READING
BEYOND THE WORDS
The value of
an education in a liberal arts college is not the learning of many facts but
the training of the mind to think something that cannot be learned from
textbooks.
Einstein
READING BEYOND THE WORDS
I.
The Knowledge
Level of Thinking
II.
The
Comprehension Level of Thinking
III.
The Application
Level of Thinking
IV.
The Analysis
Level of Thinking
V.
The Evaluation
Level of Thinking
VI.
Practice with
Reading Passages
VII.
Chapter Summary
VIII.
Post Test
READING BEYOND THE WORDS
Critical reading comprehension involves
challenging yourself to understand y what you read in your textbooks at
different levels of complexity. To deepen your understanding of textbook
material, Bloom’s Taxonomy lists six levels of understanding information:
·
Knowledge
·
Comprehension
·
Application
·
Analysis
·
Synthesis
·
Evaluation
By creating and
answering questions using each of these levels, you will be better able to predict the kind of questions your instructor will
set on an exam, and will be better prepared to answer them..
·
Knowledge Level – factual data,
main ideas, sequence of events, directions
(Although it’s the most basic level, it’s just as important as all the
other levels. It provides the who, what,
where, and when information.)
·
Comprehension
Level – understanding, translating, paraphrasing, summarizing
·
Application Level – problem
solving, applying appropriate rules, predicting outcomes by application of
principles
·
Analysis Level – examination
of component parts, identifying relationships between parts, comparing likes
and differences of the parts
·
Synthesis Level – reorganization
or fusion of elements into new combinations
·
Evaluation Level – formulating
criteria and judging an idea/concept or object against that criteria
Knowledge Level
– What did the author say? Check two
_____ A. Little Red Riding
Hood met a wolf in the woods.
_____ D. The woodsman Killed the wolf.
Comprehension
Level – What did the author mean? Check
two
_____ C. Little Red Riding
Hood was a naïve little girl.
_____ D. Little Red Riding
Hood was a trusting little girl.
Application
Level – How can we use the meaning?
Check two
_____ A. Don’t walk in the
woods alone.
_____ B. Don’t speak to
strangers.
Analysis Level –
What is the unstated assumption? Check
one.
_____ C. Little Red
Riding Hood was very obedient.
Synthesis Level
– Using your knowledge of Little Red Riding Hood, propose a change you’d make
in Little Red Riding Hood’s life which would strengthen her chances of
survival. Check one.
_____ B. Teach Little Red Riding Hood self
defense and environmental awareness techniques.
Evaluation Level
– Evaluate the mother’s plan of sending Little Red Riding Hood to visit her
grandmother? Check two.
_____ A. The mother was irresponsible and
negligent in her duties as a mother; and Social
Services
should be notified.
_____ B. The mother should have gone with or in
place of Little Red Riding Hood.
chapter 13 opener material
LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD EXERCISE
There
are several versions of the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood. Use the following version to base your
answers on:
Little Red
Riding Hood’s mother asked her to take a basketful of goodies to her sick
grandmother. On her way to grandma’s
house, Little Red Riding Hood met a wolf in the woods. He asked where she was going and she told
him. He told her there was a short-cut
to grandma’s house (which was actually the longer way) and she took it. Maeanwhile, the wolf took the shorter way,
tied grandma up and put her in the closet.
Then he put on one of grandma’s nightgowns and night hats and crawled
into bed. When Little Red Riding Hood
arrived, she looked at “grandma” and said, “My, grandma, what big eyes your
have…(nose, ears, teeth, etc.). The wolf
said, “The better to eat you with my dear….” And jumped out of bed. Luckily, a woodsman was passing by the
cottage, heard Little Red Riding Hood scream, and came in and killed the
wolf.
Questions:
Knowledge
Level – What did the author say? Check
two
_____ A.
Little Red Riding Hood met a wolf in the woods.
_____ B.
Little Red Riding Hood visited her aunt.
_____ C.
Little Red Riding Hood recognized the wolf immediately upon entering
Grandma’s
house.
_____ D. The woodsman killed the wolf.
Comprehension
Level – What did the author mean? Check
two
_____ A.
The wolf only wanted the goodies meant for Grandma.
_____ B.
The wolf appeared a lot like Red Riding Hood’s grandmother.
_____ C.
Little Red Riding Hood was a naïve little girl.
_____ D.
Little Red Riding Hood was a trusting little girl.
Application
Level – How can we use the meaning?
Check two
_____ A.
Don’t walk in the woods alone.
_____ B.
Don’t speak to strangers.
_____ C.
Look more carefully at sick grandmothers.
_____ D.
All’s well that ends well.
_____ E.
Don’t send a little girl to do a nurse’s job.
