Thinking Skills Across the Curriculum
Using the taxonomy below, (or another of your choice) use/adapt the table below to
consider each of the thinking skills in action.
Reflect on the structure/activities that support the development of each of the levels
of the taxonomy. (This activity could be carried out individually or in a small group – however
professional dialogue and reflection would greatly enrich this activity)
REMEMBER: The level of challenge in a task is influenced by how the learning takes
place and the extent of teacher and/or peer support. How the learning/activity is structured
and differentiated will also alter the level of challenge planned.
This activity could also be adapted to use the levels of the taxonomy to reflect on
practitioner’s plans, by carrying out a simple ‘audit’ of the thinking skills across a planned
piece of learning. Practitioners could consider “what thinking skills am I asking the children
and young people to use and demonstrate in the activities I have planned and do they
incorporate higher and lower order skills appropriately?”
This activity could also form the basis of discussion around progression in skills and how a
taxonomy could be used to support this. (See section 7)
Thinking Skill
Words you might hear or use when
thinking and talking about this skill
Creating
Compose, assemble, organise, invent, compile,
forecast, devise, propose, construct, plan, predict,
improve, formulate, generate, prepare, develop,
design, imagine, set up, create, produce
Evaluating
Judge, predict, assess, determine, prioritise,
experiment, check, test, evaluate, defend, conclude,
debate, justify, recommend, discriminate, argue,
rank
Analysing
Distinguish, inspect, inquire, question, examine,
research, probe, investigate, calculate, experiment,
compare, contrast, survey, test, debate, sequence,
relate, categorise, discriminate
Applying
Translate, illustrate, make, practice, manipulate,
calculate, apply, operate, exhibit, interpret, interview,
sequence, show, solve, collect, demonstrate,
dramatise, use, adapt, draw, construct
Understanding
Report, recognise, review, describe, observe, outline,
interpret, explain, identify, discuss, research,
annotate, translate, give examples, define
Remembering
List, memorise, choose, recite, quote, record, match,
select, underline, cite, relate, sort, show, locate, give
an example, reproduce, quote, repeat, label, recall,
outline
What could this look like when you are planning for learning?
Give examples of structures or activities you might use: