Blooms Taxonomy Alignment Tool for English
English and ELA lessons often reach the understand level through comprehension activities but spend little time at analyze (identifying literary devices and structural choices), evaluate (judging an author's effectiveness), and create (producing original literary work). The Blooms Taxonomy Alignment Tool helps English teachers check the cognitive distribution across any lesson or unit and suggests specific activities that push literary study and writing instruction to higher cognitive levels.
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6 cognitive levels
Full Blooms spectrum
Literary & writing
How English and ELA teachers, K-12 and college use the Blooms alignment tool
Scenarios showing how the sheet can help with cognitive balance in lessons.
Literature unit cognitive audit
An 11th-grade English teacher named Ms. Patel analyzed her The Great Gatsby unit and found that 13 of 17 lesson activities were at the understand level, summarizing plot, identifying characters, and noting themes. The tool suggested replacing three of these with analyze and evaluate activities: tracing the green light motif across chapters, comparing Fitzgerald's narrative technique to a contemporary novel, and evaluating whether the novel supports or critiques the American Dream.
Writing instruction cognitive alignment
Writing instruction itself spans all six Blooms levels. Brainstorming and freewriting sit at apply and create; peer review and revision sit at evaluate and analyze; grammar instruction sits at remember and apply. The tool maps your writing process instruction onto the Blooms framework and shows how many activities sit at the top three levels across the writing unit.
Discussion and seminar design
Socratic seminars and fishbowl discussions are naturally at the evaluate level, but only if the discussion questions are designed correctly. A comprehension question ('What happened in the story?') is at the understand level even in a seminar format. The tool audits your discussion questions and suggests changes to ones that default to lower cognitive levels, so seminars can reach analyze and evaluate.
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What this page does here
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Questions teachers ask
What does the analyze level look like in English class?
In English, analyze-level activities include: identifying how a literary device contributes to theme or tone, tracing the development of a motif across a text, comparing the narrative structure of two works, and examining how an author's rhetorical choices affect persuasiveness. The tool suggests analyze activities specific to the text and skills you are teaching.
Does the tool support the AP English Language and AP Literature frameworks?
Yes. There is no AP calibration, but you can map AP Lang and AP Lit skill categories to Blooms levels and check whether your lessons adequately cover the higher-order skills tested on the AP exams. For AP Lang, focus on rhetorical analysis (analyze), synthesis (create), and argument evaluation (evaluate). For AP Lit, focus on literary analysis (analyze) and interpretive argument (evaluate and create).
How does the tool handle grammar and mechanics instruction?
Grammar and mechanics instruction primarily operates at the remember (identify rules) and apply (use rules in writing) levels, which is appropriate for these skills. The tool does not penalize grammar lessons for sitting at lower Blooms levels, and its count at each level can show if grammar activities are displacing higher-order reading and writing activities.
Can I use the tool for creative writing courses?
Yes. Creative writing courses should operate predominantly at the create level, supported by evaluate (peer critique and revision) and analyze (studying mentor texts for craft elements). The tool checks whether your creative writing course genuinely reaches the create level consistently or defaults to lower-order activities like grammar exercises and plot summary.
Does the tool work for English Language Learner (ELL) instruction?
Yes, with an important consideration. ELL instruction necessarily spends more time at the remember and understand levels for language acquisition, but this does not mean ELL students are incapable of higher-order thinking. Adjust your expectations for ELL contexts and plan activities that engage higher-order thinking through non-linguistic or scaffolded means while students are building language proficiency.
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