Growing Your Lessons with Bloom's Taxonomy

As all teachers in Virginia know, the state-wide guaranteed curriculum for Virginia is known as the Standards Of Learning (SOL).  The standards have been revised year after year and the rigor has been turned up in all state tests.  In an effort to make testing triad aligned...Virginia has put an emphasis on HOW the standard is taught, using Bloom's Taxonomy.

Testing Triad

In the past, the disconnect has been with the level at which the standard is written, how it is taught, and how it is tested.  Teachers need a special focus on the level the standard is written, so students are prepared appropriately for the test.  It is not teaching to the test, it is teaching to the expectation of the test.

3 Teacher Options for Bloom's

As teachers are required to use the Bloom's levels throughout their plans and throughout their lessons, having a handy tabletop chart can help teachers with planning and instructing.  I created a 1-page Bloom's chart for lesson plan use.  The chart can be put in the plan book, taped to the desk, or laminated for quick reference.  Secondly, I created Bloom's Posters for display on the classroom wall. Students in the older grades can use the posters to ensure they are working and creating at an appropriate level.  Finally, I typed questions appropriate for each Bloom's level.  Many sites, including www.edupress.com, gave examples for teachers.

An Example

K.4 The student will identify, say, segment, and blend various units of speech sounds.

        b.) identify and produce words that rhyme.

It's not good enough that students can identify words and pictures that rhyme, students must be able to produce words that rhyme.  Students must be given the opportunity to produce a rhyme from a set of knowns.  We would start with the word "dog" and a die with the beginning letters f, h, j, l, n, and t.  Students would roll the die and combine the onset and rhyme to produce a rhyme.  After producing the rhyme orally, students should categorize the words as "real words" or "nonsense words."  Being able to take this skill of rhyming to the application level of Bloom's will make our students successful.

Themes

What would a classroom be without a theme?  I have made themed sets with cowboys, cupcakes, jungle, ocean, and of course, owls. I hope this makes all the lesson planning a little easier.

If you would like the 1 page FREEBIE BLOOM'S, CLICK HERE or click on the picture below.