With so much content to teach, we often focus on getting students to remember, understand, and apply information. That's no small feat! But Bloom's Revised Taxonomy suggests that we help students go deeper—analyzing and evaluating and eventually creating. Sure . . . but how?
Why not visually? For most of us, seeing is believing. When we can visualize abstract concepts and relationships, we gain a greater grasp of them. You can use a ready-made set of graphic organizers, checklists, and other visuals to help your students analyze, evaluate, and create.
Analyzing
When students analyze information, they break it into its parts, examine each part closely, and study how the parts fit together. Engineers and lawyers and medical professionals analyze constantly, so helping students develop this thinking skill can improve their success well beyond your classroom.
- Analyzing with a Cause-Effect Chart
- Analyzing with a Line Diagram
- Comparing with a Venn Diagram
- Sequencing with a Time Line
Evaluating
When students evaluate a topic, they judge its worth based on usefulness, quality, beauty, or other traits. Students need to analyze a topic and then go deeper, applying effective value judgments. In any profession, those who consistently make better choices rise to the top.
You can use these minilessons to help your students evaluate information:
- Evaluating with a Pro-Con Chart
- Evaluating Sources of Information (with a Checklist)
- Evaluating Advertisements
- Rating Your Listening (with a Survey)
Creating
When students create, they combine information to make something new. Creating requires all of the other thinking skills. For example, the writing process is an act of creation, with prewriting (remembering and understanding), drafting (applying), revising and editing (analyzing and evaluating), and publishing (creating).
You can use the graphics in the following minilessons to help students create:
Visualize Deeper Thinking
Yes, let's help our students remember, understand, and apply—the basis for all effective thinking. But then let's help them analyze, evaluate, and create. Those deeper levels of thought lead to higher levels of achievement.