Pre-Teaching Conceptualization and Teaching Practice: Simile

Concept: Decide what it is you want your students to know two years from now about what you’re teaching them. Identify at least two levels where this falls on Bloom’s cognitive taxonomy with examples. It must be at the Application level

In this pre-teaching conceptualization, the students will be learning figures of speech and they will eventually focus on similes. In the beginning, understanding similes can be difficult because of it is very abstract. This difficulty however will be handled through the selection of learning experiences that render themselves to creativity. The figures of speech have several important and relevant uses in day to day communication among students and adults. They are also important writing skills as they make written work explorative and impressive.

The Bloom cognitive taxonomy classifies the cognitive abilities into several levels. The original scheme had knowledge divided into three basic levels. The first is knowledge which may also be described as mental skills. The second is an attitude which deals with the advancement in feelings and emotions. The third is psychomotor which deals with the acquisition of manual skills. In this pre-teaching conceptualization, we shall focus on the levels of taxonomy above knowledge and comprehension. The two levels targeted for this work in Bloom’s taxonomy will be Application and analysis. At the end of the two years, the students will not only be able to comprehend the meaning of similes, but they will also be capable of applying this understanding to their daily life. Furthermore, they will be able to analyze vividly, the different aspects of the use of simile in general texts and poems (Bloom, 1956).

This way, the learning process shall ingrain the concept into the students’ memory. Specifically, the concepts of similes shall be introduced in class through the use of real objects. The objects will be selected with a view as to help create curiosity and assist students identify similarities. The concept will then be exported to other areas of students’ interaction. This will help the students to draw examples from daily interactions. Students who can use similes effectively can succeed in making their writing impressive and their normal exchanges more animated and fascinating.

Figure 1: (Bloom, 1956).Concept: Decide what it is you want your students to know two years from now about what you’re teaching them. Identify at least two levels where this falls on Bloom’s cognitive taxonomy with examples. It must be at the Application level or higher (2 points).

Structure: Consider traditional classroom scheduling, list your lesson’s activities and outline how you will structure those activities appropriately and logically to facilitate learning. This will identify each day’s learning activity (s) for one week. Secondary teachers should focus specifically on their content are in developing the activities for each period. For elementary teachers, the activities should each last approximately 40 minutes and can focus on one subject or can combine subjects. Each activity must have a full description including the materials to be used or if this information is provided in another section of the paper it may be referenced here (e.g., see Creativity Section for a full description of this activity and its materials) (2 points).

The Goal

To enable students to make use of their knowledge of similes in sentences to describe people, places, or objects in their immediate neighborhood.

Objectives

1. At the end of this lesson, the students should be able to demonstrate an understanding of the meaning of similes
2. At the end of this lesson, the students should be able to identify or recognize similes from various forms of written, spoken, or displayed objects
3. At the end of this lesson, the students should be able to write sentences using similes.
4. At the end of this lesson, the students should be able to demonstrate their mastery of similes by applying their use to the description of issues, objects, or persons in their neighborhood.

Materials

There will be several materials involved in the learning of similes. These materials shall include:

• An iPod and a Hershey bar.
• A large basket containing several objects equal to the number of students.
• Cardboard with several similes written on them, a pair of scissors, and several pieces of paper per student.
• The overhead projector, a paper with five different colors pictures, and writing material.
• A bag filled with papers containing some frivolous topics and writing material
• Writing material and drawing paper and pencils.

Activity Introduction

The teacher shall enter the class with two items (the iPod and the Hershey bar) in his or her hands.

I will then move the table to a central point, place the two items significantly on the table, and sit down on the chair to allow their curiosity to mount.

At this time, I will ask the students’ to take out their composition exercise books and I will then ask the students to state several ways in which ———————is like………and give room for them to think of these for about two to three minutes.

I then ask for volunteers among them to give several suggestions. Many may have very interesting descriptions yet a few may be way off. At this level, all manner of answers is encouraged.

I will then offer a projection of the definition of the word and bring out a small banner containing the definition including several examples. The definition will portray that similes are figures of speech to which compare two nouns by use of ‘like or as’. The following examples will also be displayed.

• The windswept like a broom
• The argument raged like fire

At this point, I will ensure that I help them understand the meaning of the many sentences we will be using as examples. I will also give them exercises to help them understand the relationship between two nouns by simply using a simile:

I will also use the following questions to test their understanding:

• How is bread like a bus?
• How are chalk-like teeth?
• How is jewelry like a moon?
• How is a book like a heart?
• How is a pencil-like railroad?
• How is a pen-like a toy?
• How is math like mountain climbing?

I will then pair the students in an activity to identify how any two nouns are similar. The students will therefore relate their examples and ideas. At this moment I will be assessing their level of understanding.

Prior Knowledge: How will you determine what your students already know and how their information is organized? Stating that prerequisite knowledge was learned in prior lessons and/or grades is not sufficient. What do they know upon which you can build? (2 points):

Information regarding what students already know is critical to understanding how best to introduce the new concepts to them. The most basic way to establish what students already know is often to confirm that the prerequisite knowledge was covered and to assess the student’s level of understanding of these previous lessons. It, therefore, calls for a recap of the previous lesson through a memory jogging and brainstorming exercise to see how this information is organized. With all the benefits from these exercises, they may still be inadequate especially when there is no formal way to address them. This is why the criteria below would be most useful in helping me collect relevant data about the students’ knowledge position.

