• What does it mean?
• How would you define…?
• Why did…?
• Which one…?
• How much…?
• How many…?

Sample activities

• Students name the main characters in the story.
• Students identify the irregular verbs in the paragraph.
• Students list the steps to use a blender.
• Students label the images.
• Students match the classic tales with the settings.

 
2. Understand
Actions verbs
Classify, compare, describe, discuss, distinguish, explain, give (examples), paraphrase, predict, recognize, summarize and translate.
Purpose of the level
Understand the main idea of material heard, viewed, or read. Interpret or summarize the ideas in own words.
Questions prompts

• Can you give an example of…?
• Can you choose the best definition of…?
• What would happen if…?
• Can you explain…?
• Can you read the graph?
• What could have happened next?
• Can you clarify…?

Sample activities

• Students describe the characters in the story.
• Students classify the list of words into nouns, verbs and adjectives.
• Students give examples of natural disasters.
• Students compare their answers with others.
• Students predict what the story may be about looking at the illustrations.

 
3. Apply
Actions verbs
Apply, change, choose, complete, demonstrate, dramatize, illustrate, interpret, modify, practice, produce, show, solve, use and write.
Purpose of the level
Provide opportunities to use ideas, theories, or problem-solving techniques and apply them to new situations.
Questions prompts

• Can you illustrate…?
• What factors would you change if…?
• Who do you think…?
• What was the main idea…?
• Why does… work?
• How would you solve…?

Sample activities

• Students illustrate the steps of the experiment.
• Students use the clues to complete the crossword puzzle.
• Students show a map of the city.

 
4. Analyze
Actions verbs
Analyze, calculate, categorize, contrast, discriminate, examine, infer, model and test.
Purpose of the level
Examine concepts or ideas to break them down into basic parts.
Questions prompts

• What’s the relationship between…?
• What’s the main idea of…?
• Which events could not have happened?
• How is … similar to …?
• What are some of the problems of …?

Sample activities

• Students infer the meaning of compound words.
• Students categorize facts included in an argument.
• Students calculate the circumference of a variety of wheels.

 
5. Evaluate
Actions verbs
Argue, assess, conclude, criticize, debate, judge, justify, recommend, rate, support and evaluate.
Purpose of the level
Use standards and criteria to support opinions and views.
Questions prompts

• What is the most important…?
• What would you suggest…?
• What criteria would you use to assess…?
• What data was used to evaluate…?
• What choice would you have made…?
• How would you determine the facts…?

Sample activities

• Students debate pros and cons of the death penalty.
• Students rate public services.
• Students recommend online resources for the topic.

 
6. Create
Actions verbs
Create, compose, construct, devise, design, generate, imagine, invent, plan, propose and write.
Purpose of the level
Assemble parts of knowledge into a whole using creative thinking and problem-solving.
Questions prompts

• What alternative would you suggest for…?
• What changes would you make to revise…?
• How would you generate a plan to…?
• What could you invent…?
• How would you improve…?

Sample activities

• Students design the human body chart.
• Students write their own autobiography.
• Students create a new character and explain how that character would fit into the storyline. 

Category: Teaching

Do not spend the first part of the class simply taking attendance, checking homework or making announcements. Instead of doing that, set the tone for the class and helps students to know what to expect. For learning to be effective, you should hook the students with creative activities and establish the aims and objectives of the class. There are 3 guidelines to start the class:

1. Set the class purpose

• Use the Bloom’s taxonomy to define action verbs.
• Use a single, clear action verb for each learning outcome.
• Avoid verbs that are unclear and cannot be observed easily like “know” and "learn".
• Establish the content or topic to be learned.
• Indicate the kind of performance expected.

2. Review or assess prior knowledge
A great tool for helping students learn something new is activating what they already know.
Here is a list of techniques to assess prior knowledge:

• Brainstorming to generate ideas.
• Eliciting vocabulary and language forms.
• Using concept map or word map.
• Using 3-2-1 charts (3 things you already know, 2 things you’d like to know & 1 question related to the topic).
• Using KWL charts (What I know, what I want to know & what I learned*).
• Answering trivia quizzes and games.

3. Use a lead-in to capture students’ interest and engage them in learning.
The students are engaged by:

• Labeling images.
• Matching or grouping items of information.
• Identifying something.
• Guessing something.
• Sharing personal information with others.
• Doing something non-verbally (Miming, drawing & obeying)
• Describing something.
• Ranking items of information.
• Remembering something and then communicating what he or she has remembered.
• Making a story.
• Writing a poem.

​Other ways to grab the student’s attention is by starting the class with:

• Learning games.
• Songs.
• Video clips.
• Role-playing.
• Hangman.
• Puzzles.
• Demonstrations. 

Category: Lesson planning

The purpose of a lesson plan is providing a structure step-by-step of what the teacher wants students to be able to do by the end of a lesson, or what they will have done during it. 

Although there are many possibilities, here is an example of the stages of a lesson:

1. Introduction
2. Development
3. Consolidation
4. Conclusion

Identifying and selecting aims are the first steps in planning lesson. Once we have decided on the aims, we can design or select the most appropriate activities, put them in the best order and choose the most suitable teaching aids and materials. 
 
STAGE 1: INTRODUCTION
This stage provides interest and motivation to the students. Before starting the class, this stage focuses on the greetings, warm-up or lead-in, review, class arrangement and presentation of objectives. Regardless of the amount of time available for the lesson, this part should only last 5-10 minutes.

To set a purpose

• T describes/explains the aims for the lesson.
• T asks Ss to rearrange the aim as an anagram – Ss try to puzzle it out.

To introduce the topic and assess prior knowledge

• T writes a few discussion points on the board about (topic).
• T sets the environment by presenting a video/audio of (topic).
• T asks Ss to brainstorm what (topic) means.
• Ss briefly discuss in pairs what they think (topic) is.
• T brings in realia (real objects) related to (topic).
• T places key terms or vocabulary words into a “word cloud” and asks Ss to find words related to (topic) and generate new ideas.
• T asks Ss what they remember about (topic).
• T asks Ss to guess the name of (book titles) by listing keywords.

To introduce new vocabulary

• T asks Ss to label images.
• Ss match the vocabulary with images.
• T shows flashcards and Ss try to describe them.
• T writes a list of words on the board and Ss categorize them.
• T gives Ss a keyword related to the topic and then gives them x seconds think up as many linked words as they can.
• T writes groups of 4 words on the board and Ss have to find the odd one out in each group.

• T asks a volunteer to come out and draw a card. Then he/she is requested to act out the action written on the card.

To review a topic

• T asks Ss “Can anyone remember what we did last week/class?”
• Ss play a jeopardy game (answer-and-question quiz) about the previous class.

To analyze the graphic and textual components

• Ss discuss what (textual or graphic component) is used for, the intention and purpose.
• T shows Ss (a text/book cover) and have them predict what it could be about.
• T asks Ss to identify the title, subtitle and author.

To know Ss’ interests

• T asks Ss to talk about their favorite (subject matter).
• T elicits from Ss the most common (subject matter) in their area.
• Ss discuss and rate a list of (subject matter) according to (specific criteria).

STAGE 2: DEVELOPMENT
This stage is the most student-centered part of the process.  The activities for this stage present the subject matter in coherent way and provide students opportunities to participate and practice.

To provide controlled practice of the target language

• T says (models) the word or phrase and Ss repeat it.
• Ss complete a gap-fill activity.
• Ss read a text and do a true/false activity.
• Ss read a text and answer some questions.
• Ss do a jumbled activity.
• T reads aloud descriptions and asks Ss to try to guess what it is.
• Ss form their own complete sentences by choosing vocabulary from a sentence formation table.
• T asks Ss to read until they find out where the story takes place.
• T asks Ss to find someone who (specific criteria).
• Ss solve a crossword puzzle.

To favor cooperation and integration

• Ss work in teams in order to (task).
• Ss share what they found with others.
• Ss ask their peers to arrange/number the dialogues in the correct order.

To give Ss fluency practice

• T asks Ss to practice the dialogue several times.
• Ss exchange information about (topic).
• Ss chorally repeat the sentence pattern.

STAGE 3: CONSOLIDATION
This stage is called “Independent practice”. It gives students the opportunities to use their newly learned knowledge and skills. It focuses on a field application and provides time for students to get their doubts clarified.

To provide free practice of the target language

• Ss write a letter responding to a message.
• Ss write a short conversation with a partner.
• T asks Ss to write down what they think will happen next in the story.
• Ss draw a concept map about all the elements in the story (setting, characters, plot, theme and conflict).
• T asks Ss to write an alternate ending using the information that they have learned in a story.

To edit and correct mistakes

• Ss adjust their dialogues with the characters’ interventions as much as they can.

​STAGE 4: CONCLUSION
This stage has 3 parts: summary, evaluation of objectives and closing. A brief summary or overview is often appropriate for checking understanding. Also, the students should be able to demonstrate that they have reached the objectives. The closure step is also a chance to give students feedback on their performance.
​
To summarize and check understanding

• T invites Ss to tell class what they have learned by answering some questions.
• T asks Ss to practice what they have learned by asking them “exit tickets”.
• Ss create their own vocabulary picture.
• T writes several yes/no questions of key points from the lesson and asks Ss to raise their thumbs up/down for each one.

To clarify any doubt about the topic

• T gives feedback on (topic).
• Teacher gives a quick conclusion and explains some common error.

To reinforce what was taught in class

• T gives homework and assignments for the next class.
• T makes contributions to improve Ss’ (writing/reading/listening) skills.