✨ What Makes the Perfect Lesson? (Spoiler: It’s Not Just About English!)

image created with AI

Hi there! 

Are you already planning for the next school year? If your answer is yes, I might have something for you right here ;) 

Have you ever asked yourself if there is such a thing as the perfect lesson? 🤔

I think the answer is... a recipe for creating lessons where children feel involved, motivated and excited to learn.

And the best part? This isn't just for English lessons... it's a structure that can work across any subject.

One of the first things I have always taken into account while planning is my students' attention spans. Every age group is different, and that's something we absolutely need to respect, but respecting children's attention span doesn't mean staying within their limits forever: one of our goals is definitely to gently stretch them. How? By keeping our pupils engaged with a variety of meaningful activities that naturally flow from one to the next.

After sharing many different lesson plans over the past few years, for this post I stopped to analyze what a typical lesson at Miss Lucy's Teaching Fun looks like, so that you can use it as a framework to fill up with your own materials and strategies:

🎵 1. Connect
We begin with songs, routines and a quick review. Children activate prior knowledge, build confidence and get into "learning mode."

📚 2. Explore
A picture book, flashcards, a game or a real object introduces the new topic. But the real magic happens through questions. I encourage children to make predictions, recall previous learning and actively participate instead of simply listening silently.

✂️ 3. Create
Arts and crafts, colouring and cutting, modelling with plasticine or other hands-on activities allow children to process what they've learned in a meaningful way. Learning becomes something they do, not just something they hear.

🌟 4. Reflect
Before the lesson ends, we revisit the learning of the day with a few simple questions and celebrate everyone's effort with a little reward (a sticker, a stamp, a candy). It's a small moment that helps consolidate learning and leaves children feeling successful. 

As you can see, every stage of the lesson is planned with a clear purpose. Learning needs structure, and my planning is strongly inspired by Bloom's Taxonomy. Of course, there's always room for flexibility, but the structure is what makes meaningful learning possible.

We start by remembering previous learning, then move on to understanding new concepts through stories and discussion. Children apply what they've learned during practical activities, while the questions we ask encourage them to analyse, make connections and explain their thinking. Even the simplest craft can become an opportunity to create something personal using new language or new knowledge.

I believe a great lesson isn't about filling an hour with activities, but it's about designing a journey where every step has a purpose.

When children are engaged, thinking, moving, creating and reflecting, learning becomes deeper, more meaningful... and much more fun. 💛

Now I'd love to hear from you!

What are your essential ingredients for the perfect lesson?

Do you consciously plan around Bloom's Taxonomy, or do you have another framework that guides your teaching?

Let's share ideas in the comments! 👇✨

NEW COUNTRY... NEW ADVENTURES!

ChatGPT doesn't know where Macerata is (LOL)

Hello, everyone!

Wow!!!! it really has been a long time, hasn't it?

If you're still here after all these years, thank you! And if you've just discovered Miss Lucy's Teaching Fun, welcome aboard! Either way, I'm sooooo happy to be writing here again.

But... where have I been?

Well, life happened. Or, to be more precise... teaching happened!

For the past five years, I've been teaching in a couple of international schools. They were amazing experiences that helped me grow professionally, meet wonderful people, and challenge myself every single day. But let's be honest... international schools can be incredibly demanding. They require a huge amount of energy, creativity, flexibility... and time! By the end of the day, the last thing I could think about was sitting down to write a blog post.

Now, a new chapter has begun.

After spending four wonderful years on the beautiful Lake Como, I've moved on to a completely different adventure: teaching in an Italian state primary school.

And, as you can imagine, I've been observing... a lot.

New colleagues, new routines, new challenges, new opportunities... and plenty of ideas! I've filled pages with notes, reflections, little classroom victories, and, of course, a few funny stories along the way.

So yes... new blog posts are definitely coming!

This is actually a fascinating time to be teaching English in Italian primary schools. The new national guidelines are encouraging a much more communicative approach, giving greater importance to listening and speaking from the very first years of school. Music to my ears! 

We'll explore together how these changes can become meaningful classroom practice, with practical activities, games, storytelling, movement, songs... and all the fun that learning English should include.

And finally, there's one more piece of exciting news.

After years of writing every single post in multiple languages (yes... that took forever!), I'm officially retiring from my job as my own translator!

Artificial Intelligence has completely changed the game. Most of you can now translate blog posts instantly on your phones, tablets, or computers. That means I can spend less time translating and much more time doing what I enjoy the most: creating new ideas, sharing classroom experiences, and designing fun resources for teachers and children around the world.

So today we say a grateful goodbye to mihijohablainglés.com and open the door to this brand-new adventure.

I'm excited and, honestly, I can't wait to share everything that's coming next.

Thank you for being here.

Let's make English teaching fun... again!

Love,

Miss Lucy

Connecting the Dots: From Transdisciplinary Themes to Meaningful Inquiry

One of the things I love most about the PYP is how a single Central Idea can open the door to endless learning possibilities.

In my previous posts, I talked about transdisciplinary learning, the role of the Transdisciplinary Themes, and why they are at the heart of the IB Primary Years Programme. Today, I'd like to take you behind the scenes and share a real Unit of Inquiry (UOI) I designed during my Master's course in Methodology of International Education.

For this unit, I chose the transdisciplinary theme:

🌍 How We Organize Ourselves – an inquiry into the interconnectedness of human-made systems and their impact on the environment.

The target age group was Grade 6.

The next step? Creating a meaningful Central Idea.

The Central Idea is much more than a statement. It's the heart of the inquiry. It provides a conceptual framework that guides teaching while giving students the opportunity to build on their prior knowledge, personal experiences, and cultural perspectives. This is where authentic student agency begins.

The Central Idea I developed was:

"Living things have adapted to their unique environments, while also shaping and modifying those environments to meet their survival needs."

From there, the inquiry naturally unfolded into three Lines of Inquiry:

🏡 Form: How people live – exploring human habitats around the world.

🌱 Causation: How the environment influences human choices about where and how they live.

🌎 Responsibility: The impact of human living solutions on the environment.

What I find fascinating is how flexible this framework is.

Although I chose to focus on human habitats, the very same Central Idea could easily lead students to investigate ecosystems, animal adaptations, evolution, sustainability, or even technological innovation. The possibilities are endless.

This is the beauty of inquiry-based learning: the curriculum isn't reduced to isolated subjects. Instead, it becomes a connected journey where concepts, skills, and student curiosity drive learning together.

Every Unit of Inquiry evolves as students ask questions, make connections, and contribute their own ideas. That's what makes each inquiry unique—and that's what makes teaching in the PYP so rewarding.

✨ Have you ever designed or experienced a Unit of Inquiry that took an unexpected direction because of students' questions? I'd love to hear your stories in the comments!

Exploring the Magic of the IB Transdisciplinary Themes

Hi there! Welcome back! 

As we discovered in our previous post, the IB framework introduces six big Transdisciplinary Themes that are at the heart of the PYP (Primary Years Programme). 

What makes these themes so special? Easy answer... Their incredible flexibility: they can be adapted to different ages, cultures, languages, and learning contexts.

But what is the real magic behind them? ✨

These themes are not simply “topics” to cover. They are like windows that open our students’ minds to the world. They help children make connections between subjects, ask meaningful questions, explore real-life situations, and understand that learning is not divided into separate boxes.

The Transdisciplinary Themes encourage our young learners to become curious thinkers, compassionate citizens, and active participants in their communities.

Let's take a closer look at them!

1. Encapsulation of Shared Commonalities 🌎

They connect us through our shared human experiences

The Transdisciplinary Themes focus on ideas that are meaningful for all human beings, regardless of where they live or which culture they belong to.  The big idea here is that, despite our differences,  as human beings we share many experiences, needs, hopes, and challenges and especially values.

💡 Practical example for your lesson:

Theme: Who We Are

Students can explore identity, relationships, health, and personal development.

Possible subject connections:

• Language: writing a personal biography, creating “All About Me” books, interviewing family members.
• Science: exploring the human body, nutrition, and healthy habits.
• Social Studies: comparing family traditions and celebrations from different cultures.
• Art: creating self-portraits representing personality, emotions, and identity.

Through this theme, children understand that knowing themselves also helps them understand others.

2. Indication of Complexity and Connectedness 🌱

They show students that the world is beautifully interconnected

Real-world problems are rarely simple. The themes encourage students to look beyond one perspective and discover how different elements influence each other.

Children learn that a scientific discovery can have social consequences, that our choices affect the environment, and that every action creates connections.

💡 Practical example for your lesson:

Theme: How We Organize Ourselves

Students investigate systems, communities, organizations, and how people work together.

Possible subject connections:

• Mathematics: collecting data about classroom routines, creating graphs, analysing budgets.
• Science: exploring how systems work in nature (ecosystems, food chains).
• Social Studies: understanding governments, communities, and different types of organizations.
• Language: creating advertisements, persuasive texts, or presentations about improving a community system.

Students begin to see that everything is connected!

3. Engagement in Real-World Dialogues 🌍💬

They invite children to become problem-solvers

The Transdisciplinary Themes encourage students to discuss authentic issues that matter in the world around them. They are not just learning about problems; they are encouraged to think about possible solutions.

💡 Practical example for your lesson:

Theme: Sharing the Planet

Students explore relationships between humans, animals, and the environment.

Possible subject connections:

• Science: investigating ecosystems, biodiversity, climate change, and conservation.
• Mathematics: analysing environmental data, measuring waste production, creating charts.
• Language: writing campaigns, creating posters, preparing speeches to raise awareness.
• Art: designing eco-friendly projects or recycled artwork.
• Physical Education: exploring outdoor activities and the importance of caring for natural spaces.

Students discover that even small actions can create a positive impact.

4. Authentic Embeddedness of Subject Areas 📚✨

They break down the walls between subjects

One of the most exciting aspects of the PYP is that subjects do not live separately. Instead of learning mathematics, science, language, and art as isolated areas, students use different skills together to understand bigger concepts.

💡 Practical example for your lesson:

Theme: How We Express Ourselves

Students explore creativity, communication, culture, and personal expression.

Possible subject connections:

• Language: writing stories, poems, scripts, or exploring different forms of communication.
• Art: studying artists, creating original artwork, experimenting with different techniques.
• Music: exploring rhythm, instruments, and cultural traditions.
• Drama: expressing ideas through role-play and performances.
• Technology: creating digital stories, podcasts, or presentations.

Students learn that creativity has many different languages!

5. Contribution to the Uniqueness of the PYP 🌟

They create globally minded learners

The Transdisciplinary Themes are what make the PYP approach truly unique. They move beyond traditional content-based learning and encourage children to become internationally minded, reflective, and responsible citizens.

💡 Practical example for your lesson:

Theme: Where We Are in Place and Time

Students investigate history, journeys, cultures, and the relationship between people and places.

Possible subject connections:

• Social Studies: exploring historical events, migrations, and civilizations.
• Geography: studying maps, countries, landscapes, and human environments.
• Language: creating timelines, research projects, interviews, and historical narratives.
• Mathematics: working with timelines, distances, scales, and population data.
• Art: exploring cultural symbols, architecture, and traditional crafts.

Students understand that every place has a story, and every person is part of a bigger global story.

The six themes: one big invitation to explore 🚀

The beauty of the PYP Transdisciplinary Themes is that they transform learning into an adventure. They encourage children to wonder, question, investigate, create, collaborate, and take action.

As teachers, our role is not only to provide answers but to create opportunities for students to discover connections and build their own understanding of the world. Because the best learning happens when children look around and think:

“I wonder why…”
“How could we improve this?”
“What can I do to make a difference?” 🌍💛

Quiero leerlo en español

Wait… did Maths just become English?" 🤯

One of the terms that parents often hear when their children join the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) is transdisciplinary learning. It sounds like one of those complicated educational buzzwords... but in reality, it's surprisingly simple.

It means that learning goes beyond individual subjects.

Children don't learn Maths from 9 to 10, English from 10 to 11 and then completely forget about Maths. Instead, they explore big ideas through different lenses, using each subject as a tool to better understand the world around them.

And this is where the magic happens.

I'll never forget a moment during my years as a Grade 3 homeroom teacher in an international school in Madrid.

That week's Unit of Inquiry belonged to the transdisciplinary theme Who We Are, and in English we were talking about healthy eating.

Rather than using the outdated food pyramid, we were introducing students to the Healthy Plate model: half the plate filled with vegetables, one quarter with protein and one quarter with carbohydrates.

I had already introduced the concept during our English lessons.

Later that day, I walked back into the classroom after the Spanish Maths lesson.

The Maths teacher had been explaining fractions, and the whiteboard was still full of circles divided into halves.

