Bloom’s Taxonomy is talked about a lot in educational circles.  However, if you believe a recent survey of visits to 23,000 U.S. classrooms, the higher-order thinking skills it’s ideally designed to promote doesn’t get much use.

And I can understand why.

It’s easy to get caught-up in the day-to-day work involved in teaching a class or multiple classes, and it’s easy to fall into the trap of doing the “usual stuff” and not “think out of the box.”

I thought it might be useful to share in a  “The Best…” list the resources that help me try to use Bloom’s Taxonomy in my classroom.

There may very well be resources out there that do a far better job of explaining the Taxonomy and how to use it. However, a lot of them are caught up in academic jargon or are just not offered in a way that I find particularly usable.

I personally try to use Bloom’s Taxonomy in two ways. One, I have a big wall chart in the front of my classroom with a summary of each level of the Taxonomy and “question starters” for each of them. Since I spend a lot of time helping my students practice reading strategies, and one of them is asking questions, they can take advantage of the accessibility of this poster. After reviewing what the whole thing means, we discuss how — by practicing asking themselves the higher-level questions while they read a text — they can gain a deeper understand of its meaning.

In addition, I try to use Bloom’s to help me formulate my own lessons. In order to do that, I just need simple, accessible, and practical reminders that I can use. That’s what you’ll primarily find on this list.

Here are my choices for The Best Resources For Helping Teachers Use Bloom’s Taxonomy In The Classroom (most, though not all, are materials prepared by different school districts):

Here’s a Bloom’s Taxonomy chart that’s organized very simply, and that I can keep on my desk or with my papers to help me remember the levels, questions, and practical activities that could go with them.

This short article has an even smaller Verb Chart that can serve as a reminder when planning lessons.

I really like this site because of its list of “potential activities and products” for each level.

A blog called ESL School ran a series of posts last year on applying Bloom’s specifically to English Language Learners. Here are individual links to each of their posts:

Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy

Memory

Understanding

Applying and Analyzing

More On Analyzing and Evaluating

Educational Origami has a wiki that is THE place to get ideas on how to relate technology to Bloom’s.

Here’s an interesting Bloom’s Activity Analysis Tool.

The New Jersey World Languages Curriculum Framework is a PDF document with a lot of interesting stuff. The most interesting item in it — by far — is a Bloom’s Taxonomy framework for language learners. It’s Figure 47. It lays-out teaching and learning strategies — specifically for language learners — for each level of the taxonomy.

Harry Tuttle has come-up with an intriguing way to evaluate student projects using Web 2.0 application.  I’d encourage you to read his post (and the comments section where he answers a question I left for him). He basically assigns each level of Bloom’s Taxonomy a number — the higher the level, the higher the number. He identifies the level the student achieved in his/her project, and then multiplies it by the number of days they worked on it.  It seems to me that this could be a useful formula.

The Differentiator is a cool online application designed to use Bloom’s Taxonomy and other similar thinking/planning “charts” to come-up with appropriate high-level student assignments (I’m sorry, I couldn’t think of any better way to describe it). Though I’m not that sure if it brings much more value than other sites on this list, it still belongs here just because it’s a cool-looking tool. Check it out and you’ll understand what I mean.

Developing Questions For Critical Thinking is an interactive site using a revised version of Bloom’s Taxonomy that was developing in the 1990′s. It seems like it has some very useful resources.

There are two very nice tutorials on Bloom’s Taxonomy on this site. They were created using FLASH.

A Three Story Intellect! is a nice lesson plan teaching Bloom’s Taxonomy. It’s a PDF file.

Here’s a nice reproducible Bloom’s Wheel.

Educational Origami has created Six Quick Sheets For Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy.

Here’s another interesting online interactive.

Here are two nice downloadable posters from Learning Today:

Blooming Orange: Bloom’s Taxonomy Helpful Verbs Poster

Bloom’s Taxonomy Poster for Elementary Teachers

I’ve just read an excellent post by George Couros titled Bloom’s Taxonomy and a Pen, which uses a pen as an analogy for explaining the different Taxonomy levels. It’s an excellent idea, and I’m kicking myself for not thinking of using an analogy before when we teach the Taxonomy in our ninth-grade English classes.

The American Psychological Association has published a very useful quasi “pie” chart on Bloom’s Taxonomy divided by activities and products. It’s one of the better one page “tip sheets” that I’ve seen related to Bloom’s. I’ve printed one out to keep in my desk.

A Taxonomy of Reflection: Critical Thinking For Students, Teachers, and Principals is a post by Peter Pappas where he tries to use Bloom’s Taxonomy as a frame to create reflective questions. It’s an interesting and useful idea.

“Bloom’s Taxonomy According to Pirates of the Caribbean” is a fun video, and in the post I describe how I plan to use it as a model for a student assignment.

Here’s a longer clip using Star Wars to demonstrate the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy.

This page has good info on Bloom’s Taxonomy, especially a nice animation you can see if you scroll down a little bit.

“Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy” is a website with a very nice collection of printables related to…Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy.

You might want to read my post, “Bloom’s Taxonomy Book Review Questions.”

The ASCD In Service blog has republished two twenty-five year old interviews with Benjamin Bloom, creator of Bloom’s Taxonomy. They’re not specifically related to the Taxonomy, but they focus on two other very interesting topics — automaticity and talent development. Even thought they’re aren’t on the Taxonomy, I still think they’re worth being on this list.

Joshua Coupal has created a very useful slideshow on the changes in Bloom’s Taxonomy and how it can be applied through digital tools. He used Prezi, and I know it looks cool and everything, but just have to say that I find Prezi distracting and disorienting. But, perhaps I’m just an old fuddy duddy.

