WRITING INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES SEED 4123/5123 and Ready for Science PD Series

OVERVIEW OF LESSON PLANNING  Select topic and match standards  *Write learning objectives based on your standards  Determine assessments that will measure mastery of objectives  Select activities and assignments that will enable students to successfully complete assessments  Think about your learning theories, logistics, management, grouping, etc.  *Write questions – advancing and assessing, higher and lower level, etc.  Flesh out your details, if it’s a formal lesson plan.

INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES  Describe skills, knowledge, abilities, or attitudes students should possess or demonstrate after a lesson.  Are specific, outcome based, measurable, and describe student behaviors.  Are the KEY to effective instruction.  Are not the same thing as “activities” or “assignments” in your lesson.

THREE DOMAINS  Cognitive (We will focus on cognitive.) Related to information or knowledge – the “content” Receives the most attention Bloom’s Taxonomy (Flipchart) Sometimes labeled as declarative or procedural.  Psychomotor Basic motor skills and physical movement Construct, set-up, pour, etc.  Affective Attitudes, appreciations, emotions, values

WRITING OBJECTIVES  Start with your standards. (We will use TN standards and the K-12 Framework.)  Determine the expected performance (outcome). What will students be expected to do? Avoid ambiguous words.  Identify the conditions.  Identify and describe the criterion. EXAMPLE: The learner will tell the time on an analog clock to the nearest minute.

WRITING OBJECTIVES  Start with your standards. (We will use TN standards and the K-12 Framework.)  Determine the expected performance (outcome). What will students be expected to do? Avoid ambiguous words.  Identify the conditions.  Identify and describe the criterion.  Consider your assessment – for lesson planning. EXAMPLE: The learner will tell the time on an analog clock to the nearest minute.

 Ambiguous Words Know Understand Become familiar with Appreciate Learn Grasp the significance of SELECTING WORDING  Better Words Solve Identify List Align Identify Compare and contrast

EXAMPLES  Poor examples: The student will understand chemical reactions. The learner will demonstrate scientific thinking. The learner will be able to balance chemical equations. The student will analyze a physical change. The learner will complete a worksheet on physical changes.  Better examples: Given a metric ruler, the student will measure the length of common linear objects to the nearest millimeter. Given simple chemical equations, the student will correctly balance 8 out of 10. By watching a demonstration, students will use the “evidences of chemical reactions” to identify whether a change is chemical or physical.

ABOUT “LEARNING TARGETS”  Current trend: use “learning targets” or “I can…” in instruction.  Learning Targets are written in “student friendly” language and are communicated to students at the beginning (and usually reviewed at the end) of the lesson. (Don’t just write them and hope students notice!)  Learning Objectives can be simplified down – usually to 1-2 learning targets each.  Learning targets will look different depending on your grade level!

EXAMPLES  Learning targets: Given a metric ruler, the student will measure the length of common linear objects to the nearest millimeter. I can measure items to the nearest millimeter using a ruler. Given simple chemical equations, the student will correctly balance 8 out of 10. I can count the number of different kinds of atoms in a formula with subscripts and coefficients. I can balance chemical equations. By watching a demonstration, students will use the “evidences of chemical reactions” to identify whether a change is chemical or physical. I can list the evidences of a chemical reaction. I can observe a process and determine whether it is physical or chemical.

THINK ABOUT ASSESSMENT  Formative Assessment: As you plan your lesson and write your objectives, think about your formative assessment during the lesson. What should students do at the end of the lesson to demonstrate their mastery of the objectives? And how will you know EACH student demonstrates mastery? Write your assessment plan for each objective in parentheses after the objective. [This may not be required by your school, but it helps focus your instruction.]  Summative Assessment: Each item on your summative assessment should be directly related to an objective from one of the lessons.

EXAMPLES  Formative assessment, tied to objectives: Given a metric ruler, the student will measure the length of common linear objects to the nearest millimeter. (teacher observation with a checklist) Given simple chemical equations, the student will correctly balance 8 out of 10. (exit ticket with 10 equations) By watching a demonstration, students will use the “evidences of chemical reactions” to identify whether a change is chemical or physical. (handout completed during demonstrations)

YOUR TURN  Work in groups of 3-4.  Look over the K-12 Framework’s Core Idea PS1. Look over the 8 th Grade standards for Matter. Select a topic and standards.  Write 2-3 good learning objectives related to your topic and standards that would be used in one lesson.  Write corresponding “learning targets” in student-friendly language  Think about what your objectives allude to for your lesson activities/assignments, and pencil in your formative assessment ideas.  Share out with the class!