As a framework to support teaching and learning, Bloom‟s taxonomy is the most widely

used and enduring tool through which to think about students‟ learning. Originally
created by the American educational psychologist, Benjamin Bloom in 1956, Bloom‟s
taxonomy provides a hierarchical ordering of cognitive skills and is used worldwide to
help inform successful teaching practice.

The creation of Bloom‟s taxonomy after the Second World War reflects the increasing
importance of formal education to industrialised society. In a world in which formal
education began to play a greater role than ever before, Bloom‟s taxonomy quickly
became popular as a way to formalise teaching and learning practices, help write exams
and develop curricula.

The fact that Bloom‟s taxonomy can be applied to any (cognitive) content intended for
students to learn, is what makes this framework so powerful. It can be seen, to a greater
or lesser extent, in all mark schemes and assessment objectives provided by all
examining bodies in almost any curriculum subject. For teachers, Bloom‟s taxonomy is a
practical tool to use, providing a framework in which to plan challenging lessons that
help to ensure students‟ progress is maximised – a fundamental tenet of successful
teaching. Among its many uses, Bloom‟s taxonomy provides an excellent foundation for
lessons, as it can be used as a framework in which to deliver appropriate activities,
assessment, questioning, objectives and outcomes.
It is worth taking the time therefore, to become familiar with the categories of the
taxonomy, their order and their meaning. I illustrate Bloom‟s taxonomy[1] here,
including some examples of keywords associated with each level (shown in italics).

Level 1, Remembering, is the most basic, requiring the least amount of cognitive
rigour. This is about students recalling key information, for example, the meaning of a
word.

Arrange Define Describe List Match Name Order Recall Reproduce

Level 2, Understanding, is to do with students demonstrating an understanding of the

facts remembered. At this level, the student who recalls the definition of a word, for
example, would also be able to show understanding of the word by using it in the
context of different sentences.
 Classify Discuss Explain Identify Report Summarise

Level 3, Applying, is concerned with how students can take their knowledge and
understanding, applying it to different situations. This usually involves students
answering questions or solving problems.

Apply Calculate Demonstrate Interpret Show Solve Suggest

Level 4, Analysing, is about students being able to draw connections between ideas,
thinking critically, to break down information into the sum of its parts.

Analyse Appraise Compare Contrast Distinguish Explore Infer Investigate

Level 5, Evaluating, is reached when students can make accurate assessments or

judgements about different concepts. Students can make inferences, find effective
solutions to problems and justify conclusions, while drawing on their knowledge and
understanding.

Argue Assess Critique Defend Evaluate Judge Justify

Level 6, Creating, is the ultimate aim of students‟ learning journey. At this final level of
Bloom‟s taxonomy, students demonstrate what they have learnt by creating something
new, either tangible or conceptual. This might include, for example, writing a report,
creating a computer program, or revising a process to improve its results.

Compose Construct Create Devise Generate Organise Plan Produce

As Bloom‟s taxonomy is a hierarchy of progressive processes ranging from the simple to

the complex, in which it is necessary to first master those lower down the pyramid
before being able to master those higher up, the framework promotes what Bloom
termed „mastery learning‟. In other words, by moving up the taxonomy, students
become more knowledgeable, more skilled and develop an improved understanding of
the content they are learning. Thus, by creating lesson plans and tasks, using the
examples of verbs (in italics) provided, teachers can align with the different levels of the
taxonomy.
By simply moving to the higher levels of Bloom‟s taxonomy, these verbs can serve as the
basis for learning objectives, questions or activities. They describe what we want
students to be able to do, cognitively, with the content about which the students are
learning. The higher up the pyramid of course, the more complex are the cognitive
processes involved and, as such, ask students to engage in more challenging cognitive
work connected to their lesson‟s content. As part of successful teaching practice, it can
be necessary to scale back challenge in accordance with the response it draws, moving
down the taxonomy as necessary.

A lesson could be planned about the benefits of renewable resources, the Roman
empire, building a website or one of Shakespeare‟s sonnets. In all these examples,
Bloom‟s taxonomy can be applied. An important point to consider, however, is that
there can be occasions, particularly when first introducing a topic, where it is necessary
to spend longer on the lower levels of the taxonomy. On such occasions, we do not
seek to scale multiple levels of the taxonomy in a single lesson, instead choosing to do
this over the course of a few lessons, due to the nature of the content (Gershon, 2015,
pp. 103).

For example, for a series of Computing lessons that teach students how to build a
webpage, the first lesson could explain to them about HTML, leading to a discussion
about an example of HTML script and how it translates into a webpage (Level 1 –
Remembering), before asking them to explain the purpose of different parts of the
HTML script (Level 2 – Understanding). Students would move on to applying their
knowledge and understanding of HTML, to begin building their own basic webpage,
requiring them to solve any problems in their script (Level 3 – Applying), and then
investigating additional features that could be added to their webpage (Level 4 –
Analysing). As the lessons continue, students could be challenged further to critique
their website, assessing its strengths and how it could be improved (Level 5 –
Understanding). At the pinnacle of Bloom‟s taxonomy, it would be expected for
students to create something completely new or original, producing a website that
fulfils a particular purpose (Level 6 – Creating).

Similarly, for a series of literacy lessons looking at John Yeats‟ poem, „The Lake Isle of
Innisfree‟, the following tasks could be set according to each category of Bloom‟s
taxonomy. After reading the poem together as a class, students could be asked to recite
the first stanza of this poem (Level 1 – Remembering), before being asked where Yeats
would like to be, London or the Lake Isle of Innisfree (Level 2 –
Understanding). Afterwards, students could move on by describing the structure of
Yeats‟ poem, explaining his use of rhythm and rhyme (Level 3 – Applying). In the
subsequent lesson, students might be asked to analyse the mood of this poem,
exploring how mood is created (Level 4 – Analysing). Later on, students could be asked
to pick one of the images from the poem, evaluating its effectiveness (Level 5 –
Evaluating). Finally, an appropriate activity to this finish off the topic might be to get the
students to write their own poem on a similar theme (Level 6 – Creating).

