Using Bloom’s Taxonomy (1956) is one way in which teachers can develop deeper thinking skills in students. Bloom’s six cognitive skills start with easier thinking skills and move to more difficult, “higher order” thinking skills.
| Bloom’s Level | objective |
| knowing | remembering facts |
| understanding | showing understanding of facts |
| applying | apply knowledge to new situations |
| analyzing | examining information for component parts |
| synthesizing* | creating something new from diverse elements |
| evaluating | making judgments based on evidence or criteria |
*Synthesizing is now called “creating,” and it has become the sixth, not fifth, level.
About 40 years after Bloom’s Taxonomy became known, a refinement of Bloom’s taxonomy called Webb’s Depth of Knowledge was developed (1997). It has four levels.
| DOK Level | title of Level |
| 1 | recall and reproduction |
| 2 | skills and concepts |
| 3 | short-term strategic thinking |
| 4 | extended thinking |
For teachers wanting to demand deeper thinking of their students, both Bloom’s Taxonomy and Webb’s DOK Levels can be used to design lesson plans. Below are some writing assignments based on Webb’s Levels.
Literature
Level 1 Identify a list of important characters from the first Harry Potter novel. Explain their relationship to Harry.
Level 2 Compare Harry’s, Ron’s and Hermione’s personalities.
Level 3 Explain how the opening scene in the first Harry Potter book lures readers into that book.
Level 4 Show how the authors of the first Harry Potter book and the first Percy Jackson book used a similar plot sequence to begin those books.
Social Studies
Level 1 Match famous quotes with 20th century American leaders.
Level 2 Create a set of ten cards with a quote by a famous 20th century leader on one side and the leader’s name on the other side.
Level 3 Using the set of cards created for Level 2, create a set of three clues for each quote, one easy, one difficult and one in between.
Level 4 Describe how specific references such as Stone Mountain and MLK, Jr.’s little children can be understood as metaphors for other concepts in MLK, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
Math
Level 1 Define given vocabulary words relating to circles (radius, diameter, circumference, ray, arc, pi, center point).
Level 2 Explain why pi is approximately and not exactly 3.14.
Level 3 Describe three real life situations in which understanding pi can be useful to solve problems.
Level 4 Write an essay on the history of pi, citing sources.
Science
Level 1 Define a fossil.
Level 2 Identify the sequence of events in the forming of a fossil.
Level 3 Explain why a fossil from an earlier time is found in a lower layer of rock than a fossil from a later time.
Level 4 From the school library take three books about fossils appropriate for a certain grade level. Critique each book, explaining its strengths and weaknesses for that grade level.
English Writing Teacher 