One of the beautiful things about transdisciplinary teaching is that you don't erase the board just because another subject is coming next. You start from what is already there.

So that's exactly what I did.

I pointed to the circle already divided into two equal parts and said:

"Remember our Healthy Plate?"

Then I drew one more line, dividing one of the halves into two equal pieces.

Suddenly, the diagram became our healthy plate.

Half vegetables.

One quarter protein.

One quarter carbohydrates.

And then... it happened.

You know that moment when you can almost hear twenty-five little brains making the same connection at exactly the same time?

Click.

Fractions were no longer just something from Spanish Maths.

Healthy eating was no longer just vocabulary from English.

The two ideas became one.

That was the exact moment I truly understood the power of transdisciplinary learning.

This doesn't mean that subjects disappear. Quite the opposite.

The PYP still includes six subject areas:

• Language
• Mathematics
• Science
• Social Studies
• Arts
• Personal, Social and Physical Education (PSPE)

The difference is that these subjects are not taught as isolated boxes. Instead, teachers work collaboratively to connect them through six Transdisciplinary Themes, giving learning purpose and making it meaningful.

Those six themes are:

🌍 Who We Are

🗺️ Where We Are in Place and Time

🎨 How We Express Ourselves

⚙️ How the World Works

🏛️ How We Organise Ourselves

🌱 Sharing the Planet

Rather than asking, "What page are we on in the textbook?", the PYP asks a much more powerful question:

"How can today's learning help children make sense of the world?"

And honestly... once you've seen twenty-five children make those connections in real time, it's very hard to go back to teaching subjects as completely separate worlds.

 

From remembering to creating: guiding our students through Bloom’s Taxonomy

Bloom's Taxonomy

Hi there! 👋

Today I’m going to introduce something that school teachers are already familiar with, for sure, but… as the old Latin saying goes, repetita iuvant! 😉

Sometimes, revisiting well-known concepts and looking at them through practical examples is exactly what we need to make ideas clearer, more meaningful and easier to apply in our everyday teaching practice.

So today, let’s talk about a powerful tool that can help us design learning experiences that truly support our students’ thinking journey: Bloom’s Taxonomy. 🌱

In our previous post about cooperative learning, we talked about Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) — those powerful thinking skills that allow our students to analyse, evaluate and create — often compared with Lower Order Thinking Skills (LOTS), which are connected to remembering and understanding information.

But here’s the important thing: both are essential! 💡

They are all part of one of the most famous tools in education: Bloom’s Taxonomy.

📚The six levels of the pyramid represent the different steps our learners go through as they build knowledge:

🔹 Remembering
Recalling facts, information and previously learned skills.

🔹 Understanding
Explaining, describing, comparing and making sense of information.

🔹 Applying
Using knowledge in new situations and real-life contexts.

🔹 Analyzing
Exploring information, identifying patterns and making connections.

🔹 Evaluating
Expressing opinions, making judgements and supporting ideas with evidence.

🔹 Creating
Designing, inventing and producing something new.

✨ Why is Bloom’s Taxonomy such a valuable tool when planning learning experiences?

Because learning is not just about collecting information. In fact, meaningful learning happens when students are gradually supported in moving from “I know this” to “I can use this, I can question it, I can create something with it.”

This is closely connected to Bruner’s scaffolding theory: as teachers, we build the right supports at the right time, accompanying our students step by step until they can become more independent learners.

For example, imagine introducing the topic of historical sources to a Grade 3 class. A possible learning journey could look like this:

📌 REMEMBERING activities

• Sharing what students already know about the past.

• Learning the definition of “historical source”.

• Identifying different types of sources and examples.

📌 UNDERSTANDING activities

• Classifying sources according to their type.

• Creating diagrams or organisers to describe their characteristics.

📌 APPLYING activities

• Bringing historical objects from home.

• Interviewing parents, grandparents or members of the school community to discover how objects were used in the past.

📌 ANALYZING activities

• Describing a source in detail: what it was used for, where it came from, why it was important, how it compares to modern versions.

• Looking for similarities and differences between objects brought by classmates.

• Creating mind maps about historical sources.

📌 EVALUATING activities

• Discussing which sources are the most valuable for historians and explaining why.

• Interpreting the meaning of a source within its historical context.

