Brain Research:
A Scientific Understanding of the Teaching-Story
“The right side of the brain provides ‘context,’ the essential function of putting together the different components of experience. The left side provides the ‘text,’ or the pieces themselves. Familiarity with these stories can expand context: enabling us to understand more about our world and our place in it.” Robert Ornstein, PhD.
Teaching Stories and the Brain
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Speaking at the Library of Congress, leading psychologist Robert Ornstein gives a presentation on the effectiveness of the Teaching-Story in developing thinking skills and perceptions. His lecture includes a video version of 2 Hoopoe titles: Neem the Half-Boy and The Clever Boy and the Terrible, Dangerous Animal. This video is available for purchase here. |
“Educating the whole child is not a new idea. It is rooted in the writings and teachings of many ancient cultures. Yet, achieving the kind of balance that encourages all children to learn, work and contribute to their fullest potential has been a continuing challenge as our world has grown more complex and our communities more fragmented.”
—Maurice J. Elias, “Academic and social emotional learning,” Educational Practices Series-11, International Academy of Education (Brussels) & International Bureau Education (Geneva), 2003.
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Cognitive and Affective Domains
In 1956, Benjamin Bloom, published a set of classification levels of intellectual behavior relevant in learning. Bloom’s studies showed that most questions that students were required to answer used only the simplest level of thinking skills: recalling information.
In addition to the skills and strategies that are taught via these lesson plans and of which a sample assessment is included at the end of the lesson, students are also moving through all levels of the Bloom’s hierarchy of cognitive and affective skills. Working with these stories allows students to examine, explore, and enhance cognitive and affective attitudes.
Educators should also look for verbs (see sample lists below with each one of Bloom’s thinking or affective skill) within the lesson plans, for many of the Hoopoe Teaching-Stories lessons meet multiple levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy.
Bloom’s Cognitive Domain1
Bloom identified six levels within the cognitive domain: Knowledge, Understanding/Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation. The simplest levels of the taxonomy include recall and recognition of facts. The more complex levels of the taxonomy increase through more intricate and abstract mental levels.
Although other systems and hierarchies have been created, Bloom’s taxonomy is easily understood and has been widely applied throughout school districts in the United States.
As educators, we want to teach students that different types of questions require us to use different complexities of thinking. By asking students questions that require simpler and more complicated level thinking skills, we are stimulating thought processes.
The following list shows the levels of Bloom’s taxonomy and includes a list of verb examples that represent the intellectual activity on each level:
Simple Thinking Skills and Sample Behaviors:
S1. Knowledge: define, memorize, repeat, record, list, recall, name, relate, collect, label specify, cite, enumerate, tell, recount, duplicate, list, recognize, order, repeat
Example: Student will define vocabulary from the Teaching-Story.
S2. Comprehension: restate, summarize, discuss, describe, recognize, explain, express, identify, locate, report, retell, review, translate, select, translate
Example: Student will retell the Teaching-Story during the museum walk lesson.
S3. Application: exhibit, solve, interview, simulate, apply, use, demonstrate, dramatize, practice, illustrate, operate, calculate, show, experiment, write, schedule
Example: Students will dramatize the Teaching-Story by participating in the Readers’ Theater.
Complex Thinking Skills and Sample Behaviors:
C1. Analysis: interpret, analyze, arrange, classify, differentiate, group, compare, organize, contrast, examine, categorize, inventory, question, discover, text, inquire, diagram, experiment
Example: Students will compare and contrast character behaviors within the story.
C2. Synthesis: compose, setup, plan, prepare, propose, imagine, produce, generalize, design, predict, arrange, create, collect, construct
Example: Students will design their own tessellations.
C3. Evaluation: judge, assess, decide, evaluate, infer, deduce, choose compare, predict, revise, choose, conclude, recommend, select, determine, argue, support
Example: Students will justify their predictions regarding “what will happen next” in each Teaching-Story.
Bloom’s Affective Domain2
Bloom’s affective domain includes the manner in which we deal with things emotionally, such as feelings, values, appreciation, enthusiasms, motivations, and attitudes. The five major categories are listed from the simplest behavior to the most complex:
Bloom’s Affective Skills and Sample Behaviors:
A1. Receiving Phenomena: Awareness, willingness to hear, selected attention.
Key Words: asks, chooses, describes, follows, gives, holds, identifies, locates, names, points to, selects, sits, erects, replies, uses.
Example: Student listens to the Teaching-Story being read. Student listens to the opinions and interpretations of others with respect. Student remembers the names of characters in the story.
A2. Responding to Phenomena: Active participation on the part of the learners. Attends and reacts to a particular phenomenon. Learning outcomes may emphasize compliance in responding, willingness to respond, or satisfaction in responding (motivation).
Key Words: answers, assists, aids, complies, conforms, discusses, greets, helps, labels, performs, practices, presents, reads, recites, reports, selects, tells, writes.
Examples: Student actively participates in class discussions. Student participates in Readers’ Theatre presentation. Student questions new ideals, concepts, models, etc. presented in the Teaching-Story in order to fully understand them.
A3. Valuing: The worth or value a person attaches to a particular object, phenomenon, or behavior. This ranges from simple acceptance to the more complex state of commitment. Valuing is based on the internalization of a set of specified values, while clues to these values are expressed in the learner’s overt behavior and are often identifiable.
Key Words: completes, demonstrates, differentiates, explains, follows, forms, initiates, invites, joins, justifies, proposes, reads, reports, selects, shares, studies, works.
Examples: Student is sensitive towards individual and cultural differences (values diversity) and is able to examine and articulate a variety of points of view presented in the stories. Student is able to come up with a variety of possible solutions to problems explored in the lessons.
A4. Organization: Organizes values into priorities by contrasting different values, resolving conflicts between them, and creating an unique value system. The emphasis is on comparing, relating, and synthesizing values.
Key Words: adheres, alters, arranges, combines, compares, completes, defends, explains, formulates, generalizes, identifies, integrates, modifies, orders, organizes, prepares, relates, synthesizes.
Examples: Student is able to use systematic planning in order to complete an activity such as writing a “thoughtshot.” Student is able to prioritize time effectively in order to meet the needs of the assignment and working with a group. Student learns to accept responsibility for her/his actions and explore options for different reactions to events when examining in the Teaching-Story.
A5. Internalizing values (characterization): Has a value system that controls their behavior. The behavior is pervasive, consistent, predictable, and most importantly, characteristic of the learner. Instructional objectives are concerned with the student’s general patterns of adjustment (personal, social, emotional).
Key Words: acts, discriminates, displays, influences, listens, modifies, performs, practices, proposes, qualifies, questions, revises, serves, solves, verifies.
Examples: Student is able to make analogical connections between events in the story and his/her own life. Student shows self-reliance when working independently. Student cooperates in group activities (displays teamwork). Student uses an objective approach in problem solving. Student is able to revise judgments and changes behavior in light of new evidence learned in the stories. Student learns to value people for what they are, not how they look.
