Heartland AEA
Summer Institute
June 14, 2011
Mary Schmidt, Gifted Education Consultant
Bloom’s KUD
Know
 6 levels of cognitive processes of Bloom’s
Revised Taxonomy
 4 knowledge dimensions of Bloom’s Revised
Taxonomy
Understand
 Achieving complexity in questions and tasks is
essential to deeper, more durable learning.
Do
 Apply Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy to ICC
Essential Concepts and Skills
 Generate questions using Bloom’s levels
Higher-Order Thinking as…
 Transfer
– Requires students not only to remember but
also to make sense of and be able to use what
they have learned
 Critical Thinking
– Reasonable, reflective thinking…focused on
deciding what to believe or do; “artful thinking”
 Problem-Solving
– How to reach a desired goal when the path or
solution is not readily apparent
How to Assess Higher-Order Thinking Skills in Your Classroom, Susan M.
Brookhart, 2010
“So, Izzy, did you
ask a good
question today?”
Discuss in a group…
1. What makes a task, question or objective
“good”?
2. Why is it important for teachers to meet
these criteria in their instruction?
3. What are the consequences when they
don’t?
4. What would you see and hear in a
classroom where higher-order thinking and
questioning are occurring?
5. What would happen to student learning if
teachers and students functioned at
higher-order levels?
A “good” question…
…makes you think.
…does not have an immediate answer.
…requires thinking, feeling and application to previous
knowledge.
…extends and clarifies a concept.
…leads to another good question.
…develops out of genuine curiosity or confusion.
…reflects a genuine desire to find out, a deep feeling
for wanting to know more than we already do.
…opens doors.
…demands more than a “yes” or “no” answer.
~ from Developing More Curious Minds by John Barell
What are the 6
levels of
Bloom’s?
Original Terms
¥ Evaluation
¥ Synthesis
¥ Analysis
¥ Application
Can you put them
in order - low to
high?
¥ Comprehension
¥ Knowledge
(Based on Pohl, 2000,
Revision At-a-Glance
Original Terms
New Terms
¥ Evaluation
¥Creating
¥ Synthesis
¥Evaluating
¥ Analysis
¥Analysing
¥ Application
¥Applying
¥ Comprehension
¥Understanding
¥ Knowledge
¥Remembering
(Based on Pohl, 2000, Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn, p. 8 )
Understandings
These are conceptual objectives for students that
 Represent big ideas that have enduring value
beyond the classroom
 Reside at the heart of the discipline and are
worthy of exploration
 Require “uncoverage” rather than coverage
(of abstract or often misunderstood ideas)
 Offer potential for engaging students
--Wiggins & McTighe, UbD, 1998
A student who UNDERSTANDS
can…




Explain it clearly, giving examples
Use it
Compare and contrast it with other concepts
Relate it to other instances in the subject, other
subjects and personal life experiences
 Transfer it to unfamiliar settings
 Discover the concept embedded within a novel
problem
 Combine it appropriately with other understandings.
Six Facets of Understanding
 When we truly understand we
– Can explain
– Can interpret
– Can apply
– Have perspective
– Display empathy
– Have self-knowledge
--Tomlinson & McTighe, 2006, p.
67
TTYN
 What connections are you making
among the concept of “understanding”
and Bloom’s Taxonomy, conceptbased learning, Iowa Core,
differentiation, AIW, etc.?
The Knowledge Dimension
 Factual
– Terminology
– Details & Elements
 Conceptual
– Classifications & Categories
– Principles & Generalizations
– Theories, Models, & Structures
The Knowledge Dimension
 Procedural
– Subject-specific skills & algorithms
– Subject-specific techniques & methods
– Criteria for determining when to use
appropriate procedures
 Metacognitive
– Strategic knowledge
– Contextual & conditional knowledge
– Self-knowledge
The Taxonomy Table
Modeling
Example
 Generate criteria to judge the quality of
a question and critique a given set of
questions using those criteria.
How it works…
Generate criteria to judge the quality of a question and
critique a given set of questions using those criteria .