📌 CREATING activities

• Designing a presentation about the sources investigated.

• Creating a timeline showing how objects have changed over time.

• Building a classroom museum. 🏛️

The beautiful thing about Bloom’s Taxonomy is that it can be applied to any subject and any topic. Whether we are exploring science, history, languages or mathematics, this framework helps us design learning experiences that go beyond memorisation.

And there is another important connection: the development of these thinking skills is deeply linked to the development of competences. If we think of competence as the combination of knowledge, skills, attitudes, values and emotions that learners use in real situations, we immediately see why the top of the pyramid — analysing, evaluating and creating — is so important.

🌟 For this reason, understanding and applying Bloom’s Taxonomy is a powerful skill for every teacher. It is not only useful in IB contexts; it is a universal tool to help our students become curious, independent and lifelong learners.

Because the goal is not simply for children to remember more…

…it is for them to think more. 💭✨

Quiero leer este post en español

Cooperative Learning... but make it simple!

How can we implement cooperative learning in the classroom without adding even more to our workload?

The good news is... we absolutely can! 💛

With the right structures and routines, cooperative learning doesn't have to mean extra planning or complicated group activities. In fact, it can become one of the most effective—and manageable—parts of your teaching practice.

Research has consistently shown that cooperative learning helps children develop higher-order thinking skills, leading to deeper, more meaningful learning.

This idea is rooted in Vygotsky's theory, which tells us that children learn best through interaction. Whether they're learning from their teacher or from a more knowledgeable peer, meaningful conversations help them construct understanding together.

That's why cooperative learning has become such an important part of today's competency-based classrooms.

Buuut...

✨ What does effective cooperative learning actually look like?

I'm sure we're all aware that it's so much more than simply putting children into groups! Here's the list of the key ingredients for successful cooperative learning:

🤝 Mixed-ability groups where every child brings different strengths, ideas, and knowledge to the table. Together, they create something that's richer than what they could have achieved alone.

💬 Meaningful communication as children discuss, question, explain, and support one another. These conversations are where real learning happens.

⭐ Individual accountability because every child has an important role to play and is responsible for contributing to the group's success.

⚖️ Equal participation so every voice is heard and every learner has the opportunity to be actively involved.

🧩 Shared decision-making as children work together, solve problems, and make choices as a team.

👥 Face-to-face interaction, building not only knowledge but also confidence, empathy, and collaboration skills.

When all of these elements come together, cooperative learning becomes so much more than group work—it becomes a powerful learning experience for every child. 💛

The 5 basic structures and the skills 

✨ So... how can we actually bring cooperative learning into our classrooms?

By now, we know that this approach can develop so many important skills—but the big question is: where do we start? 💭

Take note of this name: Dr Spencer Kagan. ⭐

This psychologist and pioneer in the cooperative learning movement dedicated his work to helping teachers create more interactive and collaborative lessons, where children become not only more knowledgeable learners, but also more caring and cooperative ones.

His solution? Cooperative structures.

Dr Kagan designed more than 200 structures that can be easily integrated into our lessons without having to completely change our planning or rewrite our activities from scratch. 🙌

I personally use some of them depending on my teaching goals, and I can truly say that they are incredibly powerful tools. They encourage reflection, dialogue, active participation—and, most importantly, they motivate children to get involved in any subject we are exploring.

Some Kagan's stuctures

to Kagan, there are 5 essential structures that every teacher should learn first:

🤝 Rally Robin / Rally Table
Students work in pairs and take turns sharing answers, ideas, or solutions to a question or problem.

⏰ Timed Pair Share
One student shares their ideas for a set amount of time while their partner listens. Then they swap roles and, if desired, share their thoughts with the class.

🔄 Round Robin / Round Table
Students take turns contributing ideas or answers within their team, making sure everyone has a voice.

🧩 Rally Coach
Partners solve problems together: one student works while the other observes, supports, checks, and encourages.

🙋 Stand Up, Hand Up, Pair Up
Students move around the classroom, find a partner, and share or discuss a task using one of the previous structures.

My students use these structures very often, and I can honestly say that they lead to 100% participation. Even the quieter children feel more confident sharing their ideas, attention increases, and learning becomes much more meaningful. 💛

So don't be afraid to try them!

Once you see the impact they can have in your classroom, you won't want to go back. ✨

--> Quiero leer este post en castellano