Blooms 3D

Verb Taxonomy

Learning outcomes live or die by their verb choices, and the existing verb banks are almost entirely cognitive. So I’ve built a comprehensive verb framework – with Shared verbs that work across all three domains, and those specific for each domain Cognitive, Affective, and Operative – across each of the six dimensions.

One of the more interesting realisations in doing this work: some verbs are genuinely shared across all three domains. Take identify – cognitively, you might identify a concept; affectively, you might identify the emotions present in a situation; operatively, you might identify what movements are being made. The verb holds across all three. But other verbs belong more naturally within a specific domain. And there’s a sequencing dimension too: a verb that’s domain-specific in one dimension might become a shared, cross-domain expectation at another.

	Shared Applies Across all domains	Cognitive Thinking • Knowing • Reasoning	Affective Feeling • Valuing • Relating	Operative Doing • Making • Performing
Perceptual	identify, label, listen, locate, name, notice, observe, recognise, recall, recite, record, reproduce, retrieve, select, visualise	Remembering choose, copy, define, describe, duplicate, enumerate, list, match, memorise, quote, state, tabulate, tell	Receiving attend, acknowledge, aware, concern, experience, follow, open, receive, respect, tolerate, welcome, withhold	Perceiving align, detect, focus, hear, orient, perceive, position, sense, track, tune
Conceptual	associate, clarify, classify, describe, discuss, explain, group, illustrate, indicate, interpret, match, outline, paraphrase, reconstruct, relate, report, represent, research, restate, roleplay, show, summarise	Understanding cite, convert, estimate, extend, generalise, infer, judge, order, reason, rephrase, rewrite, trace, transform	Responding ask, attribute, comply, engage, express, explore, hear, participate, practice, question, react, reply, respond, share, wonder	Preparing approximate, attempt, calibrate, check, copy, distinguish, exhibit, follow, handle, hold, imitate, mimic, prepare, replicate, try
Contextual	act, administer, annotate, apply, build, carry, chart, collect, complete, construct, demonstrate, discern, document, employ, execute, experiment, interview, introduce, map, manipulate, operate, organise, paint, plan, practise, produce, quantify, sketch, teach, translate, troubleshoot, use, utilise	Applying adapt, articulate, calculate, determine, establish, exemplify, predict, prepare, schedule, solve, transfer, write	Valuing accept, adopt, appreciate, commit, connect, defend, dramatise, empathise, invest, justify, prioritise, seek, simulate, value	Imitating adjust, assemble, differentiate, form, make, measure, monitor, perform, practice, refine, rehearse, repeat, replicate, sequence, simulate, time
Practical	analyse, categorise, connect, contrast, cooperate, correlate, corroborate, debrief, deduce, diagram, differentiate, discriminate, dissect, distinguish, divide, devise, engineer, examine, focus, implement, infer, inspect, investigate, manage, order, perform, prioritise, propose, question, reason, reflect, separate, storyboard, survey, test	Analysing appraise, break down, compute, conceptualise, deconstruct, debate, deliberate, estimate, inquire, simplify, subdivide	Organising address, advise, arrange, balance, broker, challenge, conduct, contribute, elicit, encourage, facilitate, initiate, integrate, mediate, navigate, negotiate, read, reconcile, resolve, weigh	Practising adapt, adopt, address, attribute, combine, coordinate, customise, develop, exemplify, incorporate, modify, sustain, systematise
Critical	appraise, argue, assess, compare, conclude, consult, contextualise, convince, critique, decide, decode, deconstruct, defend, derive, determine, dispute, estimate, evaluate, extrapolate, forecast, guide, interrogate, judge, justify, measure, persuade, predict, prescribe, present, qualify, recommend, refine, resolve, review, support, verify, weigh	Evaluating authenticate, consider, criticise, cross-examine, disprove, grade, hypothesise, influence, perceive, prove, rank, rate, reframe, score, substantiate, validate	Characterising advocate, behave, campaign, embody, exemplify, exhibit, foster, model, modify, promote, resist, uphold, urge	Performing coach, conduct, direct, express, extend, fashion, improvise, integrate, master, mentor, oversee, supervise
Original	abstract, adapt, arrange, author, challenge, collaborate, combine, commentate, compose, create, design, develop, diagnose, elaborate, facilitate, formulate, generate, imagine, innovate, integrate, invent, improve, instruct, intervene, make, model, modify, negotiate, optimise, originate, prepare, provoke, rationalise, revise, simulate, solve, strategise, structure, theorise, validate	Creating anticipate, assemble, compile, conceive, distil, express, posit, postulate, rearrange, reorganise, report, speculate, substitute	Advocating advance, arbitrate, champion, cultivate, effect, enable, engender, further, govern, influence, inspire, lead, motivate, pioneer, press, regulate, shape, steer, steward, transform	Originating choreograph, contribute, curate, fabricate, lead, manufacture, pilot, pioneer, redefine, synthesise, teach, train

