In an elementary lesson on capitalization, a discovery approach could be used. Instead of the teacher giving the student rules for capitalization, the student could be given a paragraph, asked to locate the capital letters, and then, in a group, discuss why capital letters were used in those particular situations. In this way the students have to come up with rules on their own rather than memorize rules given to them.
In a math lesson on percent, students could be asked questions based on particular objects that are in the room. For example, they could be asked to give the percentage of windows that are open; the percentage of students in the classroom who have blue eyes; a percentage to indicate the number of students absent from the class that day; or various other problems that the teachers could devise. Thess questions would not be based on problems from a text book but on relevant material that is at hand. Those students who have difficulty with reading would be able to work on the concept of percent from these preliminary problems without having to worry about being able to read a problem from a textbook.
Levels of Cognitive Domains
Another consideration in presenting the lesson should be the involvement
of students at their own level. This requires the use of Bloom’s Taxonomy
in the development of questions and assignments. Bloom’s Taxonomy, or other
similar structures that indicate levels of thinking, are useful in structuring
questions to ask students at various levels. All students can be involved
in the lesson if suitable questions are developed to allow their involvement.
Although Bloom’s Taxonomy is well known, it is utilized less than would
be expected for preparing questions and assignments for students. The chart
that follows indicates the levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy, defines each level,
lists key verbs used to ask students questions, and lists products or
activities that students could produce or perform at the indicated level.