Here’s a hyperlinked Bloom’s pyramid showing how different Web 2.0 tools can be integrated into each level. Thanks to Darren Draper for the tip.

Developing Thinking Skills Through Higher-Level Questioning is an online presentation from the Ontario Ministry of Education.

Here’s a nice new (to me, at least) Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy — slightly different from the one that most are familiar with.

A picture is worth a thousand thoughts: inquiry with Bloom’s taxonomy is the title of a very useful resource from Learn NC. It shows a photo, along with the original Bloom’s Taxonomy pyramid. By clicking on each thinking level, you are shown questions about the photo reflecting the level. It’s a very simple and visual way to teach Bloom’s Taxonomy, and can easily be replicated as a student assignment in any classroom. I like this interactive A LOT.

Kathy Schrock has developed a “digital” Bloom’s Taxonomy chart with tools from Google. Blogger Ryan Bretag has also written a post with some useful comments about it.

Bloomin’ Mathematics is a great post sharing ways to incorporate Bloom’s Taxonomy into teaching math.

Teaching with the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy from Northern Illinois University has some very nice hand-outs.

A Model of Learning Objectives based on A Taxonomy for Learning comes from Iowa State University.

Why Is It Important For Students To Learn About Bloom’s Taxonomy?

Do Students Think Learning About Bloom’s Taxonomy Is Useful?

BloomsApps is an intriguing, regularly changing collection of iPhone applications correlated to each level of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Thanks to Andrew P. Marcinek for the tip.

“Many great innovators asked better questions than everyone else…”

Near the end of the extensive Bloom’s Taxonomy lesson I describe in my book, I show some fun videos demonstrating the thinking levels through scenes from Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean. Links to those videos can be found above.

The creators of those videos have now made some follow-up ones.

The Pirates of The Caribbean video has been shortened, and the sound has been enhanced so it’s easier to hear the words:

And a sequel to the Star Wars one has been made using clips from The Empire Strikes Back:

I’ve previously posted about the Bloom’s Taxonomy of Reflection that Peter Pappas developed. I just discovered that he developed this excellent Prezi about it. I’d also strongly encourage you to read his post that explains it further, as well as one by Langwitches giving an example of how to apply it in the classroom.

Bloomin’ iPad is a collection of iPad apps that encourage higher-order thinking. It was put together by Kathy Schrock.

K-5 iPad Apps to Evaluate Creating: Part Six of Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy is a series of useful posts at Edutopia.

Here’s another Digital Bloom’s interactive.

Bloom’s Taxonomy and iPad Apps is a useful post from Langwitches.

I just learned about APPitic, which describes itself as:

…an directory of apps for education by Apple Distinguished Educators (ADEs) to help you transform teaching and learning.

It has over 1,300 categorized apps, including a ton organized by Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Android Apps Meet Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy is by Kathy Schrock.

Feedback is always welcome.

If you found this post useful, you might want to look at previous “The Best…” lists and also consider subscribing to this blog for free.

I was visiting our local newspaper and magazine shop this morning, and was scanning the racks.  It got me thinking that a useful “The Best…” list might be to create a post with several sections — the magazines/newspapers I find important to actually subscribe to for their hard copies; the ones whose websites I check on a daily basis; the sites I check once-a-week; and, finally, the ones I think are worth a monthly visit or so.

I’d love to hear what you read, too.  Please share them in the comments section, and also mention in which of the four categories they’d fall.

I read these sources to keep-up on the general news so I’m a knowledgeable citizen, to find resources that are useful for classroom teaching, to help me in my limited work on educational policy issues, and to provide “grist” for my writing and thinking.

I haven’t included resources I listed in The Best Ways To Keep-Up With Current Education Issues, so you might also want to check-out that post, too.

Here are my picks for The Best Magazine/Newspaper Websites For Useful News & Intellectual Stimulation:

SUBSCRIBE FOR THEIR HARD COPIES:

All these newspapers/magazines have online editions, too, which I use for sharing useful information.  However, they don’t necessarily make all of their print content available online immediately.  Also, I enjoy reading them and like their “feel” while I’m relaxing.

Local daily newspapers — The Sacramento Bee and The San Francisco Chronicle

I’ve subscribed to Newsweek Magazine for years. It’s always been good for some limited analysis. However, just this week they’ve completely redesigned both its look and content, and I really like it. It appears they are going to provide much more in-depth articles.

The New Yorker generally one lengthy article in each weekly issue that I find fascinating. And I love the cartoons — at least the ones I understand.

Rethinking Schools (which is also on The Best Teacher Resource Sites For Social Justice Issues) is, I think,  must-reading for teachers.

I’ve subscribed to The New York Times Sunday Book Review for nearly thirty years. Not only do I hear about books that I might be interested in, I also can learn a lot from the reviews themselves and sound well-read without necessarily having to read

CHECK THEIR WEBSITES DAILY:

I visit both The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal each day. At various times in my life I’ve also subscribed to their hard copies, but now I feel I can get by with a quick online perusal.

CHECK THEIR WEBSITES ONCE-A-WEEK:

TIME Magazine is good, but I don’t think their content is up to Newsweek’s quality.

CHECK THEIR WEBSITES ONCE-A-MONTH:

Fast Company

The American Prospect

The Atlantic Monthly

Harper’s Magazine

I often disagree with Education Next, but it’s still worth a periodic visit.

Utne Reader

Wired

Good

Mother Jones

U.S. News & World Report

As I mentioned earlier, I’d love to hear what you read, too.  Please share them in the comments section, and also mention in which of the four categories they’d fall.

If you found this post useful, you might want to look at previous “The Best…” lists and also consider subscribing to this blog for free.