Analysis
Level – What is the unstated assumption?
Check one.
_____ A.
Little Red Riding Hood should have been in school.
_____ B.
Talking wolves are hard to find.
_____ C. Little Red Riding Hood was very obedient.
_____ C. Little Red Riding Hood was very obedient.
_____ D.
Woodsman are violent, crazy people.
_____ E.
Grass is always greener when you’re out of the woods.
Synthesis
Level – Using your knowledge of Little Red Riding Hood, propose a change you’d
make in Little Red Riding Hood’s life which would strengthen her chances of
survival. Check one.
_____ A. Have Little Red Riding Hood’s mother marry
the woodsman.
_____ B. Teach Little Red Riding Hood self defense
and environmental awareness techniques.
_____ C. Dress Little Red Riding Hood in men’s
clothing.
_____ D. Send Little Red Riding Hood to Boarding
School.
_____ E. Give Little Red Riding Hood
Evaluation Level – Evaluate the mother’s plan of sending Little Red
Riding Hood to visit her grandmother?
Check one.
_____ A. The mother was irresponsible and negligent
in her duties as a mother; and Social
Services should be notified.
_____ B. The mother should have gone with or instead
of Little Red Riding Hood.
_____ C. Little Red Riding Hood was 35-years old and
should have driven.
_____ D. The mother forgot to pack a cell phone in
the basket of goodies.
_____ E. Never trust a talking wolf.
supplemental exercises
There
are two supplemental exercises for this chapter. Information about each is
provided on this page and the related material follows on separate pages that
you can print out for use with your students.
Exercise 13-1: Brain Toss
Directions
Ask students the following set of questions. For each question, toss a ball (we use a
rubber brain) to a student. The student
who catches the ball needs to answer the question and then throw it to someone
else. Whoever catches it has to answer your next question. Those who don’t
catch the ball, either on purpose or by accident, have to answer two
questions. The Brain Toss is more
effective if students don’t know that you’re going to “play” it.
Read the following questions – or create your own. Answers are in blue:
1. Name level one of Bloom’s Taxonomy.
2. Define that level.
3. Name level two of Bloom’s Taxonomy.
4. Define that level.
5. Name level three of Bloom’s Taxonomy.
6. Define that level.
7. Name level four of Bloom’s Taxonomy.
8. Define that level
9. Name level five of
Bloom’s Taxonomy.
10. Define that level.
11. Name level six of Bloom’s Taxonomy.
12. Define that level.
13. Based on Bloom’s
Taxonomy, at what level is this question:
What is the definition of ineffable? (Knowledge)
14. Based on Bloom’s Taxonomy, at what level is this
question: Evaluate the following plan for
improving the quality of education in our K-12
system. Evaluation
15. Based on Bloom’s Taxonomy, at what level is this
question: Identify the unstated
assumptions
in the following paragraph. Analysis
16. Based on Bloom’s Taxonomy, at what level is this
question: Given the current situation in
the
United States and the economic principles you learned in the course, what steps
would you take to strengthen the economy? Synthesis
17. Based on Bloom’s
Taxonomy, at what level is this question:
Using the quadratic formula, what
is the answer to question #12? Application
18. Based on Bloom’s
Taxonomy, at what level is this question:
List the names of the characters
in the play. Knowledge
19. Based on Bloom’s
Taxonomy, at what level is this question:
In the movie Chicago, What was Roxie Hart thinking when she was
placed in a jail cell for the first time? Comprehension
20. Based on Bloom’s
Taxonomy, at what level is this question:
Propose a research experiment
which would add to the knowledge base of this field. Synthesis
Now have students develop questions. Toss the ball and let them create a question
in any level. Before they toss the ball,
they have to define their level or have the next person catching the ball
define it.
Exercise 13-2: Bloom’s Taxonomy
Directions
Ask each student to bring a daily paper to class on this
day.
Have students read six different articles of their choice from their
newspaper and develop six questions, one at each level of Bloom’s taxonomy, for
each of the six articles. When all of
the students are done, have them take turns summarizing an article that they
read and reading any two of the six questions they developed for that
article. Have the other students label
the level of the two questions.
supplemental vocabulary quiz
Answers for Crossword Puzzle
Chapter 13 vocabulary QUIZ
Across
5 occurring at the same time
8 abilty to make a value judgment
10 food or drugs that excite sexual
desire
11 division or disunion
12 stimulating
13 chemical substance released by animals
14 thinking and understanding text on
many levels
Down
1 professional associates
2 literal level of thinking
3 ability to look at the bigger
picture after combining individual elements
4 measuring instrument
6 state of being keenly watchful
7 feeling of good fellowship toward
those with whom you work
9 ability to break down an idea into
parts