Another point to make clear is that the separate processes of the taxonomy can be
adapted according to the age-group and ability of students, enabling them to access
the different levels of taxonomy according to the overall depth of their cognition. Level
6, Creating, for example, is obviously not going to be the same for a five-year old as it
would be for a sixteen-year old. Nevertheless, the hierarchy of the different levels of the
taxonomy remains the same.

In this way, Bloom‟s taxonomy is related to Bruner‟s notion of the spiral curriculum. This
idea posits that students should return to key concepts and ideas at different points on
their learning journey, each time meeting them at a more advanced stage of
development. At whatever depth of cognition students access their lesson‟s content
then, Bloom‟s taxonomy can help teachers to ensure that students are challenged.

Activities & Questioning

Activities and questioning are the fundamental tools all teachers use daily. Both
activities and questioning require students to use different cognitive processes to
interact with lesson content. The quality of activities set and questions asked has a
direct impact on the progress that students make. By aligning these with Bloom‟s
taxonomy, cognitive demands are made on students, which can facilitate more
challenge and help ensure rapid learning.

In the tables that follow, I provide exemplar question stems and sample activities for
each level of Bloom‟s taxonomy. Having made several minor changes, I have assembled
these tables using ideas from Dalton & Smith (1986), adapting their work according to
the revised taxonomy. Although these lists are not exhaustive, they do provide an
excellent starting point for how to use Bloom‟s taxonomy in the classroom.
 Remembering
Example Questions Sample Activities
What happened after…?How
many…?
Who was it that…?
Make a list of the main events.Make
Can you name the…? a timeline of events.
Make a facts chart.
Describe what happened at…?
Write a list of any pieces of
Who spoke to…? information you can remember.

Can you tell why…? List all the …. in the

story/article/reading piece.
Find the meaning of…?
Make a chart showing…
What is…?

Which is true or false…?

Understanding
Example Questions Sample Activities
Can you write in your own words…?Can you write
a brief outline…?
What do you think could have happened next…?
Illustrate what you think the main idea was.Make a
cartoon strip showing the sequence of events.
Who do you think…?
Write and perform a play based on the story.
What was the main idea…?
Retell the story in your words.
Who was the key character…?
Paint a picture of some aspect you like.
Can you distinguish between…?
Write a summary report of an event.
What differences exist between…?
Prepare a flow chart to illustrate the sequence of
events.
Can you provide an example of what you mean…?

Can you provide a definition for…?

 Applying
Example Questions Sample Activities
Construct a model to demonstrate how it
will work.Make a scrapbook about the areas
Do you know another instance
of study.
where…?Could this have happened in…?
Take a collection of photographs to
Can you group by characteristics such as…?
demonstrate a particular point.
What factors would you change if…?
Make a clay model of an item in the
material.
Can you apply the method used to some
experience of your own…?
Design a market strategy for your product
using a known strategy.

Analysing
Example Questions Sample Activities
Which events could have happened…?How
was this similar to…?
What was the underlying theme of…?

What do you see as other possible

outcomes?
Why did … changes occur?
Can you compare your … with that presented information to support a view.
in…?
Can you explain what must have happened
when…?
How is … similar to …?
What are some of the problems of…?
Can you distinguish between…?
Design a questionnaire to gather
information.Write a commercial to sell a new
product.
Conduct an investigation to produce
Make a flow chart to show the critical stages.
Construct a graph to illustrate selected
information.
Make a family tree showing relationships.
Prepare a report about the area of study.

What were some of the motives behind…?

What was the problem with…?

 Evaluating
Example Questions Sample Activities
Is there a better solution to…?Judge the value
of…
Can you defend your position about…?
Conduct a debate about an issue of special
Do you think … is a good or a bad thing?
interest.Make a booklet about 5 rules you see
as important. Convince others.
How would you have handled…?
Form a panel to discuss views, e.g. “Learning
at School.”.
What changes to … would you recommend?
Write a letter to … advising on changes
Do you believe…?
needed at…
Are you a … person?
Write a report.
How would you feel if…?
Prepare a case to present your view about…
How effective are…?

What do you think about…?

Creating
Example Questions Sample Activities
Invent a machine to do a specific task.Design a
building to house your study.
Create a new product. Give it a name and plan a
marketing campaign.
Can you see a possible solution to…?If you had
Write about your feelings in relation to…
access to all resources how would you deal with…?
What would happen if…?
Write a TV show, play, puppet show, role play,
song or pantomime about…?
Can you create new and unusual uses for…?
Design a record, book, or magazine cover for…?
Can you write a new recipe for a tasty dish?
Sell an idea.
Can you develop a proposal which would…?
Devise a way to…

Compose a rhythm or put new words to a known

melody.
As a final example, let‟s take a look at a stepped questioning activity, in which a series of
questions are asked (written down or verbally) that gradually move up the levels of
Bloom‟s taxonomy. Such an activity could be carried out during one single lesson:

1. What can you remember about the story? (Remembering)

2. Summarise the story in your own words. (Understanding)
3. Suggest how the main lessons in this story could help other young people.
(Applying)
4. Why did the different characters in the story behave the way that they did?
(Analysing)
5. Evaluate the strength of the main character‟s decision to leave. (Evaluating)
6. Rewrite the ending of this story, to show a different outcome. (Creating)