Blooms Taxonomy
Why I Love “Analyze”
Bloom’s Taxonomy is my favorite tool for teaching. And Analyze is my favorite level of Bloom’s Taxonomy.
How Do We Make On-Level Writers Into Advanced Writers?
I knew how to help my below-level writers become on-level. But how the heck do you make the next step?
Evaluate with Academic Tournaments
The bracketed tournament isn’t just for college basketball. Set up a tournament to determine best president, state, element, or literary character and challenge your students to make interesting judgements.
Creating A New Creature
We’re not doing a fluffy art project here. Kids are developing a realistic, made up creature that could have actually lived in a particular biome.
Moving Between the Specific and Abstract
When differentiating, it’s helpful to note where on the “spectrum of abstraction” your content lies. Then, see what happens when you move that content to be more abstract or more specific. It often unlocks lots of new opportunities for thinking.
The Inert Knowledge Problem
90 years ago, Alfred North Whitehead used the term “the inert knowledge problem” to describe an issue he faced while teaching. I’ll bet you’ve seen the same thing…
Are Students Thinking or Merely Remembering?
The more I started looking, the more I realized that most of my questions asked students to remember, not actually think.
Stretching Students
I’ve been revisiting this lovely excerpt from Carol Ann Tomlinson’s article “Meeting Needs in Regular Classroom” and a few words really stood out to me…
Depth and Complexity vs Bloom’s Taxonomy: You Need Both
You can use the prompts of depth and complexity yet still ask very shallow questions. Here’s how to avoid this common pitfall…
Creating In Science
It’s easy for science instruction to linger in the bowels of Bloom’s Taxonomy as we try to cram everything into the tiny time allotted. However, isolated facts don’t inspire our students. Let’s set up units that invoke creativity but demand knowledge.
Climbing Bloom’s Taxonomy In Science
Science should be more than memorizing facts. Let’s spice it up and push our students from the doldrums of remembering to the soaring heights of evaluation. While it’s true that this will take longer than just following a textbook, we’re not just teaching facts, we’re equipping students with the ability to make well-informed judgements.
Upgrading Questions with Key Words
How adding a single “key word” can upgrade your questions to a whole new level.
From Silent Reading To Creating Art
I’ve been continuing the idea to explore classic music during silent reaing, and incorporated Gustav Holsts’ “The Planets.” My students, who have an affinity for memorizing gods and goddesses, took a special interest in this idea. I figured, let’s see how far their interests will take us?
How I’d Change this Question from my Textbook
Here are a dozen ways to transform a not-so-critical-thinking question from one of my district’s textbooks.
Ask Them Which Is Better
Moving from analysis to evaluation sure makes things more fun. Why? Check out these examples. Which would you rather answer?
How To Write A Lesson Objective
Creating a differentiated learning environment for gifted students doesn’t mean throwing out everything you learned in your credential program. Learn how to add on to or adjust the base program, curriculum, or standards that any general education teacher uses.