Basic information of the class

Year-group: 7th grade (the second year after the start of English learning)

Time-schedule: Two times per week for 40 minute-lessons

Mode of teaching: Team-teaching (English teaching)

Use of language: bilingual

Resources:

• Wall-charts/ Videos/ Audio cassettes/staged skits:
• An iPod and a bar of Hershey bar.
• A large basket with several objects equal to the number of students inside.
• Cardboard with several similes written on them, a pair of scissors, and several pieces of paper per student.
• The overhead projector, a paper with five different colors pictures, writing material.
• A bag filled with papers containing some frivolous topics on each one and writing material
• Writing material and drawing paper and pencils.

Class size: 40 (19 Boys and 21 girls)

The teaching approach: Learner based approach applying hybrid of task and process-based

Selecting and grading: Activity-based selection and syllabus content and in sequencing the activities, those that require comprehension come first followed by those of application and transfer of knowledge.

Focus

The Pre-teaching conceptualization is learner-centered and is chosen to reflect the arguments in the assignment. The focus of the syllabus is on what should be taught and learned.

Evaluation Scheme: On the accomplishment of every unit. Informal qualitative assessment using: Portfolio assessment tool which shall comprise: Pupils’ daily journal: Teacher’s observation memos: Informal interviews (chatting) with pupils and parent and other teachers comments. There will also be an administration of oral and written tests.

Lesson One: Lesson Setup Learner Assessment Tool

Week (45minutes)

İdentifying and clarifying the learners’ expectations is critical to the establishment and execution of a learner based syllabus and activities. The matrix below will be used to gather the information.

1. Data when collected? By whom? How? For what purpose?
2. Proficiency level
3. Age
4. Educational background
5. Previous courses
6. Nationality
7. First language
8. Any other languages
9. The best course length
10. Preferred method
11. The preferred style of learning
12. Goals for studying language
13. Life goals

Developmental Level: Where are the students developmentally according to Piaget and how will your lesson(s) accommodate these developmental characteristics (2 points)?

Jean Piaget is one of the first psychologists to demonstrate that children acquire various cognitive levels of competencies along the way.

Source: (Dasen, 1994).

The average age of 7^thgraders lies between 11-13 years. This means that they operate at the level of a formal operational stage on Jean Piaget’s stages of cognitive development. At this stage, the students are capable of systematic reasoning in abstract terms. They are also capable of testing hypotheses logically and systematically. It is therefore important that the lesson captures this need for curiosity and logical reasoning. The choice of lesson and demonstration materials will raise curiosity, demand logical reasoning, and create possibilities for future interactions and use.

Anticipatory Set: The anticipatory set will likely be closely related to prior knowledge. It should (1) inform students of the objectives of the lesson (2) create an interest in the concept and (3) encourage students to recall any information that is relevant to learning the concept (2 points).

The anticipatory set will include a simple but very interesting game. It borrows from the previous knowledge about choosing various items from a large bag. The number of items will equal the number of students. Each student will be required to get in front of the class pick an item and fill in the statement: my ………………..is like………………….. For example, if a student picked a small tennis ball they could write a statement that reads: The tennis ball is white like chalk. A minute or two shall be allowed for the students to think before writing on the whiteboard.

Every single student will be encouraged to pick an item and fill in the statement. When every student has finally picked an item and listed its simile, the class will then compare and contrast several options and suggest other funny similes.

Motivation: This section should consider behavioral processes and how you will sustain the learning process, including how you will make the concept relevant to your students, which learning activity(s) will be motivating (2 points).

Recent studies show that students are demotivated to learn particularly in the 7^th grade. Most often, this stage relates to the beginning adolescent years which are quite confusing, to say the least. It is even more difficult trying to understand their behavior. By simply taking a look at their backpacks, one may find the evidence of their confusion in the disorganized state of their bags including; the mess of papers, books headphones, and other items. It is a transitional period for most as they are shedding off childhood and begin looking forward to joining high school. It is also a time when they are very keen on asserting their uniqueness while facing several challenges (Ghezzi, 2012).

In most cases, they often want to disapprove of their parents and tend to view them as a bother. Most teenagers believe they do not need their parents to show them anything at this stage because the parents will only say things that curtail their freedom. However, it is at this stage that they need much guidance, realistic limits, clear consequences, and parental support. The parents must therefore be ready with punishment wherever the children go beyond agreed limits. Failure by parents to come through on their promise to punish may erode further the students’ respect and allow them to become uncontrollable in the end. Another critical behavior among seventh graders is their attention to gaining the approval of their peers rather than that of the teacher or even the parents. For example, girls who may be performing well in math may suddenly realize that it is ‘cool’ to be dumb in math and not be the girl who always gives the right answers (Ghezzi, 2012).

