Bloom's Taxonomy
and the Importance of Creativity
Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, Eli Whitney
Level 1: Remembering
In the first stage of Bloom’s taxonomy, students recite something they've been taught: quoting information from memory based on previous lectures, reading material and notes. It’s the most basic level in Bloom’s taxonomy, but represents an important foundation; a stepping stone toward deeper learning. It shows that the student is able to memorize facts and recall them, but it does not yet suggest that students actually understand the material. A student can recite "A squared plus B squared equals C squared" but not know that it's the Pythagorean theorem or what to do with it.
Level 2: Understanding
To show that students understand/ comprehend the material, they should be able to discuss it in their own words. For example, they might have to paraphrase a story or definition, explain a concept in their own words, tell a story that relates to it, or provide analogies. A student operating on this level can interpret the materials and demonstrate comprehension of the material.
Level 3: Applying
Level 1 and 2 are the basic fundamentals. Level 3 is a move up in critical thinking and understanding. Students take what they’ve learned and apply it to a scenario outside of the classroom. For example, they can use a math formula they’ve learned to calculate a family budget in the real world, or apply a legal ruling to a specific case in the news headlines. At this level, students are often found working in and contributing to collaborative group projects.
Level 4: Analyzing
At level 4, students enter the upper half of the critical thinking levels. Students draw connections between ideas, utilize critical thinking, and break down knowledge into the sum of its parts. This can include using logical deduction to figure out how a piece of equipment works, or finding fallacies in the reasoning of an argument. Students demonstrate that they fully understand the material on the whole, and as its component parts. They might be able to draw diagrams or deconstruct thought processes.
Level 5: Evaluating
Here is where the student makes an educated judgment about the value of the material they’ve just learned, applied and analyzed, to be able to tell the difference between fact and opinions or inferences. That could include finding an effective solution to a problem, or justifying a specific decision and being able to back up that justification with knowledge. Students "appraise, conclude, critique, evaluate, support and summarize."
Level 6: Creating
In the final level of Bloom’s taxonomy, the student demonstrates full knowledge by applying what they’ve learned, analyzed and evaluated, and building something, either tangible or conceptual. That could include writing a manual or report on a particular topic, designing a piece of machinery, or revising a process to improve the results. . Projects can range from detailed essays that put parts of the learning together to form a whole concept or idea, or networking with others to discuss the merits of a study.
(source: Persaud, Christine. "Blooms' Taxonomy: The Ultimate Guide." The Top Hat Blog, 13 Aug. 2018, tophat.com/blog/blooms-taxonomy-ultimate-guide/.)
First, read this article with your enrichment group and report back to me with your thoughts.
Here are all of the links in the piece. Check them out and let me know which ones you want to explore further.
Book Trailers
pdf storyboards for planning your movie
A couple of 6th grade book trailer examples
PodCasts
Audacity audio recorder and editor
Choose Your Own Adventure
Illustrated Character Analysis
Augmented Reality
I think the 9th grade Encounters students used this program for Challenge of the Mind.