Bloom’s Taxonomy Verbs For Critical Thinking & Learning Design

Bloom’s Taxonomy verbs—also called power verbs or thinking verbs—are extraordinarily powerful instructional planning tools. In addition to concepts like backward design and power standards, they are among the most useful resources a teacher-as-learning-designer can use. You can also explore our Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy Verbs for technology-rich teaching.

As research has suggested, these verbs can be applied to assessment design, curriculum planning, lesson design, differentiating learning, and almost any other task a teacher—or student—needs to accomplish.

For example, if a standard asks students to infer and demonstrate an author’s position using evidence from the text, there is a lot built into that kind of task.

First, a student must be able to define what an ‘author’s position’ is and what ‘evidence from the text’ means (Knowledge-level). They then need to summarize the text (Understanding-level), interpret and infer any arguments or positions (Analyze-level), evaluate inherent claims (Evaluate-level), and finally compose (Create-level) a response that demonstrates their thinking.

Though the chart below reads left to right, it can be helpful to imagine it as an incline, with Knowledge at the bottom and Create at the top. You may not always need this tool to unpack standards and identify a possible learning sequence, but it also works ideally as an assessment design aid.

If students can consistently work with the topic in the columns to the right—designing, recommending, differentiating, comparing and contrasting—they likely have a firm grasp of the material.

You can also read more about Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy (or Bloom’s updated Taxonomy).

While we’ve shared Bloom’s Taxonomy posters before, the simplicity and clean design of the chart format make it highly functional—useful enough to give directly to students as a ‘keep-in-your-journal-for-the-year’ reference. It also serves as a powerful self-directed learning tool: start at the left, and roughly move right.

For a visual version of this framework, see Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy Chart.

Bloom’s Taxonomy Verbs

Knowledge: Define, Identify, Describe, Recognize, Tell, Explain, Recite, Memorize, Illustrate, Quote, State, Match, Recognize, Select, Examine, Locate, Enumerate, Record, List, Label

Understand: Summarize, Interpret, Classify, Compare, Contrast, Infer, Relate, Extract, Paraphrase, Cite, Discuss, Distinguish, Delineate, Extend, Predict, Indicate, Translate, Inquire, Associate, Explore, Convert

Apply: Solve, Change, Relate, Complete, Use, Sketch, Teach, Articulate, Discover, Transfer, Show, Demonstrate, Involve, Dramatize, Produce, Report, Act, Respond, Administer, Prepare, Manipulate

Analyze: Contrast, Connect, Relate, Devise, Correlate, Illustrate, Distill, Conclude, Categorize, Take Apart, Problem-Solve, Differentiate, Deduce, Subdivide, Calculate, Order, Adapt

Evaluate: Criticize, Reframe, Judge, Defend, Appraise, Value, Prioritize, Plan, Grade, Revise, Refine, Argue, Support, Evolve, Decide, Redesign, Pivot

Create: Design, Modify, Role-Play, Develop, Rewrite, Collaborate, Invent, Write, Formulate, Imagine

For technology-focused verbs and examples that align with higher-order thinking, see our Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy Verbs for Technology-Rich Teaching.