At this stage, they are looking for meaning in life and in everything they do. They are therefore quick to ask why they have to learn certain things in school. Furthermore, their behavior seems to oscillate between adulthood and childhood in a matter of minutes. The seventh grade is equally very exploratory. The students seem to have a lot of interests and because they are unsure where their strengths lie, they generally go out and try many things at the same time. To take care of all these characteristics, the learning experience will be organized in a manner that uses many different approaches and examples to raise curiosity, capture the use of simile in the classroom, and show how they can also use the concept in real life (Keating, 1979).

Motivating activity

Drawing similes

Students will be required to write about ten statements containing similes. They will then be requested to exchange their papers with their peers or partners. The students will then be requested to draw a diagram of two or three of those similes. For example, if a statement read: Martin is as tall as a giraffe, the students could have a sketch of Martin and a giraffe standing neck to neck. The students will then share their sketches with others in the classroom. They will also be involved in judging which diagram gives the best description for a given simile.

Discovery: Concepts that are “discovered” rather than taught are typically better understood. Identify how your concept lends itself to discovery learning, how you will incorporate it, and what students will be discovering. (2 points).

The concept of studying similes from the use of real objects in class renders itself to discovery because students begin from a point of knowledge to a point of relating the objects in an abstract fashion using the simile as conjunction. By simply displaying objects and asking the students to notice similarities, the students will discover the use of a simile to accomplish a comparison of any two nouns using the words, ‘like or as’. The display of different colors on the projector will also help students discover the concept of relating colors to real-life objects.

Creativity: Identify how (1) will you use creativity in your instruction compared to a “traditional lesson” on your topic and (2) how you are allowing your students to be creative (2 points).

The teacher will create anticipation by placing the iPod and the Hershey bar on the table without saying a word while allowing the suspense to sink deeper. The sample bag containing several items will be used to achieve creativity. Since every student chooses a different item and no two students can use a similar simile, the activity is very creative. Apart from the creative selection of different objects that give the widest range of applications from their neighborhoods, the focus will also be on forming flippancy similes. Students’ creativity will be enhanced through their ability to choose similes from objects and express them in writing. The topics the students will choose from will be carefully selected for a comic effect which will allow students to go out of their way to find hilarious similes. Further, they will have to draw sketches to describe statements that have similes

Exceptionality: Your students will likely vary in ability and rate of learning. Identify how you will accommodate these differences in performance, such as more capable students finishing assignments early and needing additional learning activities, and less capable students requiring more time, lesson modifications, and/or resources to learn the essential requirements of your lesson. Pairing faster learners with slower learners can be an effective strategy but is not sufficient. Thus, this section must focus on additional and modified learning activities. (2 points)

Students often have different learning capacities and abilities. Some may be quick learners while others may be slow. There are generally three different categories of learners. Some students learn best through visual means hence referred to as visual learners. These students benefit most from demonstrations. This is the reason why demonstrations through the overhead projector and the sketches will be used to aid their learning. The other group of learners benefits most through auditory means i.e. by what they hear and speak. This group is classified as auditory learners. Both audio and spoken statements requiring students to identify the similes will be used. The last group consists of kinesthetic learners who learn best by participating and doing. The picking of items, drawing of sketches will help capture the learning experiences of these students.

Measurement and Evaluation: How will you determine if your students have learned what you intended to teach them. You must provide and describe at least one example of assessment and justify why it is appropriate for determining that learning has occurred. The example must be at the Application level or higher of Bloom’s Taxonomy and labeled as such (2 points). For example, based on fat content, order these three foods from least to most healthy: energy bar, fried chicken, and an apple. (2 points).

To demonstrate that students have learned, each student will be required to write a poem of about 10 lines and at least three similes. A few students will be required to share their poems with the rest of the class. The second assessment will involve students reading a short story, about half a page long. The students will then identify similes either by highlighting or underlining them. Each student will be required to rewrite the similes using at least two different comparisons. All the poems will then be shared with the rest of the class.

Application and Transfer: Describe the activity(s) that will require students to go beyond initial mastery of the fundamentals of your concept in a way that will also reinforce that will be reinforced what has been learned while also learning something new. For transfer, describe how your concept can be integrated with one other subject area. For example, if you have chosen a science concept, describe how it can be related to social studies. Again, examples should be specific (2 points).

Application of the concept will be demonstrated by two different methods; first, the students will create differences in the meaning of sentences by changing similes. Second, they will demonstrate how the meaning the tone, tempo, or rhyme of a poem may be altered by a change of a simile. This concept will be transferred to other areas of study, particularly science.

Examples:

• The bacteria is small like an atom
• The sun is as hot as a furnace.
• Winter is cold like a fridge.

References

Bloom, B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook I: The Cognitive Domain. New York: David McKay Co Inc.

Dasen, P. (1994). Culture and cognitive development from a Piagetian perspective. In W.J.Lonner & R.S. Malpass (Eds.), Psychology and Culture (pp. 279-284). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Ghezzi, P. (2012). 7th Grade Social Changes: School family: What to Expect. Web.

Keating, D. (1979). Adolescent thinking. In J. Adelson (Ed.), Handbook of adolescent psychology (pp. 211-246). New York: Wiley.