Best Practice to Stretch and Challenge

What is Bloom's Taxonomy?

Benjamin Bloom created a classification of verbs, which describe our knowledge, skills, attitudes, behaviours and ability. In short, as you go up the pyramid, the harder your brain has to work. However, we can't work at the top of the pyramid, without starting from the bottom.

1) The facts must be taught first, to allow students to think deeply

2) Knowledge must be reinforced enough to install it in long-term memory. Then you are able to do the activities at the top of the pyramid in a meaningful way

Why is the helpful for us?

Bloom's Taxonomy is used by teachers all over the world to stretch and challenge their students in the classroom. Take for example teaching fruit and vegetables. Every student will start with recalling facts and basic concepts (the bottom of the pyramid). "What is this? A lemon! Repeat after me, lemon". From there, we can start to stretch our students, e.g. "why is this a lemon and not a lime?" Let's keep going up the pyramid... "is a lemon a fruit or vegetable? Why? " etc. As you can see, each of these scenarios requires deeper thinking, but could not have been done without the prior knowledge.