Unschool S/O: Bloom's....

[Another Lynn]

Anyone want to talk more about Bloom's Taxonomy?

 

Is it something you consider when you choose curriculum or plan your year?

 

 

Are there programs you use/like for reaching towards higher level thinking? (I did find this link in a search: http://quarksandquirks.wordpress.com/2011/08/02/how-does-your-homeschool-bloom/ Scroll to the bottom to see some programs listed.)

 

 

Is there an easy way to push your child "up the ladder" without climbing ahead yourself (time constraints!)?

 

OR do you have resources that have helped you climb the ladder ahead of them without consuming huge amounts of time?

 

 

Anything else you want to add on this topic?

 

Thanks! :001_smile:

[Colleen in NS]

If one does a search for "taxonomy" under 8FilltheHeart's posts, many interesting threads will come up that might spark discussion here, too.

 

ETA: Here is a start: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/search.php?searchid=13386962

 

ETA again: The link doesn't work - I don't know why. Anyway, if you just search the term under her posts, 21 posts come up.

Edited October 26, 2012 by Colleen in NS
clarified what I meant

[Corraleno]

I really liked this quote, from the Quarks & Quirks blog you linked:

Of course to apply, analyze, evaluate, and create, plenty of understanding and knowing must exist. But if a seven-year old (or far younger) can invent and create, surely these needn’t be done in order. Newer science curriculum, which is often inquiry based (Quite simply, see a demonstration or model, ask questions, make inferences, then get all the vocabulary) starts higher up the pyramid, even backwards, some may say, yet the understanding that can come from inquiry based learning is impressive.

 

I think Bloom's Taxonomy is useful as a reminder that memorization and summarizing/rewriting/restating are only preliminary steps towards a much higher goal, and not the goal itself. I agree with the blogger that far too many curricula, for both homeschools and public schools, never get beyond the first couple of levels. Or, if they attempt to incorporate analysis or creation, they totally miss the point — e.g. regurgitating memorized information in a poster or lapbook is not what Bloom meant by "creating." The whole NCLB movement has resulted in an educational system that tends to keep all kids, at all ages, at the bottom levels, because those are the ones that are easiest to assess with multiple choice tests. I also think that it causes problems when people link the "levels" of Bloom's to ages or stages of development, so kids in the younger grades are never pushed or led to the higher order thinking skills because teachers assume they aren't "developmentally ready" yet.

 

As long as parents recognize Bloom's taxonomy for what it is — a reminder of what the real goals of learning are, and not a written-in-stone list of stages — I think it can be really useful. It can also perhaps help parents recognize when a curriculum is a mismatch for a child — a child who is always asking deep analytical questions, applying knowledge and creating new things, but who's stuck with a curriculum that focuses on rote memorization and rewriting, is not going to be a happy or willing learner. Instead of being anxious that the child is not "doing it right," perhaps Bloom's can help those parents see that their child is already beyond that level, not "behind" it.

 

As I mentioned in the other thread, my DS tends to start towards the "top" of the pyramid, with analysis and creation, and only at the end, when he's processed the information his way, does he remember it. Other kids may jump in at different points, and move up and down, back and forth, or whatever. I've also seen Bloom's drawn as a wheel or "flower," and in many ways I think that's more accurate in terms of how kids actually learn, but OTOH it doesn't convey the distinction between lower and higher order thinking skills, so it's harder to see what the goals are.

 

Jackie

Edited October 24, 2012 by Corraleno

[elegantlion]

I can't find the link I want, but ds and I used Bloom's to discuss study skills and expectations this year. Last year I asked about oral exams and we've been doing some of those this year. I don't have time to get into the specifics right now, but because he's at the high school level I wanted to have some grading criteria. It was hard this summer because everything I wanted to use focused on the two lower rungs of Bloom's.

 

So, Bloom's has been helpful in figuring out assignments and grades for the high school level. I've barely touched the surface of it really. I do need to pull out my notes again.

[Chris in VA]

I use it in questioning/discussion, mostly. It really helps me to go beyond the regurgitation. I do think that you will get better analysing and creativity if they understand the basic "bottom" of the "ladder."

[TippyCanoe]

nm

[shukriyya]

These are helpful to use in almost any subject but particularly lit. You can take any novel and use these as a jumping off point for a great in depth study and one that sparks wonderful offshoot discussions. I tend to feel constrained by most of the lit study I've seen and these give a feeling of expansion and possibility because the ways they can be used are endless.

