Learners can like being told what to do. ‘Think aloud’, Draw a diagram’, ‘Talk to yourself about….. ‘Label this picture’, ‘Explain this to….. ‘Match the items in List A with those in list B’, ‘Conjure up a mental picture of….’Explain to your neighbour….. ‘Listen to the silence in this film’ — these are some of the imperatives you can use to sharpen the pace of the learning process.
‘Make the connection between …. and….., ’Paraphrase’, ‘Solve this’, ‘Translate’, ‘Work out’, ‘Stop and think’, ‘Give yourself two minutes to. ‘Rewrite ibis’, Underline’, ‘Cross out’, Till in’, ‘Look up’, ‘Throw out …’.
Imperatives demand action and attention. Without them a learning experience can be too passive. Their absence can slow down the tick-tick-tick of an effective, fast-moving, learning process.