Reading
Response 3: Content-based Learning Technologies Portfolio (LOTS)
Bloom´s taxonomy
is a hierarchical system which categorize learning within a cognitive process
dimension. In the new version of Bloom´s Taxonomy, there are six existing categories:
1. Remembering
2. Understanding
3. Applying
4. Analyzing
5. Evaluating
6. Creating
The first
three categories are called the lower order thinking skills (LOTS), and
the last three categories are classified as higher order thinking skills
(HOTS). The lower order thinking skills are the basic skills needed for
learning, while the higher order thinking skills are the more complex ways of
thinking and learning. In this blog post however, I will be focusing only on
the lower order thinking skills.
I will be
presenting an activity which corresponds with the first of the lower order
thinking skills: remembering. Remembering involves bringing back
relevant knowledge from one’s long-term memory (Anderson, et.al., 2001, p. 66).
This means that the activity used in this context needs to involve something
the students are already familiar with. They should not be introduced to new
information or anything they haven´t heard of before. The activity I am about
to introduce can be used on a second grade, or in other words; young language
learners.
The
activity I am referring to is word-recognition. The teacher may show a couple
of photos of items or animals (a tree, a house, a flower, a car, a chair, a
cat, a lion, a monkey, an elephant, etc.) on a whiteboard. Each photo should
represent a word that the students have already been taught. Next to the photos
there should be just as many words and all the words should be placed next to
the photos they match.
The second
language and content objectives of this task is for the students to show that they
are able to recognize simple words they are already familiar with. As Utdanningsdirektoratet
writes in their competence goals and assessment for English language learning by
the end of the second grade, this activity matches the following competence goal:
“oppdage høyfrekvente ord og fraser i ulike type tekster” (Udir, 2020) which
translates to “discover high frequency words and phrases in different types of
texts”.
The
technology used in this activity is the whiteboard. This is because the activity
is exercised in plenary, and because the whiteboard is a useful resource when
it comes to activities done in a larger group of students.
A
step-by-step outline of the learning activity using the into-through-beyond
framework:
1. The
into phase (approximately 15 minutes)
The teacher
gathers the student group around the whiteboard. They are reminded of the activity
that originally taught them the words that is about to come in the upcoming activity.
The group
repeat some of the words they learned in the previous class. Finally, the
teacher explains the upcoming activity.
2. The
through phase (approximately 15 minutes)
The teacher
performs the activity with the student group. One voluntary student at a time gets
to go up to the whiteboard to place one of the words next to one of the photos.
The rest of the class should sit and follow.
3. The
beyond phase (approximately 15 minutes)
When all
the words have been placed next to a photo, the teacher talks to the students
about the activity they just finished. They assess if this was a good activity,
but also what was hard about it. Afterwards they can have a plenary assessment
of the activity. The teacher can ask the students if everything looks correct. If
not, what looks wrong and why? The words that were placed incorrectly should be
corrected along the way.
My assessment
of this activity will be as mentioned in the beyond phase above. At the
end of the activity, we will look at the whiteboard together to see their placement
of the words up against the photos. In other words, the students are partly going
to assess themselves. Did they learn the words properly in the activity when
the words were first introduced to them? Did they learn those words well enough
so that they were able to accomplish the task with the photos? If there were
any or many mismatches on the whiteboard, I (the teacher) will get an indication
of how well the first learning-activity went. Maybe we need to repeat the words
a couple of times? Or maybe I need to try a different kind of approach to teach
the students the words more efficiently?
To be able
to do this activity, it is crucial that all the students were present when they
were introduced to the upcoming words, or that they already know with them. If they
are not familiar with them, they have poor condition for following the class.
References:
- Anderson,
L. W., Krathwohl, D. R., & Bloom, B. S. (2001) A taxonomy for learning,
teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom's taxonomy of educational
objectives. London: Pearson.
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