 

I'm enjoying this thought provoking thread :)

[Chrysalis Academy]

These are helpful to use in almost any subject but particularly lit. You can take any novel and use these as a jumping off point for a great in depth study and one that sparks wonderful offshoot discussions. I tend to feel constrained by most of the lit study I've seen and these give a feeling of expansion and possibility because the ways they can be used are endless.

 

I'm enjoying this thought provoking thread :)

 

I agree, I have found most literature programs I have seen to be, well, uninspiring. Yet I'm not well practiced yet at coming up with this type of question for myself, so I really appreciate the coaching I get from books or curriculum that model how to do this. I hope eventually it will become more natural/automatic for me to do, but until then, some of the things I'm finding useful are MCT's Lit books (I have the Search trilogy); also Suppose the Wolf Were an Octopus (I have 7), which is explicitly modeled on Bloom's Taxonomy. I also really like Carol Jago's book With Rigor For All. She has a chapter on "Testing That Teaches" in which she looks at a number of "unconventional summative assessments" including creating a poem (modeled on an actual poem) about a character or situation in a novel. It had some really creative ideas for assessment & essay question creation, as well as some great ideas for pairing classic lit with modern YA lit, or with movies, pieces of art, poems, etc. to get students to explore and express creatively and to make connections.

 

I have a question, though - do you see inquiry-based science as meeting the same goals as Bloom's taxonomy? I'm not sure that I see the connection explicitly between something like CPO or BFSU, which certainly lends itself to this type of questioning, and Bloom's chart. I mean, they aren't synonymous, are they? You can't pick an "inquiry-based" curriculum and be sure you are getting at all of the higher levels of the pyramid, I don't think. At least not automatically. At least I'm having a hard time seeing how . . . :glare:

[TippyCanoe]

nm

[Sarah CB]

Anyone want to talk more about Bloom's Taxonomy?

 

Is it something you consider when you choose curriculum or plan your year?

 

 

Are there programs you use/like for reaching towards higher level thinking? (I did find this link in a search: http://quarksandquirks.wordpress.com/2011/08/02/how-does-your-homeschool-bloom/ Scroll to the bottom to see some programs listed.)

 

 

Is there an easy way to push your child "up the ladder" without climbing ahead yourself (time constraints!)?

 

OR do you have resources that have helped you climb the ladder ahead of them without consuming huge amounts of time?

 

 

Anything else you want to add on this topic?

 

Thanks! :001_smile:

 

It's definitely one of the things I've appreciated about TOG. Students are moved towards higher level thinking. I love the built in Socratic dialogue that allows us to really get to a high level in the dialectic and rhetoric (especially the rhetoric) stages.

[shukriyya]

Thanks for that link, Doodler. It looks like a good resource. I particularly liked the mythology portion.

 

I have a question, though - do you see inquiry-based science as meeting the same goals as Bloom's taxonomy? I'm not sure that I see the connection explicitly between something like CPO or BFSU, which certainly lends itself to this type of questioning, and Bloom's chart. I mean, they aren't synonymous, are they? You can't pick an "inquiry-based" curriculum and be sure you are getting at all of the higher levels of the pyramid, I don't think. At least not automatically. At least I'm having a hard time seeing how . . . :glare:

 

I've been thinking about Rose's question and as I hiked and puffed and huffed up various hills and the mind free-ranged in the way it does when the body is occupied I thought that perhaps rather than synonymous I would say synchronous, inquiry-based science and Bloom's could be synchronous but only under certain conditions. The conditions aren't necessarily external but rather have to do with the educator's willingness to allow that the elements of Blooms likely happen outside of the formal teaching setting, perhaps when playing tag or riding a bike, getting ready for bed and even while one sleeps. And to further this outside the time frame we might choose, perhaps a year later or more. The mind draws inferences and breathes into knowledge in ways that aren't always quantifiable.

 

If one is willing to travel down this path then yes, they're synchronous.

 

I must admit that I do shy away from terms like higher level thinking which perhaps could better described as wider-level thinking, like a pebble tossed into a pond. Or a spiral, what could be more intelligent than those elegant strands of deoxyribonucleic acid? Perhaps our very DNA are a map themselves of how the mind works not from a position of depth and height but rather in helixes, always in motion and seemingly without end, interdependent and expansive.

[TippyCanoe]

nm

[Connections]

I came here searching for discussions on Bloom's only to find a recent thread- how exciting!

 

For anyone who uses Bloom's as a model for designing questions for your student to answer, I am struggling with the amount of output to require. Frankly, regurgitate questions are easy and fast to answer while those questions that are based on higher levels of Bloom's require more processing time and more time to answer. I want to structure things to allow for that processing time but I haven't figured out how to do that. Any suggestions? (DS is 11, BTW)

 

I could START by giving my DS the questions that I generate based on Bloom's and then let my DS read the materials. However, I do not want him to read the materials ONLY to answer the questions I devise. I want the questions to stretch him once he has already done his own independent thinking on the subject.

