7 Ways to Use Bloom’s Taxonomy in Class
Easy ways to improve your students' critical thinking skills.
Bloom's taxonomy is a learning framework used by millions of educators worldwide.
It was created to simplify the learning process into six levels and gives educators a way to plan lessons, discuss learning outcomes and make curricula. Using it effectively will improve your students' critical thinking. This article looks at seven ways we can use it in our classrooms.
The levels of Bloom's Taxonomy
We need to know the levels before we can use them.
The latest version of the levels was created in 2001, and the levels are the same as the image at the top of the newsletter. They’re often shown as a pyramid, but one skill isn’t ‘better’ than the others - they’re all essential to learning.
Starting from the first level, they are:
1. Remember
2. Understand
3. Apply
4. Analyze
5. Evaluate
6. Create
Levels 1-3 are called lower order thinking skills (or LOTS), and levels 4-6 are called higher order thinking skills (or HOTS), based on the degree of thinking effort they require.
There are also three 'domains' that divide each level into skills, but we won't discuss these today (look out for them in a later issue!).
To make teaching easier, each level has a list of verbs that can be used when planning or giving instructions. You'll often see these verbs used in coursebooks or exams.
Level objectives and examples
Level 1: Remember
Objective: to remember facts and simple concepts.
Verbs: define, duplicate, list, memorise, repeat, state.
Example learning aim: Learners will be better able to list five new food vocabulary items.
Level 2: Understand
Objective: to explain ideas or concepts.
Verbs: classify, describe, discuss, explain, identify, locate, recognise, report, select, translate.
Example learning aim: Learners will be better able to list five new food vocabulary items.
Level 3: Apply
Objective: use information in new situations.
Verbs: execute, implement, solve, use, demonstrate, interpret, operate, schedule, sketch.
Example learning aim: Learners will be better able to use the present simple to discuss things they can and can’t do.
Level 4: Analyze
Objective: make connections between ideas.
Verbs: differentiate, organise, relate, compare, contrast, distinguish, examine, experiment, question, test.
Example learning aim: Learners will be better able to evaluate which grammar structure is best to express an emotional opinion.
Level 5: Evaluate
Objective: Justify your opinion or decision.
Verbs: Appraise, argue, critique, defend, judge, select, support, value, weigh.
Example learning aim: Learners will be better able to defend their opinions and choices with modal verbs.
Level 6: Create
Objective: create new or original work.
Verbs: assemble, author, construct, design, formulate, investigate.
Example learning aim: Learners will be better able to create a dialogue about a disagreement they had with a family member.
7 strategies for your lessons
Now that we know the levels and have seen some examples, let’s examine how we can use Bloom’s taxonomy.
These are general principles - there will always be the occasional reason you might choose not to follow them. Use your best judgement! They’ve helped me plan and improve my lessons immensely.
1. Use it to plan your lessons (or a series of lessons).
Plan your lessons so that your students either improve their current level, or can move to a higher level by the end of the lesson.
For simple topics (e.g. vocabulary learning), you might be able to move up several levels in one lesson - from remembering to understanding and then applying the new vocabulary.
Consider using one lesson stage for each level for these types of lessons. Or combine levels 1 and 2 into one stage, 3 and 4 into the next stage, and levels 5 and 6 into a final lesson stage.
You might need to slowly move students up the levels for more complex topics over a series of lessons. This is the thinking that your coursebook will typically use, but it can be a valuable exercise for you to do as well.
2. Set students’ expectations
Making students aware of your aims for them can help them to achieve those aims.
It can be the same when you include Bloom’s taxonomy. Showing students Bloom’s levels of learning and discussing what happens at each level can motivate the students to move up to the higher levels.
Once you’ve introduced the model to the class, setting expectations can be done very quickly, with comments like, “OK, this task is at level 2 - understand. Let’s finish so we can get to the more exciting level 3 - apply - in ten minutes!”.
You can use it to give positive reinforcement when they move to the next level or exceed the level needed for the current task.
3. Give more explicit instructions
A simple benefit, but by using the verbs for specific levels (above), you can make instructions clearer for students. If you combine this with being explicit about using Bloom’s in class (point 2, above), then students will grow to know and understand
The added benefit is that these verbs and instructional language may be used in examinations and tests. Your students will have the advantage of knowing these already.
4. Start at ‘remember’ for new topics.
If you’re unsure if all your learners have encountered a new topic, start at the beginning, at level 1.
This makes sense - you wouldn't ask students to use a grammar structure or new vocabulary if they hadn't understood or didn’t even know what it meant.
5. Start at a lower level when revisiting a topic.
When revisiting a topic, lexical set, or grammatical structure (or when you are unsure how much students remember), start at a lower level than previously.
For example, if your students could apply knowledge to a topic (level three) a few weeks ago, lead into the topic at the level of understanding (level two). This will act as a review for the weaker learners and a warm-up for the stronger learners, leading to more confident language production.
You don’t have to spend a long time on the previous level before moving on, depending on how well your students remember and can regain their skills. A good tip is to run a review activity at the beginning of the class to elicit what they can remember and see if they struggle with any aspects.
6. Differentiate levels and tasks for mixed-ability students.
You can set the same topic at different Bloom’s levels (e.g. some students might be working on understanding while others are applying).
Or you might decide that students have different topics at the same level of Bloom’s.
This is a more complex structure, so please see my article on differentiation for more detail.
7. Use it for formative and summative assessment
Formative assessment means evaluating your students’ learning as it happens and using the data to improve your teaching.
Using Bloom’s levels gives you an easy way to monitor your students’ progress, mainly if you have used the levels to help plan your lessons (point 1 above). As your students complete the activities and tasks, ask yourself if they meet the requirements of the level they’re working towards.
If they do, then it’s time to move up a level.
If not, you may need to spend more time on the same level.
If some do but not others, then you may need to differentiate.
When teaching a topic, check on your students' progress by mentally noting which level they're at.
Summative assessment means evaluating your students at the end of a unit or period of study.
If you’re designing your students end of unit tests, ensure they’re familiar with the verbs used for each level (above) and the criteria used for the test.
Bloom's Taxonomy Final Thoughts
Many of the learning levels can happen simultaneously rather than in sequence. Students might have a new idea while analysing (popping into level six from level 5). Many of these thinking skills can happen simultaneously.
The pyramid shape also causes people to think that some levels are more critical than others - this is not the case. These levels of learning rely on and support each other.
Finally, the learning order doesn't necessarily happen in the same order as shown. For example, we may not remember something until we understand it. Or we may not be able to understand something until we start trying to apply it to a task.
As long as you're aware that these levels are more of a rule of thumb rather than strict laws, you'll be good to use them.
Good luck using this in your lessons! See you in two weeks.
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