Webb’s Depth of Knowledge
PREPARING STUDENTS FOR THE COGNITIVELY DEMANDING TASKS
REQUIRED BY ALABAMA’S COLLEGE - AND CAREER-READY STANDARDS
Today’s Learning Targets
 Participants will analyze each level of Webb’s
Depth of Knowledge (DOK).
 Participants will discuss how to use this tool to
plan instruction with a focus on rigor and
relevance.
Available at:
http://www.crecnow.info/blendedsolutions/docs/docs/Webbs_Depth_of_Knowledge.pdf
Table Copies: A Guide for Using Webb’s DOK
Background knowledge:
On a sticky note, rate yourself
based on your knowledge of DOK.
1
2
3
4
5
Little to no
understanding
Some
Moderate
Good
Strong / Full
implementation
Karen Hess, Ed.D.
Handout: Web Resources
DOK Level 1:
Recall and Reproduction
DOK Level 2:
Skill/Concept
DOK Level 3:
Strategic Thinking &
Reasoning
DOK Level 4:
Extended Thinking
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRAOefIDcxs
Overview
Read and Code pages 4 and 5 of
An educator’s Guide for Applying
Webb’s Depth-of-Knowledge
Levels to the Common Core State
Standards.
With a partner identify three
main ideas about Webb’s Depth of
Knowledge and record them on a
piece of paper.
What is Webb’s DOK?
Webb’s DOK is a tool educators can use to
analyze the cognitive demand intended by
the standards, curricular activities, and
assessment tasks.
Webb’s Depth of Knowledge
•A scale of cognitive demand (thinking) to align
standards with assessments
•Guides item development for state assessments
•CCRS + DOK = ASPIRE
What Webb’s DOK is NOT
DOK is NOT a check of whether a task is completed correctly; it is
the kind of thinking involved in the task
DOK is NOT about difficulty, it is about COMPLEXITY
DOK does NOT classify the level of each cognitive demand based
upon the verb alone – as does Bloom’s Taxonomy, it is the verb plus
what follows the verb in the lesson objective / outcome
Webb’s Depth of Knowledge
Level 1: Recall/Reproduction
Level 2: Skill/Concept
Level 3: Strategic Thinking
Level 4: Extended Thinking
Let’s Dig In!!!
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Count off from 1-4.
Join colleagues with like numbers.
Read and annotate assigned text.
Chart big ideas.
Return to your home group and share your learning.
Be prepared to share whole group.
DOK Level 1
Verbs
Teacher Role
Student Role
Possible Products
Potential Activities
Blooms’ and Webb’s
DOK Level 1
Basic tasks
Recall of facts, terms,
details, calculations, etc.
Simple procedures
Only one right answer
What kind of thinking is
involved in Level 1 tasks?
Not complex
Low Cognitive Thinking
How does Level 1 connect to Aspire?
Percentage of DOK Level 1 Items
Reading 14-24%
Math 5-16%
Technical Bulletin #1 - actaspire.org
What does level 1 look like?
READING:
DOK 1 - 4th-5th Grade
What sickness is breaking out among
Mary’s household?
DOK 1
How does Mary survive the cholera
outbreak?
MATH:
DOK 1 - Algebra I
What value of x makes this equation
true?
5(x + 4) = 3x + 28
a. 4
b. 6
c. 12
d. 24
DOK Level 2
Verbs
Teacher Role
Student Role
Possible Products
Potential Activities
Blooms’ and Webb’s
DOK Level 2
Compare or differentiate
Apply multiple concepts
Classify or sort
Describe (predict) or explain (tell
why)
Provide examples and non-examples
Use examples in context for
unknown words
Usually one right answer
What kind of thinking is
involved in Level 2 tasks?
• More complex
How does Level 2 connect to Aspire?
Percentage of DOK Level 2 Items
Reading 38-62%
Math 27-38%
Technical Bulletin #1 - actaspire.org
What does level 2 look like?
READING:
DOK 2 - 4th-5th Grade
When does Mary discover that cholera
has killed everyone in her home?
