Bloom's Taxonomy in my Teaching Toolbox

If you were an elementary education major in the 1990s you learned about Bloom's Taxonomy.  While I was not a perfect college student, I do remember this valuable teaching tool and continue to find it useful today when reading literature with my children.

A thorough explanation of Bloom's taxonomy can be found at www.bloomstaxonomy.org.  Presenting an example of how I use Bloom's hierarchy of thinking is an even better way for readers to learn how helpful it can be.

Image from odu.edu

Consider already published comprehension questions that offer higher levels of thinking.  Do not reinvent the wheel, or in this case the pyramid.  However, if you are reading literature that is not coupled with a hierarchy of thinking, then follow the above image.

Let's take a look at classic literature; Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.  Once my
oldest and I read a chapter or two of this lovely book, I began to take her through levels of Bloom's taxonomy to focus on her critical thinking.  When children know that they are going  to explore remembering, understanding and applying knowledge to what they read, they pay closer attention to details and think about ways to solve conflict in the literature they are reading.

Blooms Level 1 is Knowledge.  This level of thinking shows the teacher that the student has remembered facts or basic concepts.  Kindergarten and first grade children can answer these questions.  Keywords a teacher might use in his/her questioning are who, what, why, when, where,  how, or define. Backtracking to my younger students, I might simply ask "What did the red hen do?" after reading a simple reader.  My older child who has practiced higher order thinking, but is at the remembering step, might be asked to define vocabulary words.  I may ask her "Who are the Bennets?" or "Recall the name of Elizabeth's home?

Poster of the Bennets at amazon.com

A fun assessment after answering knowledge questions is to make a movie poster of the book's
characters.

Blooms Level 2 is Comprehension.  I believe that it is only after second grade begins that most children are able to communicate comprehension.  Keywords a teacher uses are compare, contrast, explain, describe, state main ideas.  This step is where Venn diagram circles work well: students list similarities and differences in two adjoining circles.  Differences are found on the outside of each circle and similarities are recorded where the circles overlap.  While reading Pride and Prejudice, students show comprehension by comparing and contrasting Jane and Bingley's families.  Readers explain main ideas of chapters or describe feelings of the main character at the end of the book.  Children who are bored with basic questions and who think deeply begin to enjoy comprehension activities

Blooms Level 3 is Application.  My third grade son enjoys thinking on this level.  When we read from the Bible, he likes to think about how a person in the Bible might handle a current event.
Keywords used to encourage students to apply their acquired knowledge are how would . . . , apply, role-play identify, plan, solve, and choose.  A middle school or high school student reading Pride and Prejudice may answer questions like, "If you were Darcy and you were misunderstood by Elizabeth, how would you handle the situation.  Would you use the same approach as Darcy?  If not, how would you approach Elizabeth?"  In other lessons, students apply their knowledge by role playing an event or character.

Image credit: dengess / 123RF Stock Photo, purchased

Blooms Level 4 is Analysis.  As teachers and students explore the higher level thinking of Bloom's taxonomy the thought process is slow and meaningful.  We examine information closely, make inferences about what the character is thinking, or guess why the character is completing an action.  Keywords used in this level of thinking include analyze, classify, examine, explore, predict, infer, conclude, and assume.  I might ask my precocious middle school student a question from Pride and Prejudice that reads, "What conclusion can you make about Jane Austen's title  after reading about Darcy and Elizabeth's relationship?  Identify examples of when Darcy exhibited prideful or judging characteristics?"  An assignment might be to select events in Pride and Prejudice that were normal during the time period it was written, that would now be considered unusual.

Blooms Level 5 is Synthesis.  As students "climb" the Bloom pyramid they are using different thought processes to express what they know.  Synthesis is when students summarize and combine elements of what they are reading.  They might come up with different solutions to fix conflict.  Keywords used at this step are solve, change, lessen, maximize, develop, combine, and build.  "If you were Mr. Bingley would you have changed the way you approached your relationship to Jane?  Would you have told your sister to mind her own business?  How would you have solved this problem?" These are examples of synthesizing Pride and Prejudice's relationship between Jane and Bingley.
A way to show synthesis is adding a new ending to the story.

amazon.com

Blooms Level 6 is Evaluation.  This step is not about the teacher evaluating the student. It is the student making judgments about the details in the literature.  Grade, review, explain, choose, decide, approve, appraise, agree or disagree are keywords teachers use when asking students to evaluate literature.  "What is your opinion of the Bennet family?  Explain how you would prove that Darcy is a good man?  Decide how you would have written the character of Charlotte."  These are examples of evaluation starting blocks.  An assignment I give my children after they read a book is to write a book review or make a poster for the book using many of the literary elements they have studied as they move through Blooms Taxonomy.

Bloom's Taxonomy is an intricate way to analyze your children's involvement in a book.  Bloom's Taxonomy is an excellent resource that helps students use higher order thinking and grow closer to the book they are reading.