Birmingham City Schools

Department of Reading/Language Arts, K-5

Blooms Taxonomy

Blooms Taxonomy and colleagues (1956) created the original taxonomy of the cognitive
domain for categorizing level of abstraction of questions that commonly occur in
educational settings. That work has been revised to help teachers understand and
implement a standards-based curriculum (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001). For the
instructional designer, the taxonomy provides a comprehensive set of classifications for
learner cognitive processes that are included in instructional objectives. Classifying
instructional objectives using this taxonomy helps to determine the levels of learning
included in an instructional unit or lesson.

Blooms Taxonomy with Key Words

Remember- Recall

Key Words
who which show relate
what choose spell tell
why find list Recall
when how match select
omit Define name label

Understanding- Explain

Key Words
compare explain outline summarize
contrast extend relate show
demonstrate illustrate rephrase classify
interpret infer translate

Applying- Use

Key Words
apply develop experiment with utilize
build interview plan model
choose make use of select identify
construct organize solve

ORIGINAL TERMS NEW TERMS
Evaluation Creating
Synthesis Evaluating
Analysis Analysing
Application Applying
Comprehension Understanding
Knowledge Remembering
Birmingham City Schools
Department of Reading/Language Arts, K-5

Analysing- Take Apart

Key Words
analyze divide Test for function
categorize Examine Distinguish motive
classifying inspect list inference
compare simplifying distinction assumption
contrast survey theme conclusion
discover Take part in Relationships dissect

Synthesis- Make it New

Key Words
build formulate solution maximize
choose imagine Suppose delete
combine invent discuss theorize
compile make up modify elaborate
compose originate change test
construct plan original improve
create predict Improve happen
design propose adapt change
develop Solve minimize estimate

Evaluation- Judge It

Key Words
award justify appraise disprove
choose measure prioritize assess
conclude compare opinion influence
criticize mark interpret perceive
decide rate explain value
defend Recommend support estimate
determine Rule on importance influence
dispute select criteria deduct
evaluate agree prove judge




Birmingham City Schools
Department of Reading/Language Arts, K-5


CATEGORIES COGNITIVE PROCESS
REMEMBER Retrieve relevant knowledge from long-term memory
Recognizing (identifying)
Recalling (retrieving)
UNDERSTAND Construct meaning from instructional messages, including
oral, written, and graphic communication
Interpreting (clarifying, paraphrasing, representing,
translating)
Exemplifying (illustrating, instantiating)
Classifying (categorizing, subsuming)
Summarizing (abstracting, generalizing)
Inferring (concluding, extrapolating, interpolating,
predicting)
APPLY Carry out or use a procedure in a given situation
Executing (carrying out)
Implementing (using)
ANALYZE Break material into its constituent parts and determine how
the parts relate to one another and to an overall structure or
purpose
Differentiating (discriminating, distinguishing,
focusing, selecting)
Organizing (finding coherence, intergrating,
outlining, parsing, structuring)
Attributing (deconstructing)

EVALUATE Make judgments based on criteria and standards
Checking (coordinating, detecting, monitoring,
testing)
Critiquing (judging)
CREATE Put elements together to form a coherent or functional whole;
reorganize elements into a new pattern or structure
Generating (hypothesizing)
Planning (designing)
Producing (constructing)