The Lesson Planning Game: M=Methodology – Bloom’s What!?

The methodology part of lesson planning is the “how-to.” It’s where you plan what your students are actually going to do in order to achieve the learning goals for their grade.
Like goals, methods of learning come from a variety of sources – from teacher’s guides to textbooks; from in-service training and administrative guidance; from numerous resource books; from the internet; from colleagues; from your own experience at school, at home, and in the workplace.

From all these sources, we could brainstorm a long list of teaching and learning methods under such categories as: pencil and paper activities, oral activities, games, hands-on activities, team-builders, independent study, memorization, creative writing, music and dance…and more. the categories, themselves, overlap and intersect. What we need is an overall organizing principle to ensure that students acquire the knowledge outlined in our goals by developing and exercising a range of intellectual skills.

Good News! Enter Dr.Bloom and Bloom’s Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain.

Once, I attended a workshop where the presenter was explaining at length about a Dr. Bloom and his research. I had a startling vision of Dr. B. sitting in his hunting lodge surrounded by moose heads and other stuffed wildlife. What on earth did this have to do with education? I began to listen more attentively and was relieved to discover that the presenter was describing Bloom’s Taxonomy and not Bloom’s Taxidermy!

According to the dictionary, “taxonomy” is “the science dealing with the classification of plants and animals.” Bloom applied the classification concept to the Cognitive Domain – ie. to the acquisition of knowledge and the development of intellectual skills.

The next few posts will provide the details of Bloom’s Taxonomy and suggest ways to use it to select teaching methods for your students.

Information about Bloom’s Taxonomy can also be found at www.teachervision.com

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Ronni Sims

Ronni has been a Jewish educator since Moses was in preschool (almost!). She has had the pleasure of teaching all age groups in a variety of formal and informal settings, as well as directing a Jewish Teacher Resource Center. While teaching in a Jewish Day School, Ronni coached an award-winning Odyssey of the Mind creative problem solving team.Ronni was an active participant in the former Conference on Alternatives in Jewish Education (CAJE), where she held leadership positions including Network Chair and Conference Co-Chair of CAJE 29 at Hofstra University. She currently teaches Hebrew at the Congregation Albert Religious School in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Talmud teaches: “The Torah cannot be learned unless it is learned among friends.” Ronni views blogging on JCast as such a learning opportunity.

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