Apply S(ubject) V(erb) O(bject) format
S = student (often implied)
V = generate (create)
V = critique (evaluate)
O = criteria to judge the quality of a
question
 O = a set of questions
Think Aloud
Generate criteria to judge the quality of a question and
critique a given set of questions using those criteria .
Science As Inquiry grades 6-8
Essential concept/skill
 Design and conduct different kinds of
scientific investigations
Detail
 Students use appropriate safety
procedures when conducting
investigations
Focus on the detail
Students use appropriate safety procedures when
conducting investigations.
At Your Table: Decide on a content area, discipline,
and grade span from the IC. Chart one of the details
on the Taxonomy Table.
http://www.corecurriculum.iowa.gov
The Man on the Moon
As American astronaut Neil Armstrong set foot on the
surface of the moon at 0256 GMT today, he said, “That’s one
small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Twenty
minutes earlier, Armstrong reported the lunar module’s safe
landing with these words, “Houston, Tranquility Base here.
The Eagle has landed.”
As television cameras installed on the Eagle recorded,
Armstrong spent his first few minutes on the moon taking
photographs and collecting soil samples. Fellow astronaut
Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin joined Armstrong at 0315 GMT. The two
astronauts jumped across the landscape and collected data
before planting the American flag at 0341 GMT. They also
delivered a plaque with President Nixon’s signature and the
following inscription: “Here men from the planet Earth first set
foot upon the Moon in July 1969 AD. We came in peace for
all mankind.”
Interview Questions
Remember
Understand
Apply
Analyze
Evaluate
Create
Watch an interview on Sixty Minutes or
similar show. Chart the level of the
questions asked by the interviewer. Is
there a particular order to the questions?
What is the benefit of asking higherorder interview questions? How is this
evidenced in the interview you
analyzed? What other higher-order
questions could/should the interviewer
have asked?
Elementary Example
Concept: attributes, geometric shapes
What do these shapes have in
common?
Which of these
shapes is not like the
others? Why?
Into what categories can you put the
shapes? Explain your categories.
Change your categories so each group has
two or more common attributes. Explain.
Discuss in small
groups:
What is the highest
level of thinking
required of students
as they engage in
this activity?
Where would you
chart this on the
Taxonomy Table
Reflecting
In what ways will the lens of Bloom’s
Revised Taxonomy impact Iowa Core
work in your school/district?
What connections do you see between
Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy and conceptbased learning?
Reflecting
In what ways will the lens of Bloom’s
Revised Taxonomy impact Iowa Core
Curriculum work in your school/district?
Reflecting
What connections do you see between
Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy and conceptbased learning?
The following slides chart the level of
Bloom’s for each of the questions at the
beginning of the session today.
One important take-away is that a lesson
doesn’t need to begin with low-level
questions and/or tasks. Beginning with
greater cognitive complexity establishes
higher expectations.
What’s the Bloom’s Level?
1. What makes a task, question or objective
“good”?
2. Why is it important for teachers to meet
these criteria in their instruction?
3. What are the consequences when they
don’t?
4. What would you see and hear in a
classroom where higher-order thinking and
questioning are occurring?
5. What would happen to student learning if
teachers and students functioned at
higher-order levels?
What makes a
task, question or
objective “good”?
Why is it
important for
teachers to meet
these criteria in
their instruction?
What are the
consequences
when/if they
don’t?
What would you see
and hear in a
classroom where
higher-order thinking
and questioning are
occurring?
What would happen to
student learning if
teachers and students
functioned at higherorder levels?
Web Resources
http://faculty.chass.ncsu.edu/slatta/hi216/learning/bloom.
htm
This site provides an overview and graphic of Bloom’s
Revised Taxonomy.
http://www.kurwongbss.eq.edu.au/thinking/Bloom/blooms
.htm
This is a site rich in Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy
examples across subject areas. Many of the handouts
you’ve seen today came from this site.
http://www.uwsp.edu/education/lwilson/curric/newtaxono
my.htm
This site offers a side-by-side comparison of the original
and revised versions of Bloom’s Taxonomy.