Bloom’s Taxonomy is my desert island education tool. It’s all I need to craft a great lesson or develop an interesting sequence of questions. (Second place would definitely be the Depth and Complexity framework, but that’s a clear silver medalist compared to Bloom’s Taxonomy. Depth and Complexity depends on Bloom’s, after all.).
I’ve written about the various levels here and there, but I wanted to gather all of that in one place. Let’s start at the bottom!
Remember / Understand / Apply
I put these together because nothing is more boring than explaining the difference 😆. When we ask a question at these levels, we’re going to get a known answer back. My 36 students are going to tell me the same thing, perhaps using different words. These are not bad levels! They are, in fact, essential. But we do not want to get stuck here. It’s boring for you and your students. Once they get it, move them along!
Analyze
Now we’re talking! This is the level I aim for. Once I hit Analyze, it’s a small jump to Evaluate and Synthesize. But, if I skip Analyze, we’re going to have problems. And if I don’t even get here, oh boy.
When we ask students to Analyze, they’re comparing, contrasting, categorizing. If you use Depth and Complexity, they’re looking for patterns. Done well, this level will get you interesting and unexpected answers from students. Done poorly, you get a Venn Diagram with information you already knew.
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Compare and constrast George Washington and Abe Lincoln (This leads to “They were both men. They were both presidents. They both had hair.”)
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Contrast the motivations of Washington and Lincoln (This leads to juicy thinking, especially if the previous step prepared students to think about motivation.)
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Group these dinosaurs into carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores. (Boring)
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Group these dinosaurs based on their most effective survival adaptation. (Hmm, this could be interesting)
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Group these dinosaurs into categories that only you might think of. (Oh!)
Read more on how to do Analyze well.
Evaluate
We’re asking for an opinion here, but it can’t be an “any opinion is right” question.
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“What’s your favorite dinosaur?” is a very weak evaluative question.
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“Which dinosaur from the Triassic period would survive best in the Cretaceous period: plateosaurus, coelophysis, or proterosuchus?” is a banger. (Now, I’d never ask that question right off the bat. I’d scare a bunch of students away. That’s why building a sequence of questions is so important.)
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Who was better, Washington or Lincoln? 🥱
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Which president’s motivations would fit best in the 21st century? 👀
Here’s how I make sure to write good questions at the Evaluate level.
Synthesize
The revised version of Bloom’s uses “Create,” but I don’t like that word because tasks like “Create a list of the Thirteen Colonies organized alphabetically” are definitely NOT at the top of Bloom’s. I think the original language of “Synthesize” really captures what we’re going for here. We’re bringing together all of the thinking we’ve been doing and coming up with a new thought. Building off the dinosaur question from the last step, I might ask: “How would you improve your dinosaur to make it even more successful in the cretaceous period?” Or maybe I’ll ask, “How would you improve the worst choice to make it a successful cretaceous dinosaur?”
I have more thoughts about Synthesize here.
A great lesson will move students through the levels of Bloom’s. That’s why it’s so important to use an established model of instruction. They are designed to flow through each of the levels. For example, here’s how I’d use Hilda Taba’s Concept Formation model to develop class mottos. You’ll note how it naturally goes towards those higher levels.