 

I am thinking of asking more challenging questions for one subject each week and cycling through so that I am not expecting too much.

 

As for the questions themselves, how do you make sure that you are challenging them but not expecting too much? (Right now it is trial and error here but I would love to have a better guide than that!)

[shukriyya]

So is Bloom's taxonomy a hierarchy based on left-brained assumptions and modes of thought, one of which is a tendency toward hierarchical structures and linear models?

 

I think perhaps you're on to something here. And it has wonderful intimations of the subtle relationship between thought and mind. Conversely one could consider the taxonomy itself to have a kind of elasticity such that during each stage all other stages are happening synchronously, in fact must be happening synchronously for there to be a genuine exchange.

 

And as I speculate further I realize that I am not confining the taxonomy to a formal educational model but rather to the general way in which learning might be unfolding for all of us.

[Another Lynn]

Thanks everyone for your contributions.... I haven't posted back because I don't have anything helpful to add, but I'm enjoying the discussion.

 

Colleen - thanks for referencing 8's posts - I'll have to re-read her with a new "eye."

 

EL - I'm interested in hearing more when you have time!

[Colleen in NS]

Colleen - thanks for referencing 8's posts - I'll have to re-read her with a new "eye."

 

You're welcome.

 

I just clicked the link I added, but it doesn't work and I don't know why. Anyway, just search for "taxonomy" under posts by "8FilltheHeart", and 21 posts should come up.

[elegantlion]

 

EL - I'm interested in hearing more when you have time!

 

I've only scratched the surface on using Bloom's, here's what I've done so far:

 

I used this site to print information on Bloom's. If you click under each level, you'll find information for the student and the teacher. What skills are involved, questions to ask, possible projects, and key words to consider.

 

At the beginning of the year I went through this information with ds as part of a study skills session. We also read part of "How to Read a Book", the first section.

 

Because we're doing grades this year, I used Bloom's to look at how to do oral exams. Last year I asked about oral exams here and got some great responses. You could use the information from the above site to help prepare for those. Even if you're not grading you could use them for guided discussions.

 

One assignment ds did this year was for his Theory of Knowledge class. I really like this book, it doesn't have end of chapter review the facts questions. For the chapter on language ds submitted a copy of his alphabet he's been working on. I watched him work and saw a lot of the thinking he had to do in order to create this alphabet. I also use an oral exam rubric found here. The one I used is example 1 under oral presentations, tweaking it for our needs. It gave me way to quantify his answers into some sort of grade. We haven't done grades for a few years and it was helpful to me to make sure I was assessing his talking skills objectively.

 

That's probably the hardest part for me, assessing what is actually learning and what is just me feeling like my son is a pretty cool guy who talks well. My comfort level is fill in the blank tests and multiple choice, those are easy, kwim.

 

Directed discussions have been part of our schooling for several years. We used Philosophy for Kids as conversation starters. He got comfortable talking about an idea, vs just talking (which he's really good at that :lol:).

 

Another issue with Bloom's might be the level of independence your child has. This is all my opinion, but I feel like the logic stage is a great time to not only build those independent study skills, it's a great time to stretch those conversational skills, academic wise. I try to keep the Einstein quote in mind, the one about in order to understand something you might be able to explain it in simple terms. So, I've challenged ds that he has to be able to explain(summarize) what he's learned. We didn't start classical ed until 5th grade and narrations were always something he struggled with.

 

Another pitfall with Bloom's may be that you as the teacher have to have some familiarity with the subject, although that might vary. We watched a bunch of Horrible Histories on Ancient Greeks this week. :lol: Hilarious, very top rung for Bloom's. However, they're also accurate, simplified for their audience, and just darn funny (wife swap Sparta vs. Athens is my favorite). If your dc want to produce a similar endeavor for their history, you'd need to make sure the facts are accurate to properly assess their analysis and not just the creativeness.

 

Now, I've wandered into rambling. Hopefully some of this will make sense. :tongue_smilie:

[Another Lynn]

Paula,

Thanks so much for your response and the links. The first one is SO helpful to this lowly, linear-thinking, memorize-it-and-pass-the-test former student. Our weekend is jam-packed, so it will be awhile before I finish reading the site and the thread and the other links, but I feel like I have a hand stretched towards me waiting to pull me up.

 

Thanks!!

Lynn

 

P.S. I loved the Athens vs. Sparta wife swap too.... so funny.