Guiding Learners to OWN Their Learning and
Create New and Original Thoughts with Their Knowledge
In my last blog post (Developing Thinking Skills in Our Children, One of Our Most Important Jobs), I shared that one of our important “jobs” as parents, grandparents and teachers is asking our kiddos questions using questioning strategies that promote and strengthen thinking skills.
I shared background information about Bloom’s Taxonomy. I gave you two forms of Bloom’s Taxonomy to help guide your questioning strategies.
Lets’ look more closely at working with Bloom’s Taxonomy when we are teaching, parenting or grandparenting.
Every level in Bloom’s Taxonomy is important. Learners must have knowledge of a new concept and be able to recall or remember the knowledge before they can further develop their thinking skills. Knowledge is the basis of learning.
When learners remember facts and concepts, they can begin to deeply think about their new knowledge. They understand it and begin to apply it in their thoughts and lives.
Once they have that solid basis developed, they can analyze their new knowledge, evaluate their new knowledge and create new and original thoughts with their new knowledge.
Being able to apply, analyze, evaluate and create are very important life skills—ones that we always want to be strengthening and promoting in our kiddos’ education and life.
Let’s think about this: when learners are learning a new concept and they apply, analyze, evaluate and create an answer to a question, they can explain their reasoning behind their answer.
When they can explain their reasons behind their choice, they KNOW the content fully.
They are working far beyond comprehending what they have learned (the Knowledge/Remembering level). They actually “own” the content. They can use this content knowledge as they move forward into new concepts.
As I teach, I model questioning at the application, analyzing and evaluating levels at all times and the children begin to use this same type of questioning during partner work.
Examples of questions I continually ask in phonemic awareness are:
· “Shelly, why did you decide to put 2 squares on the line?”
· “Grace, what sound does the orange square stand for?”
· “Josie, why did you put 2 yellow squares on just one line?”
· “Which sound in our new word changed from our last word?”
These seem like simple questions, but I want them to think about why they did what they did—to think about their thinking. I want them to KNOW the REASON why they choose the answer they choose.
Examples of questions I continually ask in phonics are:
· “Thomas, what picture did you make in your mind when you read that sentence?”
· “What does _____ mean?” (I ask this question or partners ask each other this question for every word on the practice papers in which they are marking the sounds they hear for each phonetic part of a word. I want them to express their knowledge about each word’s meaning(s).)
Watching their thinking and listening to their answers is great fun.
Watching their faces beam with pride and clarity as they realize that they know why they know is a never-ending pleasure.
Whenever children read a story to me, I ask questions using Benjamin Bloom’s Taxonomy as my guide.
I love the “light bulb” design and all of the suggested question starters to help form questions that meet our Bloom’s Taxonomy teaching level objective(s).
As an educator, I carefully listen to my kiddos answers while taking note of their thought processes and their use of content vocabulary.
As you ask questions that cause your children to think at deeper levels about their learning and their world, you are guiding them to develop the skill of approaching all subjects in their lives with thoughtful application, analysis, evaluation and an understanding that they can be creative with their new knowledge. You are strengthening their natural thinking abilities. Being able to answer questions at all levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy of comprehension develops maturity in their thinking.
In my next blog post, I’ll give you some examples of how to apply Bloom’s Taxonomy in the stories of Hansel and Gretel and Goldilocks.
If you are questioning whether someone in your life is dyslexic and you’re not sure what to do, feel free to contact us.