Eclectic Technology

This version of Bloom's Taxonomy has been extended with a sharing component for Bloom's Digital Taxonomy and is listed in the higher order thinking skills. The functional level of sharing is publicly sharing, publishing and broadcasting.

Along with this printable version of Bloom's Taxonomy you will also find links to five resources. Four of these look at Bloom's (in a variety of ways) and one is a research paper that looks at sustainable innovation in teacher practice.

This pdf file is fairly large and looks at the original version of Bloom's Taxonomy but it is an in-depth look that moves from the lower ordering thinking skills to the higher order thinking skills and includes a definition for each level as well as:

* Key Words - an extensive list for each level

* Actions and Outcomes for each level

* Questions specific to each level

To access the full pdf: 

http://educatingmatters.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/blooms_taxonomy_teacher_planning_kit1.pdf 

Check out this infographic which focuses on scaffolding for deeper understanding. Mia MacMeekin has provided a nine step process.

1. Ask a question.

2. Present a mystery for students to solve.

3. Ask students to draw what they know.

4. Give students ample time to research the mystery.

5. Ask students to draw the mystery and the solution again.

6. Ask students to share their drawings with other students.

7. Ask students to pull their ideas together in one drawing.

8. Teacher patiently asks what if questions.

9. If students needs more information, send them back to step #4, and start over again until the outcome or objective is reached.

MacMeekin notes that her students were engaged in the drawing/scaffolding phase of this and reached a deeper understanding than other classes had. It is also important to note that the ant is actually an analogy. To learn more click through to the post.

Learning to ask good questions is a topic that is often discussed today..but how do we teach students to ask questions, questions that will help them use their higher order thinking skills. This post provides questions you may use with your students to help challenge their thinking. It is split into categories, but many of the questions could be across curriculum areas. The categories listed are:

* Logical questions that focus on mathematics and are split into two categories: collaborative questions for the class and self-reliance questions for individual students.

* Reasoning questions

* Analysis questions

* Connections questions

* Literary questions

* Science and social studies questions.

Below are three of the fifty questions. Click through to the post to find which may work with your students.

* An analysis question - What patterns might lead you to an alternative answer?
* A science and social studies question - What are some of the complexities we should consider?

* A reasoning question  - Why do you think this works? Does it always, why?

What types of assessments are best to use, that allow students to demonstrate what they know? Five suggestions are provided (and more depth may be found in the post).

* Option 1: Open-Book & Take-Home Tests - but this is not the type of open book test you might think of at first. You want your students to "synthesize disparate facts and perspectives to construct new knowledge."

* Option 2: Student-Made Tests -  have students submit questions and rewrite/rephrase to have students show higher order thinking skills. This suggestion also includes a section on How My Students Create And Study For Their Own Exams.

* Option 3: The Complexity & Diversity Of Project-Based Learning -Think about projects that will let students show mastery of new knowledge.

* Option 4: Written Response–Or Rather, The Pre-Writing -This may seem like an odd choice but read the description in the post to understand the reasoning.

* Option 5: Ask A Question - Not just any question but one that will require students to think beyond the book. This section moves you from a question that is topic based to one that will show understanding.