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Instructional Context:
My 8th grade Challenge English class is made up of 26 students who are 13 and
14 years old. In our district these are the accelerated and the gifted learners. In most
middle schools in our district there is only one or two of these classes at the 7th and 8th
grade level. In my building there are 8 Challenge English classes, one for each team.
From the Family History essays that the students wrote they are of Filipino
descent, Middle Eastern, white European, Asian and Hispanic. According to their official
school registration sheets the class includes 19 White, 1 Hispanic and 6 Asian students.
There are 14 females and 12 male students in the class.
The group is highly talented and intellectually curious. In class they are animated,
they question everything; most will openly verbalize their thoughts and willingly share
with each other. Half the students are quite verbal and extroverted in their behavior. The
other half are very reticent and quiet unless called upon and simply do what is expected
of them. This creates some teaching challenges as I try to draw out the quiet ones and
temper the more extroverted students without dampening their enthusiasm.
My lesson on Bloom’s Taxonomy is significant because all my students from the
lowest ability level to the highest are able to comprehend the lesson. It’s meaningful
learning for all; because it helps them better understand how and why they learn, how we
teachers ask questions of them and how we ask them to think. I choose to do this topic
every year because I want students to understand what they’re learning and why they are
learning topics in all academic areas, Language Arts, science, history, mathematics, the
fine arts as well as physical education. The lesson becomes an impetus or touchstone that
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I return to often in explaining why I’m teaching a lesson to them or how I choose to
present academic information.
Planning and Video Recording Analysis
I have several long-term goals and thematic connections for my students. I want
them to be able to discern what they are being taught, how they are learning it, and how
the topic is relevant to their lives both academically and socially. I want them to learn
how to be aware of how they are thinking. I believe this is a skill that they can use for
anything that they are learning whether it’s Language Arts, science, math, reading,
physical education, art, music, and more. Bloom’s Taxonomy is a wonderful tool for this.
It’s a tool that all students of different ability levels are able to comprehend after some
explanation and practice.
Relationships between people are the main thematic connection I use all year long
with students. I want them to look at their reading and writing, composing and editing,
speaking and listening in terms of the relationships they have and will have. These goals
and themes are so appropriate for 8th graders because they are embarking on their high
school and college years of education. Their friends are so very important to them in
building their identity and self-esteem. Their families are important as well, even though
8th graders are beginning to assert their independence and separateness. They are
developmentally beginning to look outside themselves and assess who they are and how
they relate to others. This lesson on Bloom’s Taxonomy is a good start to becoming
aware or cognizant of their learning and to engage in a meaningful expression of their
understanding of the taxonomy.
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I choose a whole class discussion at the start of the lesson so that I can capitalize
on the background knowledge of all the students. There’s a wealth of previous knowledge
that can be elicited in large group discussion as many students contribute in sharing their
insights. Students can play off each others ideas and share in the knowledge of the large
group. Later they will work in smaller groups of two, three, or four, to create and fine
tune their chart. Finally, students will work independently to create their own individual
chart as an expression and an assessment of their understanding of Bloom’s Taxonomy.
I chose to use apples as a general discussion topic in introducing Bloom’s
Taxonomy because everyone is familiar with apples. It’s appropriate for all groups:
ethnic, gender, and ability. This seems fair, equitable, and accessible for all. Curry and
Sumara used it as an example and I’ve just expanded on it. I like the discussion that
apples evoke. It allows me to reach students of all multiple intelligences: auditory,
verbal, kinesthetic, and visual. By asking the kids what they understand to be an apple
they get quite vocal and comfortable in speaking their own thoughts because it’s a nonthreatening topic. Tim, in the red t-shirt, likes to take the obvious and be perverse and
gives the opposite answer. Emily, in the white hoodie sweater, identifies the apple
accurately by color [red] and previous knowledge. Rene, in the green t-shirt, mentions the
shape. Tyler, in the navy with white striped jersey, suggests looking at the sticker. Tim,
again, suggests that taste would help. They know apples, or think they do. Every student
can offer a perception about apples. Also, it’s the beginning of the school year and apples
are in season. Most people enjoy eating one type of apple or another. By bringing in
different apples in terms of color and shape, it provokes discussion and thinking. Students
have to ‘think’ or analyze how they know it’s an apple.
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Then, as can be seen in the video, I elicit from the students the ways to
compartmentalize apples according the Bloom’s Taxonomy. We talk about knowing that
it’s an apple, that we comprehend that it grows on trees, that we can use it to eat, and then
we start to name the parts. Zowie, in the beige t-shirt, mentions the skin, stem and seeds.
Katherine mentions the core, and Taylor, the flesh or pulp of the apple. Mike, by the
window and in the navy/dark shirt, mentions baking an apple pie. Someone by the curtain
side mentions apple crisp, then apple cider. I tie in the Evaluation level with judging or
evaluating the best apple, in my case, the Red Delicious.
The video is part of the second day of the lesson on Bloom’s Taxonomy. The first
day, I discuss how understanding Benjamin Bloom’s ideas is usually done in a college
course. I try to appeal to the 8th graders’ sense of maturity. I talk a little about the word
taxonomy and how it means language, and I mention that Bloom is the educator who
categorized the types of learning and the language to discuss it. I have the students take
notes on the Six Levels of Learning and Thinking. They write out all the components. I
think that this is important because it helps them organize and structure the information
so that they can refer back to it when needed. I also give the students an example from
another teacher of how to break the taxonomy down into everyday items like an egg. My
intent is to make this concept manageable for the 8th graders. It’s important for them to
understand Bloom’s Taxonomy in their own focus of interest and that it can be used in
their everyday lives all the time. They’ve been in school for 8 to 10 years and it’s helpful
for them to comprehend how they are learning.
I also use a child’s fairy tale like Goldilocks and the Three Bears as a way to
show the students the different types of questions that teachers in all academic areas ask
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to assess learning and thinking. The majority of the students know this fairy tale, so
again, it’s seems fair and equitable for all, but just in case someone has forgotten the
story or never heard it, I have the class, as a group, retell the story of Goldilocks and the
Three Bears. Then I ask questions, like ‘How many bears are in the story?’ [Knowledge
level]; ‘Why is the little girl called Goldilocks?’ [Comprehension level]; ‘Why do we tell
the story?’ [Application level]; ‘What happened first, second and third?’ [Analysis level];
‘What if the bears were wolves? How would it change the story?’ [Synthesis level]; and
finally, ‘How can we use this story to teach children about ‘stranger-danger’?”
[Evaluation level]. Here, I am trying to relate to all the students on a level that all can
understand. Most kids know the fairy tales. Sometimes, different ethnic groups may not
have heard the story and the retelling as a group helps these students. I let all students
contribute, each student contributing by picking up the retelling from the point that the
previous student finished.
It’s on the second day that I bring in all the different types of apples and begin my
discussion on understanding that the objects are all apples. This is how the discussion is
fair, equitable and accessible for all students. Everyone can actively engage in the
discussion and the questions are open-ended enough that students can think about how
they think. They can look at a simple object like an apple and analyze for themselves how
they know that the fruit is an apple and not an orange. They get excited about this,
because it seems like a relatively simple object, but they have to example how they know
what they know. They become invested in the discussion. Most students want to share
their perceptions. Most have an opinion at how they derived their conclusion about the
fruit being an apple. They challenge each other in the discussion and add to and embellish
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each others’ responses. There’s even the element of competition in terms of
identification. They want to show that they can tell if the apple is a Delicious Red of a
Granny Smith green.
After the discussion I have them think of something in their own lives that they
can use to represent the Six Levels of Learning in Bloom’s Taxonomy. I encourage them
to use something that is meaningful in their own lives, i.e. cell phones, cosmetics, clothes,
sports, hobbies, food, and seasonal concepts like pumpkins. Everyone can relate to this.
Every student is able to come up with one object to use to symbolize the levels of
learning. My assignment/assessment is for them to create a chart of the Six Levels of
Learning on a 12 x 20 inch sheet of colored construction paper using something in their
lives that they understand well. The paper is folded and divided into six sections. We start
with a regular piece of notebook paper to create the rough copy and plan what they will
put on the final chart. I model folding the notebook paper as it’s a little different to fold
for six equal sections. After they’ve fold the paper, we label the sections together as a
class. I have a couple large charts in the front of class as models so all can see.
Then I have them start to put their chosen object in the first box representing the
first level of Bloom’s Taxonomy: Knowledge. What do they know? Then on to
Comprehension in the next box, Application the third, Analysis the fourth, Synthesis
the fifth box, and finally Evaluation in the sixth box. The top of the box has the level
name and at the bottom of the box there are the ‘user friendly’ words. For Knowledge
they use, ‘I know … - for Comprehension they use, ‘I Understand… - for Application
they use, ‘I Can Use… - for Analysis they write, ‘I Can Name the Parts… - for
Synthesis they use, ‘I Can Change… - and for Evaluation they write, ‘I Can Judge…’
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something. In all the boxes they use their initial object or symbol as a basis to show how
they understand the Six Levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy.
After the students have chosen their own symbol, I let them get into pairs or triads
to discuss with others how they will depict the Six Levels of Learning. I walk around and
monitor the conversations by asking leading questions that help the students better
understand Bloom’s Taxonomy and how they think. The discussions are rich and I can
actually see ‘the light bulb’ go on as they try to explain how they understand the symbol
they’ve chosen. This can be something like dance, or football, or a cell phone or an ice
cream cone. They have to be able to explain how they know this symbol. Some have
already grasped the concepts with the lecture and taking notes, but most need to put the
concepts into their own terms in their own world view to have it make sense. It seems
that all ability levels are able to understand this lesson because they choose something
they know or like. It’s fun to watch.
This lesson reflects the integration of all the English Language Arts strands.
Students read about Bloom’s Taxonomy, they write the notes about the components of
the Taxonomy; they listen to me and to each other in the class discussion on apples. They
speak and share their insights and understanding of how they know what they know, and
finally, they view the charts everyone has created to represent his/her understanding of
Bloom’s Taxonomy.
Reflection
I felt like I achieved the lesson’s goals in getting the students to interact with me and their
classmates about apples and the correlation to thinking and thinking about how they
think. The true achievement is seen in the students’ charts and 100% turn-in with this
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assignment. I have 140 students on my team. All students are able to complete this
assignment and to demonstrate that they are able to understand Bloom’s six levels of
thinking and learning.
A successful moment in the video seems to me is the fact that many students get
to respond and want to respond to the discussion on apples. They sound enthusiastic or at
least energized. They seem to be thinking and building off each others’ responses and
insights.
If I were to do things differently next time, I’d give the student that wants to
speak the apple and require the others to listen more closely. That hasn’t always worked
for me in the past and sometimes stifles the enthusiasm for discussion or makes it more
‘canned’. A more important observation on my part, for the future, I will try to follow up
with more praise or positive affirmation of the responses given. The more I teach, and the
more I’ve observed myself, especially with these videos, I want to give more positive
feedback to the students when possible. People of all ages need this to flourish and 8th
graders even more so. I felt badly when Rene, in the green t-shirt, asked to do two sides
and I said that I’d be happy with one. He’s a terribly bright student but is failing this
Challenge English class. I think I spoke out of my frustration with him. I still have not
been successful after three quarters. I’ve talked with his mother several times on the
phone and we had a conference as well. We’ve tried detentions but they only help for that
day. My latest insight to his mother, who is busy working on her nursing degree, is that
Rene needs some attention. She seemed surprised but thought it might be true. She’s
going to sit with him, going over his assignment book even if he hasn’t filled out and
asking him to fill it out while they are together. He’ll need to explain what he did in each
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of his classes during the day. I don’t know if it will work, but it’s baffling that he won’t
do the work to succeed like his classmates. This rarely happens in my Challenge class.
The greatest influence on the lesson on Bloom’s Taxonomy is that I am able to
refer to the six levels throughout the year and identify how I’m using them or how they
might be used in another academic area. It allows the student to understand what and how
they are thinking. For example, if when the history teacher in our team assigns a project
on Colonialism that requires the students to look at several pictures and identify authentic
features they will understand the higher level thinking and interpretation required.
Another case is the science teacher who requires the students to do research on the
constellations so that they can create a brochure. I point out that research is inductive
thinking and a skill they will use continuously in school and outside it. When the reading
teacher requires them to take two-column notes with one side the facts and the opposite
column requiring questions, observations, or insights, I explain that this is lower level
learning on the left and higher level thinking on the right.
The is true for when I assign short or full essay questions after reading a story or
novel. I explain how these are worth more points because of the higher level thinking
whereas the matching and multiple choice questions are lower level thinking. For
example, the students will read a short story from their textbook like, The Monkey’s Paw
by W.W.Jacobs. After reading and discussing the story, I might give them a worksheet
that has identification and matching with the vocabulary words from the story. The next
five questions are usually multiple choice questions about comprehending the story. I tell
the students that I only award a point for each question since they are the lower level
questions from Bloom’s Taxonomy which only require Knowledge and Comprehension
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of the story. I affirm that these are questions that form a basis so that higher level
questions can be answered. The two short-answer questions usually involve a choice of
answers which requires that the student support their choice with at least one example
from the story. This is higher level thinking in making connections and I award 5 points
each for the answers. The final question, which I award 10 points, usually involves
relating the moral of the story or part of the story to some experience in real life. This is
important for the students to be able to make a connection with what they are reading. In
the case of The Monkey’s Paw it’s usually a question asking the students whether they
believe that fate rules peoples’ lives and support it with an example from the story as well
as their own lives. I explain that do the entire worksheet of 12 questions correctly except
for the last question will only earn them a 66%=D grade, and that the crucial 13th
question, high level reasoning, will get them the higher grade.
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