A Lesson Plan A sample lesson plan using Blooms taxonomy.

Bloom's Taxonomy is a way to classify instructional activities or questions as they progress in difficulty. The lower levels require less in the way of thinking skills. As one moves up the hierarchy, the activities require higher level thinking skills.

Lesson

:Education for all

Page: 93 Unit :2 Level :Year 4 secondary education Source: Skills for life

All timings are approximate,and may be adjusted to suit the needs of the class.The lesson can be divided into 2 sessions.It all depends on teachers choices and objectives .Prioritize what shoud be prioritized. The lesson outline below isnt the best. The focus in the procedures is intensively and extensively set on applying critical thinking via critical questions. The critical questions suggested are far from being the best. You can select, reduce, modify or remake. I also tried to use Blooms taxonomy to illustrate students intellectual behaviour. -Procedures: AStudents intellectual behaviour

Pre-reading activities (15 to 20 mns)

Students predict

Get your pupils to consider the picture then let them try to relate picture to title Education for all./Elicit the setting in the picture which is bleak and gloomy. Education for all : Ask pupils to explain the title via sentences to reach the idea of (.....without exception/exclusion/discrimination... equal opportunities for all....to reach education for all ). Picture: How are the kids like? Why? Where? (Africa /Asia /Latin America /poor countries,etc...) Let them label and list what they see using single words or complete sentences. In a conference style learning ,let them generate adjectives pertaining to the semantic field of (poverty and deprivation) Critical questions probing cause:Who is expected to give hand to those children? Introduce World Organizations (e.g: World Food Programme). Direct your pupils to set the role of each world organization (some are unfamliar to them) ./Question:Have you heard of any of them? Where? Introduce key verbs like: found /set up/ establish (passive constructions) / (explain the word Acronym via examples) /...

Students paraphrase

Students label

Students categorize

Students judge

Students hypothesize Students cooperate

You can even introduce If .........../Unless (if+not).................. Let your pupils complete the acronyms in pairs (lots of grammatical and semantic questions can be raised; it all depends on the teachers / pupils critical thinking)./Let them identfy the organizations in question for todays lesson. (UNICEF,UNESCO,WHO ,etc...)

* BStudents intellectu al behaviour

While reading activities (30 to 40 mns)

Get pupils to have a look at the chart (The chart is no strange for students of such a level )
Students Classify Students compare and contrast

Stress key words like figures/statistics/ rate/ percentage, etc... Guide pupils to make sentences based on the discrepencies between figures in the chart using (but, however, yet unlike)/Or Superlatives and comparatives to compare and contrast data.

Students evaluate and investigate Students solve

Critical questions about viewpoints and perspectives: Is there a fair distribution of wealth between rich and poor? Or why should many countries suffer from exclusion? Or are the statistics used recent? Or has things improved since 2002? Why are such countries doomed to suffer? Critical question probing solutions: suggest solutions to overcome illiteracy/exclusion. Word formation: exclude-exclusion/excluded Synonymy: exclude:expel/remove/eliminate ,etc... Question probing attitudes and affective skills Dont you feel sorry for those children? Activity calling for inference : Consider Aristoles saying The fountain of knowledge will dry up unless it is continously replenished by streams of new learning (See page 95/same lesson/grammar focus task)...Ask pupils to examine key words like fountain, dry up,replenished;stream and relate them to the idea of education for all...Let them identify the right semantic field . The text: apart from completing the table with appropriate figures (information transfer), direct you pupils to weigh the data. Critical questions that probe reason and evidence:To what extent are the figures used authentic? Do they really reflect childrens suffering? Critical questions that probe assumptions:Is it still the case in all theses countries? Or more explicitly : Do those kids still suffer from exclusion ? Critical questions to dramatize situation and raise pupils affective skills using items like :out of /above /relatively /as /rate /perecentage / therefore...

Students use feeling Students infer and recognize

Students analyze content

Students dramatize

Students Collocate Students anticipate

Ask pupils to categorize words and set them into appropriate lexical fields:(countries, population, Sub-saharan Africa.etc...) / (total,groupings/enrol ,primary,school, etc...) Collocations: Industrialized countries /global population / enrolment rates / regional groupings, etc... Critical questions that probe implications and consequences: Now that the situation is appalling, what must be done to ease peoples suffering? Again, you can reintroduce If / If not = unless Critical question of Identification: The UNICEF? Its role? etc... Critical question about personal attitude : (it is fair /unfair to exclude

Students identify Student criticize Students analyze content

children /to deprive those kids of their elementary rights to have access to school?)
Students Deduce Students recommend

A higher level critical question about content : Dont you think that the abundance of figures have made the text boring , insipid ? Critical question about judgement and deduction: Does the motto of education for all still stand? Is it valid ? Is it realizable ? Etc.. /or Who is to blame ? The Ad;Complete the ad (You can focus on lexis ,grammar and message) Critical questions about credibilty :Is publishing ads enough to get children out of their dilemmas.? What more can be done to really help? Etc.

C
Students intellectua l behaviour

Post-reading activities (15 to 20 mns)

Students judge

*We can suggest critical situations conducted through groupwork activities Consider the following suggestions: Write a paragraph about who is to blame for kids exclusion. Or How can education be for all? Or why should children in poor countries suffer while their peers are enjoying the blessings of life in other parts of the world? Can the internet be of any help for kids in poor countries? _____________________________________________________________ NB:lots of situations calling for pupilscritical skills can be worked out.

Students explain Students investigate Students suggest

DHomework

DoThe express differently task Or Develop the following statements into a coherent paragraph: Save a child and the future will follow/or the children of today are the promise of tomorrow ____________________________________________________________________ NB : plenty of writing assignments that require critical thinking and writing(criticizing,rating ,assessing,recommending,solving,etc...)can be suggested.
***

 While these types of questions may be more the responsibility of the

teacher in the beginning of the school year, with consistent modelling and encouragement students should increasingly take responsibility for asking these questions of themselves and their peers
When reading Critically,certain tasks must be done as :
a specific topic must be addressed terms must be clearly defined evidence must be presented common knowledge must be accounted for exceptions must be explained causes must be shown to precede effects and to be capable of the effect conclusions must be shown to follow logically from earlier arguments and evidence

Hamdi Hechmi EFL teacher since 1996 Ibn Roshd High School in El Maknassy Main interests: test construction, translation, media studies Proficiency certificate from Brighton University 1991