MATH:
DOK 2 – Algebra I
When a student subtracts 18 from a
number, the result is ¼ of the number.
What is the number?
a. 6
b. 18
c. 24
d. 36
DOK Level 3
Verbs
Teacher Role
Student Role
Possible Products
Potential Activities
Blooms’ and Webb’s
DOK Level 3
Demands the use of planning
Reasoning
Higher order thinking
Analysis and evaluation
Solving real-world problems
Activities may have more than one answer
& more than one way to reach an answer
Provide evidence and reasoning for
conclusions drawn
Explain and justify thinking
In-depth understanding of one
text, data set, investigation or key
source
What kind of thinking is involved in
Level 3 tasks?
Higher Cognitive Demands
Very Complex
How does Level 3 connect to Aspire?
Percentage of DOK Level 3 Items
Reading 24-48%
Math 51-62%
Technical Bulletin #1 - actaspire.org
What does level 3 look like?
READING:
4th
5th
DOK 3 Grade
What does the narrator mean when he
or she says, “When people had cholera it
seemed they remembered nothing but
themselves”? Does Mary believe anyone
will come for her?
MATH:
DOK 3 - Algebra I
Jack, Luka, Tony took a quiz. Luka’s score
was 12 less than Tony’s score and three
times Jack’s score. If Jack’s score was 1/9
of Tony’s score, what was Tony’s score?
a. 6
b. 12
c. 18
d. 24
DOK Level 4
Verbs
Teacher Role
Student Role
Possible Products
Potential Activities
Blooms’ and Webb’s
Handouts (4): Webb’s Levels Overview
DOK Level 4
Create
Extend
Produce
Extended time / Multiday
Project-based / Collaborative
More than one answer & more
than one way to reach an
answer
What kind of thinking
is involved in Level 4
tasks?
Higher Cognitive
Demands
Very Complex
Amount of DOK 3 assessments on the ACT ASPIRE
English
Math
Science
Reading
Writing
Roughly
1/3
More than
50%
Between
25-40%
Between
25-48%
ALL ACT
Aspire
Writing
prompts
are
assigned
DOK 3.
Same Verb – Three Different DOK
Levels
Recall and
Reproduction DOK
1
Skills and
Concepts/Basic
Reasoning DOK 2
Students will identify
essential information
needed to
accomplish a task.
Students will identify
information in a
passage that is
supported by fact.
Strategic Thinking/
Extended
Complex Reasoning Thinking/Reasoning DOK
DOK 3
4
Students will identify
the appropriateness
of an argument using
supporting evidence.
Students will identify
interrelationships (themes,
ideas, concepts) developed
in more than one literary
work.
Same Verb – Three Different DOK Levels
Describe three characteristics of metamorphic rocks.
Level 1: Requires simple recall
 Describe the difference between metamorphic and igneous rocks.
Level 2: Requires cognitive processing to determine the differences in the two
rock types
 Describe a model that you might use to represent the relationships that exist
within the rock cycle.
Level 3: Requires deep understanding of rock cycle and a determination of how
best to represent it
Sorting Activity
Webb’s Depth of Knowledge
Standards based instruction
Rigorous Instruction
Instructional Practices
Connected Strategies / Activities / Relevance
Scaffolding Instruction
Engagement of ALL students
REFLECTION: Today’s Learning
Targets
 Participants will analyze each level of Webb’s
Depth of Knowledge (DOK).
 Participants will discuss how to use this tool to
plan instruction with a focus on rigor and
relevance.
Reflection Questions
What is Webb’s Depth of Knowledge?
How does each level connect to Aspire?
How does each level look in practice?
Is the task complex or difficult?
Is instruction deeper or wider?
REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
DATA ON DISPLAY
What is Webb’s Depth of Knowledge?
How does each level connect to Aspire?
How does each level look in practice?
Is the task complex or difficult?
Is instruction deeper or wider?
Exit question:
Rate yourself based on your
knowledge of DOK.
1
2
3
4
5
Little to no
understanding
Some
Moderate
Good
Strong / Full
implementation