Developing Thinking Skills

The use of critical thinking is one of the most valuable skills we can pass on to our children.  In order to develop a child's thinking skills, we need to ask them probing questions that require them to think beyond the surface.  The wording of these questions is very important because certain questions require us to use different levels of thinking. 

In 1956, Benjamin Bloom, a professor at the University of Chicago, shared his famous "Taxonomy of Educational Objectives."  Bloom identified different levels of cognitive complexity that have been used to stimulate and develop students' higher order thinking skills. 

The levels are as follows:       

1. Knowledge (Remembering already known information)

     * Key Words:

who, what, why, when, tell, recall, list, match, name, find

2. Comprehension (Understanding the meaning of what was read)

*Key Words:

compare, demonstrate, explain, illustrate, show, classify, rephrase, relate

3. Application (Use information in a new way)

*Key Words:

apply, build, interview, solve, model, develop, construct

4. Analysis (Breaking down information into parts)

*Key Words:

compare, dissect, discover, divide, simplify, theme, conclusion, analyze

5. Synthesis (Organize thoughts, ideas, and information)

*Key Words:

build, design, propose, discuss, elaborate, change, improve, invent, solve, construct

6. Evaluation (Forming and presenting an opinion with information to back it up

*Key Words:

criticize, choose, evaluate, prove, opinion, explain, dispute, justify

Information from: http://www.classwebsite.org/cwdevelopingthinkingskills.htm

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