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What is the learning goal you have identified for your studentslearners?
The learning goal is an overarching statement that:
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You may hear the terms goals and objectives used interchangeably. However, this is wrong; they are different. Goals are broad and sometimes can be difficult to measure directly. The important thing about goals is that they help you focus on the big and important picture.
Standards
What state adopted academic or content standard(s) are you addressing? (Provide the name of the standards document, the grade level, the correct numerical citation, and the text of the standard(s) you select.)
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What is your objective(s) for this lesson? Identify what the students learners will be able to do following instruction. Include an action verb (observable behavior), and criteria for success.
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- Who: The student
- State the learning objective in terms of what the student will be able to do as a result of the lesson. Do not describe what you, the teacher, will do during the lesson.
- It is common to embed the phrase “students will be able to…” into the objective. Please be aware that some of your instructors may not appreciate you taking a shortcut and writing SWBAT in formulaic fashion.
- What: The observable action
- Use behavioral verbs (action words) that describe an observable action, behavior, performance, or creation of a product.
- A useful objective identifies the kind of active performance that will be accepted as evidence the learner has achieved the objective. It is written in terms of what the student will be able to do or produce to be considered successful or competent.
- Some actions may be overt (visible) such as writing, drawing, or throwing.
- Some performances may be covert (not visible) such as solving, identifying, or distinguishing. Using forms of these verbs alone will be inadequate. Thus, when the main intent of the objective is covert, you should add an indicator behavior that is itself observable as a way to reveal whether the covert performance is happening.
- DO NOT use words such as ‘know’,’ learn’, ‘understand’, ‘grasp’, and ‘appreciate’. These are not observable; they can only be inferred indirectly based upon some other observable action.
- Please see Appendix F for resources on action verbs from Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy useful for writing lesson objectives.
- How: Under specified conditions
- State the conditions under which the action is to occur or be performed. This can include materials, directions, circumstances, and other things that precede the action and are given to initiate it.
- Miscommunication can be avoided by the inclusion of relevant conditions. Be detailed enough so that the behavior you intend to see will be recognized by one of your peers and not mistaken for other possible behaviors.
- Be careful that you do not primarily describe the details of the instructional strategy or learning activity in the lesson that leads to the behavior stated in the objective; keep the focus on the intended outcome of the learning experience.
- Some guiding questions to consider when thinking about conditions include:
- What will the student be expected to use when performing the actions? (materials, tools, a partner, a list)
- What will the student not be allowed to use? (notes, calculator)
- What would be some real-world conditions under which the action would be expected to occur? (in front of an audience)
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Well-constructed objectives require careful thought and multiple revisions along the way to arrive at a clear, complete expression. Objectives are at the center of the lesson plan. Composing good learning objectives is a skill that is developed with practice and seeking feedback on your efforts.
Example of Lesson Objectives Aligned to a Goal and Standards | ||
Goal | Standard(s) | Objective(s) |
Mathematics 5-8 Have students understand and explain that many different triangles can have the same area. | MN Mathematics 5.3.2.1 Develop and use formulas to determine the area of triangles, parallelograms and figures that can be decomposed into triangles.
NCTM grades 3-5 Measurement Explore what happens to measurements of a two-dimensional shape such as its perimeter and area when the shape is changed in some way.
| 1) Using a sheet of grid paper, students will be able to draw six differently shaped and oriented triangles (including acute, right, and obtuse examples) that all have the same base and height measurements. 2) Using triangle diagrams and referring to measurements and the triangle area formula, students will be able to explain how different-looking triangles can have the same area.
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Writing effective learning objectives
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including labeling the scale on the graph.
Continuity of Lessons
Describe how your current lesson fits in to the sequence of surrounding lessons. How do the prior and subsequent lessons affect what you will be teaching and what you will be expecting students to do? How will you build on what students have learned in previous lessons and use what they know to support them in meeting expectations of the next lesson? How have you made use of student assessment from previous lessons to make and or adjust these plans?
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If your lesson is an introductory lesson to a new unit, it is still necessary to describe what preceded this lesson and how students performed as this information will guide the decisions you make about content, activities, grouping, and further assessment.
Transform the objective into a learner-friendly/"I Can" statement: