Bloom's Taxonomy

Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning Domains was first published in 1956, produced by a committee of academics chaired by Dr. Benjamin Bloom. Even though the name sounds a little intimidating, it can be broken down into two basic ideas: a taxonomy is simply a "set of classification principles," (i.e., structure), and domain means "category." The goal was to produce a set of categories of learning behavior to assist in the design and assessment of academic learning. The taxonomy consists of three domains or categories: Cognitive (mental or intellectual skills), Affective (emotional areas or attitudes), and Psychomotor (manual or physical skills). We will focus on the cognitive domain.

One of the primary goals in using Bloom's Taxonomy is to develop lessons and write objectives that engage the learner at the higher level thinking skills (analysis, synthesis, evaluation).

Activities

Bloom's Trading Cards

1. Divide into groups of four
2. Each group will get 18 cards with learning activity statements on them
3. Sort the deck of cards into 6 stacks, one for each Bloom's level; there should be three in each category.
4. Check your work with the answer key.

Bloom's Thinking Skills Activity

1. Download the Response Sheet and open into Word. Using the Three Little Pigs story, write out an inquiry question similar to the examples given in class (refer to the Goldilocks example), and then formulate a Bloom's Taxonomy objective for each level, that when followed, would answer the question.
2. After the discussion, be sure the names of your group are on the form, and turn in.

See the Resources page for additional information relating to today's topics.

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on DiscoverySchool.com

A comprehensive listing of performance objective verbs

Skills demonstrated at each level

Instructional activities/tasks for each level

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