Teach ourselves the Bloom's Revised Taxonomy

The third webinar was simply invigorating. It was a presentation by Ms Andrea Tolve who reintroduced Content and Language Integrated Learning on the webinar series by Cambridge University Press on May 19th 2020.

Tolve explained that CLIL should combine four elements:

1. Content - Progression in knowledge, skills and understanding related to specific elements of a defined curriculum
2. Communication - Using language to learn whilst learning to use language
3. Cognition - Developing thinking skills which link concept formation (abstract and concrete), understanding and language
4. Culture - Exposure to alternative perspectives and shared understandings, which deepen awareness of otherness and self.

In a CLIL lesson, all four language skills, listening, reading, speaking and writing, should be combined since:

1. Listening is a common input activity, essential for language learning
2. Reading, using meaningful material, is the major source of input
3. Speaking focuses on fluency and accuracy is viewed as second after,
4. Writing is a series of lexical activities through which grammar and other knowledges from what we know, comprehend are composed.

CLIL lessons reveal some characteristics, such as:

1. Integrate language and skills, and receptive and productive skills
2. Lessons are often based on reading or listening texts/passages
3. The language focus in a lesson does not consider structural grading
4. Language is functional and dictated by the context of the subject
5. Language is approached lexically rather than grammatically
6. Learner styles are taken into account in task types.

In many ways, then, a CLIL lesson is similar to an ELT integrated skills lesson, except that it includes exploration of language, is delivered by a teacher versed in CLIL methodology and is based on material directly related to a content-based subject. Both content and language are explored in a CLIL lesson.

This leads to an exemplification of the meaningful content itself by relating to Bloom’s revised taxonomy as a way to apply the CLIL at class or as homework.

I believe that I haven’t done it much in class myself.

She then reminded how teachers gave students Higher Order Thinking Skills in their evaluation sheet but in the process of teaching, they didn’t apply any of it.

From her presentation, I learnt that I have to start to re-plan my lesson plan by registering Bloom’s revised taxonomy when I stimulate my students using media, like pictures or videos.

I often have this phase before getting into the main course. The questions coming up to start the lesson guided by the images or illustrations have always been shallow, as long as I can connect them to the lesson. Yet, Tolve made me rethink, “Why not the 6 stages of Bloom’s revised taxonomy?”

Let’s have an example of what she meant by this. Take a look at the image below.

Based on Bloom’s revised taxonomy, can you make 6 questions for your students to answer which can cover the whole stages?

The questions that came up to my mind are:

1. What is this place?
2. What is the climate like?
3. What landscape features can you see?
4. If you were the owner, what would you change?
5. Is this the kind of place you want to spend your old days in the future? Why? Why not?
6. Why do you think that the water in the pond vaporized?

I am thinking to have this kind of meaningful activity in the lesson named Caption taught in the final grade in the secondary level (12th grade) or for Descriptive text in the 10th grade, which has to be adjusted with the basic competence demanded (Up only to C3 to C4).

By applying this method, I believe that both the teachers and students get used to the process of having not only LOTS, but also HOTS at class.

Teachers may apply this method for other topics in any level as well as other subjects. 

Let’s have another example! Take a look at this image below! 

Make 6 questions linked to Bloom’s revised taxonomy!

Write your answer in the comment below!