Writing Learning Targets: A Formula for Success!
I can, we can, they can, the student will… It’s too much! All of these things can get confusing when writing student learning targets. I mean, let’s be real, where do I put this and where do I put that. Not to add, so many people have a way of writing learning targets. It can be hard to decide which of these ways is the best. Keep reading to find a formula for writing learning targets that are effective that will help your students understand and learn!
So in order to write an effective learning target you need the following formula:
Behavior+ Condition+ Criteria= Effective Learning Target!
I can’t just give you the formula without teaching you how to use it. I wrote a post recently all about engaging symmetry activities. You can find that here if you want to check it out.
I’ll use symmetry as an example just to show you to use the formula and the Learning Target Worksheet.
Behavior: What are students going to do?
Effective learning targets can be easy to write and you should always start with trying to decide what your students are going to do. For my lesson on symmetry, my students are going to “create figures with at least one line of horizontal symmetry.” That is my behavior!
Condition: What are students going to use?
So, you’ve looked at your standard to see what your students need to know. Now, what are you going to give your student that is going to help them to help them master the concept. For my lesson on symmetry, they are going to use pattern blocks to help them.
Criteria: How well should students perform the task?
When you give students their formative assessment, how will you know they have accomplished what you set out to teach them? Well that is the criteria. If you are going to give them an assessment, how many questions are there on that assessment? What percentage of those questions do you want your students to get correct? Your criteria is just that a percentage. For my lesson on symmetry, I want my students to complete the task with at least 80% accuracy.
Writing the Learning Target
Now you are ready to put it all together. Begin with writing your behavior, then your condition, then the criteria. See the example below!
So here’s my learning target:
“Given pattern blocks, the student will create figures with at least one line of horizontal symmetry with 80% accuracy.”
With all the I can, we can, they can, the student will, Susie will… Ok so I made the last one up… things can get a little overwhelming! What do I write where and where do I put it???? Well here is the rule that I follow:
When I’m writing my lesson plans, I always use the phrase “The student will” or just TSW. Why? Because as I am writing I am saying that this is what the student will do. When I am writing my learning targets on the board, I use the words “I can…”, because I want my students to own their learning and they are telling me that they can do it. Also, when the big wigs from downtown come in and ask what they are doing then I have it right there on the board for them. Again, this is what I recommend, but if your admin tells you something different, by all means go with what they say!
You will notice that in my example above I used the words “the student will,” because this is going in my lesson plans! When I go to write it for my students to know, I change the words “the student will” to “i can” and copy the rest!
Writing student learning targets that are effective is easy with this simple formula. Behavior+Condition+ Criteria= Learning Target! You will be ready and know exactly what you are doing and your students will know exactly what they need to do so that they can be successful!
Need help writing learning targets, pick up a free copy of the worksheet by clicking here!
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