Shared
Applies Across all domains

Cognitive
Thinking • Knowing • Reasoning

Affective
Feeling • Valuing • Relating

Operative
Doing • Making • Performing

Perceptual

identify, label, listen, locate, name, notice, observe, recognise, recall, recite, record, reproduce, retrieve, select, visualise

Remembering

choose, copy, define, describe, duplicate, enumerate, list, match, memorise, quote, state, tabulate, tell

Receiving

attend, acknowledge, aware, concern, experience, follow, open, receive, respect, tolerate, welcome, withhold

Perceiving

align, detect, focus, hear, orient, perceive, position, sense, track, tune

Conceptual

associate, clarify, classify, describe, discuss, explain, group, illustrate, indicate, interpret, match, outline, paraphrase, reconstruct, relate, report, represent, research, restate, roleplay, show, summarise

Understanding

cite, convert, estimate, extend, generalise, infer, judge, order, reason, rephrase, rewrite, trace, transform

Responding

ask, attribute, comply, engage, express, explore, hear, participate, practice, question, react, reply, respond, share, wonder

Preparing

approximate, attempt, calibrate, check, copy, distinguish, exhibit, follow, handle, hold, imitate, mimic, prepare, replicate, try

Contextual

act, administer, annotate, apply, build, carry, chart, collect, complete, construct, demonstrate, discern, document, employ, execute, experiment, interview, introduce, map, manipulate, operate, organise, paint, plan, practise, produce, quantify, sketch, teach, translate, troubleshoot, use, utilise

Applying

adapt, articulate, calculate, determine, establish, exemplify, predict, prepare, schedule, solve, transfer, write

Valuing

accept, adopt, appreciate, commit, connect, defend, dramatise, empathise, invest, justify, prioritise, seek, simulate, value

Imitating

adjust, assemble, differentiate, form, make, measure, monitor, perform, practice, refine, rehearse, repeat, replicate, sequence, simulate, time

Practical

analyse, categorise, connect, contrast, cooperate, correlate, corroborate, debrief, deduce, diagram, differentiate, discriminate, dissect, distinguish, divide, devise, engineer, examine, focus, implement, infer, inspect, investigate, manage, order, perform, prioritise, propose, question, reason, reflect, separate, storyboard, survey, test

Analysing

appraise, break down, compute, conceptualise, deconstruct, debate, deliberate, estimate, inquire, simplify, subdivide

Organising

address, advise, arrange, balance, broker, challenge, conduct, contribute, elicit, encourage, facilitate, initiate, integrate, mediate, navigate, negotiate, read, reconcile, resolve, weigh

Practising

adapt, adopt, address, attribute, combine, coordinate, customise, develop, exemplify, incorporate, modify, sustain, systematise

Critical

appraise, argue, assess, compare, conclude, consult, contextualise, convince, critique, decide, decode, deconstruct, defend, derive, determine, dispute, estimate, evaluate, extrapolate, forecast, guide, interrogate, judge, justify, measure, persuade, predict, prescribe, present, qualify, recommend, refine, resolve, review, support, verify, weigh

Evaluating

authenticate, consider, criticise, cross-examine, disprove, grade, hypothesise, influence, perceive, prove, rank, rate, reframe, score, substantiate, validate

Characterising

advocate, behave, campaign, embody, exemplify, exhibit, foster, model, modify, promote, resist, uphold, urge

Performing

coach, conduct, direct, express, extend, fashion, improvise, integrate, master, mentor, oversee, supervise

Original

abstract, adapt, arrange, author, challenge, collaborate, combine, commentate, compose, create, design, develop, diagnose, elaborate, facilitate, formulate, generate, imagine, innovate, integrate, invent, improve, instruct, intervene, make, model, modify, negotiate, optimise, originate, prepare, provoke, rationalise, revise, simulate, solve, strategise, structure, theorise, validate

Creating

anticipate, assemble, compile, conceive, distil, express, posit, postulate, rearrange, reorganise, report, speculate, substitute

Advocating

advance, arbitrate, champion, cultivate, effect, enable, engender, further, govern, influence, inspire, lead, motivate, pioneer, press, regulate, shape, steer, steward, transform

Originating

choreograph, contribute, curate, fabricate, lead, manufacture, pilot, pioneer, redefine, synthesise, teach, train