How to create a HOTS

Activity
 Talk about PAL and student centered activities

 To understand what HOTS is and how to apply it to

the lessons we teach

 To understand how to create HOTS/Critical

thinking activities
 Success Criteria

Have a better understanding of PAL and student

centered lessons

We should be able to understand what HOTS is

and how it works in the classroom.

We should be able to create our own activity for a

HOTS lesson

We should have at least 3 activities to take home

at the end.
Today’s Agenda:

- Learn about PAL and student centered lessons

- Some theory about HOTS
- Create an activity
- Play 2 HOTS activities
- Make your own activity in small groups
 What is P.A.L?

 Peer
 Assisted
 Learning

 This is the primary way to deliver a 21st

Century Classroom lesson
 There are several ways to deliver a PAL lesson

 1) Pair work
 2) Small group work
 3) Outside assistance

 Let’s look at each method

 1) Pair work

 In this method you pair up stronger students

with weaker students.
 The strong student will take the lead and
assist the weaker student where it’s needed

 Reading lesson example (activity presentation)

 2) Small group

 In this method you will have a group of 3-6

students.
 One student (the strongest) will be the
leader/helper of the group.
 Short or long term projects can be done this
way

 Multiple station activities done this way

(activity presentation)
 3) outside assistance
 In this method you bring in a group of
students that are beyond this point of the
subject to assist with teaching the topic
 Excellent way to get one on one assistance
for Linus students or a weaker level class

 How to implement this?

 Bring in another class to help with reading
once a week.
 For things that can’t be done in the PAL
format you need to make sure the activities
are 90-100% student centered.

 A game example:
◦ Write the word you hear. (activity presentation)

The goal is to take yourself out of the activity as

much as possible. Show the game/activity and then
let the students do it themselves.
 What is HOTS?
◦ Higher Order Thinking Skills
 Critical thinking
 Creative thinking
 Logical thinking
 Ect…

 How does it fit into the primary classroom?

Why do we want it in the classroom?

When you are thinking critically, what are you doing?

When you are thinking creatively, what are you

doing?

When you are thinking logically,

what are you doing?
 Hot Seat game…
Computer
Tree
Tiger
Paper
 Scavenger Hunt
 2 questions to ask yourself when thinking up
an activity.
 #1. What’s the type and point of the lesson?
 #2. What type of activity would best suit this?
 (game or worksheet)
 Things to think about for #2:
◦ What type of class is it? Energetic/quiet ect…
◦ What level is their English at?
 When you have decided what type of action to
take there are 2 ways to decide on a
game/activity.

 #1. You can think of a game you already

know and change it to fit your lesson or…

 #2. You can create your own idea from

scratch.
 Some other questions to ask yourself once
you know what you are going to do/play.
 #1. How much is the teacher involved in play?
 #2. How can I make it more student
centered?
 #3. How much English will be used by the
students?
 #4. How can I monitor that they are all doing
the activity.
 #5. Is the classroom the best place to do
activity?
 Now that we have answered all the questions,
let’s create an activity together…
Any questions?