Writing a Clear Learning Objective

1. Writing a Clear Learning Objective Presented by: LaRae Blomquist PreK-12 ELA Curriculum Specialist lblomqui@egusd.net

2. Learning Objective: The participant will be able to… • differentiate between learning objectives and agendas/standards/ activities. • create a clear learning objective based on a specific content standard.

3. Learning Objectives What’s the data say? How do we clearly communicate learning objectives to students?

4. Communicating Learning Objectives OR

5. Foundational Research The increased student achievement rate ranged between 18-41% when teachers communicated narrow, focused learning objectives. (Marzano, Pickering, and Pollock, 2001) The higher percentages were achieved when students were encouraged to set personalized goals in correlation with the unit objectives.

6. Benefits of Communicating Learning Objectives: When students recognize they are acquiring intentional daily skills, there is more relevance and motivation (Arter, Chappuis & Stiggins, 2003). Clearly defined objectives influence the validity of assessments (Mager, 1984). Clearly communicated learning objectives help parents to understand what the letter grades mean (Arter, Chappuis & Stiggins, 2003).

8. Writing Learning Objectives

9. 3 Parts to a Learning Objective Stem Active Verb Content or Skill

10. Step One: Create the Stem While a unit learning objective may be broader, a focused daily objective is meant to be student-friendly and immediately applicable. The student will be able to… The learner will… You will be able to…

11. Learning Objective - Stem • The teacher candidate will be able to… • differentiate between learning objectives and agendas/standards/ activities. • create a clear learning objective based on a specific content standard.

12. Step Two: Add an Active Verb Rely on specific, observable, measureable verbs that are able to be assessed. Avoid general verbs such as “appreciate” or “know”—specific verbs are excellent opportunities for direct instruction of academic language. Refer to the handout adapted from CSU, Bakersfield, PACT Outcomes.

13. Learning Objective - Active Verbs • The teacher candidate will be able to… • differentiate between learning objectives and agendas/standards/ activities. • create a clear learning objective based on a specific content standard.

14. Step Three: Add Content or Skill Depending on the curriculum standard, the learning objective may be focused on either acquiring/improving a skill or learning content Pull from the language of the standard to complete the learning objective—content or skill.

15. Learning Objective - Content from Standard • The teacher candidate will be able to… • differentiate between learning objectives and agendas/standards/ activities. • create a clear learning objective based on a specific content standard.

16. Think-Group Share Think: How are your standards structured? What are the 3 parts of writing a learning objective? What is the mnemonic that will help you remember? Pair-Share: The person with the shortest hair will go first to answer the questions above.

17. Resources for Writing Objectives Graphic Organizer Bloom’s Taxonomy Power Verbs Examples of Learning Objectives

18. Resources for Writing Objectives: • See handouts: power verbs, Bloom’s taxonomy verbs, examples of learning objectives

19. Learning Objectives Sort Differentiating between examples and non-examples

20. DIRECTIONS: • In triads, sort the contents of the SACk into two groups: examples and non-examples of learning objectives. • Please be prepared to share any discussion your trio may have had. • You have 10 minutes.

21. Learning Objectives – Did we answer our key questions? What’s the data say? How do we clearly communicate learning objectives to students?

22. Creating an Objective What standard are you using? Is your objective measureable? Did you format it following SAC?

23. DIRECTIONS: • Identify a standard from your content area that is a part of the current unit of study. • Write out both the standard number and the language of the standard. • Highlight the verb and the content of the standard on which you will base your objective. • Create a student-friendly objective in the SAC format and write it as part of your RN entry. • If the verb in the standard is not specific or measureable, you will need to change it.

24. REFLECTION: • Below the standard/learning objective that you wrote, describe how you would assess whether students achieved your learning objective. • Describe what the most difficult part of writing a specific learning objective was. • What questions might you ask of your curriculum specialist regarding standards and/or learning objectives?

25. Creating an Objective – Did we answer our key questions? What standard are you using? Is your objective measureable? Did you format it following SAC?