“Should Hansel and Gretel be Angry with Their Father?”

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“Should Hansel and Gretel be Angry with Their Father?”  

In my last two blog posts, I shared Bloom’s Taxonomy of thinking and why it is important for us as teachers, parents and grandparents to be aware of how our questions are promoting and strengthening the natural thinking skills within our children. 

I am going to share a simple example of using all levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy to compare the fairy tales of Hansel and Gretel and Goldilocks. 

                              Hansel and Gretel                     Goldilocks 

Knowledge         (recall) Why did the father      (list) What 3 things did

leave the children alone in     Goldilocks touch in the

                              the woods?                                 bears’ home? 


Comprehension(explain) Why did                      (predict) How will the

                              dropping breadcrumbs           bears feel when they

                              not help the children                get home?

                              get home?                                         

                                             

Application        (apply) What would you do   (sketch) Draw three

                              if you were lost in the                pictures: Baby Bear’s

                              woods?                                        bowl, chair and bed. 


Analysis               (diagram) Draw detailed        (analyze) How come

                              pictures of the witch’s              Baby Bear can sit in his

                              house: outside and inside.      chair without breaking it?

Let’s experiment. 


Synthesis             (plan) What plan did                (relate) How are                       

                              Gretel think of in order to  Hansel’s and Gretel’s

save Hansel from being manners similar to

eaten by the witch? Goldilock’s manners?

            

Evaluation           (judge) How would you           (defend) Do you think

                              feel if your parents left             the bears had a right to

                              you alone in the forest to        be angry with                              

                              die?                                               Goldilocks?

 

The above questions are just some examples of questions I ask children about these two stories. 

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I am guiding them to become critical thinkers, to use all their thinking skills, and to interact with their knowledge. I am guiding them to make the stories “their own”. I am guiding them to apply this thinking in multiple situations throughout the rest of their lives.  

Asking critical thinking questions of our children as we read with them, watch a show or movie with them and experience life with them provides us the opportunity to share our thoughts and values with our children. This is both a joyful and important part of our job as teachers, parents, and grandparents. 


In my next blog post, we’ll explore promoting and strengthening children’s thinking skills outside of “formal” education. I’ll share why my grandson exclaimed, “Grandma is EVERYWHERE!”

If you are questioning whether someone in your life is dyslexic and you’re not sure what to do, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson