1. Writing Instructional Objectives
Guidelines for Effective Lesson Planning
Writing Instructional Objectives
Original Power Point from:
Edited by Cynthia Hendricks for ECEP

2. Instructional Goals
Before beginning to write your instructional objective(s), consider the larger educational goal to which the objective leads.

3. Instructional Goals
There are certain expectations that people have for individuals who have completed twelve years of school.

4. Instructional Goals
We expect high school graduates to be able to solve problems, critically evaluate issues, and make decisions.

5. Instructional Goals
Students do not achieve these goals at one grade level or in one class.

6. Instructional Goals
One teacher cannot be responsible for students achieving these goals.

7. Instructional Goals
A team of teachers is required.

8. Instructional Goals
Begin by identifying the part of the goal to be achieved in the lesson you are teaching.

9. Standards The state standards are a good place to start.
Arkansas Child Development and Early Learning Standards: Birth through 60 Months (CDELS)
Arkansas Academic Standards
K-12 Curriculum Framework

10. Task Analysis
Writing instructional objectives for a complex goal such as problem-solving or critical thinking requires completion of a task analysis.

11. Task Analysis Consider this educational goal.
SL.K.6. Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly.
LD 3.1 Communicates using social and conversational rules.

12. Task Analysis
What must a student be able to do to complete this task?

13. Task Analysis
Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly.
Students are able to distinguish parts of speech.
Students are able to use sentences that are three or four words long.
Students are able to distinguish a complete thought.

14. Task Analysis: Determining Student Abilities
After the task analysis is complete, you need to determine which tasks students have already mastered and which they continue to need work. This is often referred to as formative evaluation or formative assessment.

15. Writing Instructional Objectives
Think about what a student who achieved the objective would look like.

16. Writing Instructional Objectives
A student who can write a complete sentence can …
Distinguish a complete thought
Distinguish a phrase from a clause
Express a complete thought in a sentence

17. Writing Instructional Objectives
Now think about what the students in your class can do.

18. Writing Instructional Objectives
Now you should have an idea of the learning tasks to establish for your students.
You may need to make modifications for struggling and/or advanced learners.

19. Writing Instructional Objectives
The sample of tasks you select should reflect the level at which students are operating in the cognitive, psychomotor, and/or affective domains.

20. Writing Instructional Objectives
As you write instructional objectives, you should remember the following :

21. Guidelines for Instructional Objectives
Instructional objectives guide the use of instructional activities

22. Guidelines for Instructional Objectives
Instructional objectives guide the selection of instructional resources
Not Vice Versa

23. Guidelines for Instructional Objectives
Instructional objectives focus on learning outcomes for students,
NOT actions by the teacher.

24. Guidelines for Instructional Objectives
Instructional objectives are aimed at general learning outcomes.
General learning outcome:
Students are able to use grid lines on a map to find 8 out of 10 locations.

25. Guidelines for Instructional Objectives
They are not specific to a given set of resources.
Learning outcome specific to a set of resources:
Students are able to use
the grid lines on a map
of Wisconsin to find
Birchwood every time.

26. Guidelines for Instructional Objectives
Instructional objectives are stated in terms of observable student outcomes.
“Students will understand the law of supply and demand.”
This is NOT a statement of an observable outcome.
“Understand” is a verb that cannot be measured objectively.

27. Guidelines for Instructional Objectives
Students will use the law of supply and demand to explain the pricing of consumer products with 90% accuracy.
This is a statement of an observable outcome.
Students can be asked to provide an explanation of the pricing of a consumer product.

28. Guidelines for Instructional Objectives
Instructional objectives determine assessment and evaluation.

29. Writing Instructional Objectives
Each objective will contain four parts.
It’s as easy as ABCD!
Audience
Behavior
Condition
Degree

30. Audience
The audience is always the individual(s) for whom you are writing the objective.
This should be explicitly stated in your objective.
Only include one audience in each objective.
Examples:
The students will…
Groups will…
The children will…
The class will…
The infant will…
The toddler will..

31. Audience Name the audience in the following objectives.
The infant will
turn his/her head towards the noise
80% of the time
when a rattle is presented.
Given clay,
the students will
correctly model cubes, spheres, and cylinders
9 out of 10 times.

32. This is the audience of the objective
This is the audience of the objective. It states who will demonstrate the learning outcome.
Return to previous slide

33. Behavior
The behavior is always a verb/action that you can measure or observe objectively.
Avoid vague verbs like “learn, understand, comprehend” because they are hard to measure.
Only include one behavior in each objective.
Bloom’s Taxonomy should be used to ensure you are choosing behaviors that promote different levels of learning.

34. Bloom’s Taxonomy: Knowledge
Recalls the names of the parts of speech
States the definition of ‘noun’ and ‘verb’
Knowledge Behaviors/Verbs/Actions
Count
Label
Recite
Write
Define
Match
Record
List
Draw
Name
Select
Describe
Enumerate
Quote
State
View
Find
Reproduce
Tell
Read
Identify
Recall
Sequence

35. Bloom’s Taxonomy: Comprehension
Identifies subordinate clauses in a sentence
States the difference between a clause and a phrase in his/her own words
Comprehension Behaviors/Verbs/Actions
Classify Cite Conclude Convert Describe
Discuss Estimate Explain Generalize Report Paraphrase Give examples Illustrate Interpret Locate Make sense of Restate Review Summarize

36. Bloom’s Taxonomy: Application
Writes a sentence with a subordinate clause
Application Behaviors/Verbs/Actions
Apply
Dramatize
Operate
Schedule
Change
Employ
Practice
Show
Choose
Illustrate
Predict
Sketch
Compute
Interpret
Prepare
Solve
Demonstrate
Manipulate
Produce
Write
Discover
Modify
Relate

37. Bloom’s Taxonomy: Analysis
Identifies errors in a set of sentences and corrects those errors.
Analysis Behaviors/Verbs/Actions
Analyze Appraise Breakdown Calculate
Categorize Classify Compare Contrast
Criticize Derive Diagram Differentiate
Discriminate Distinguish Examine Experiment
Identify Illustrate Infer Interpret
Model Outline Question Relate
Select Separate Subdivide Test

38. Bloom’s Taxonomy: Synthesis
States reasons for requiring a subordinate clause to be included within a complete sentence
Synthesis Behaviors/Verbs/Actions
Arrange
Construct
Generate
Reorganize
Assemble
Create
Plan
Revise
Categorize
Design
Prepare
Rewrite
Collect
Develop
Propose
Summarize
Combine
Devise
Rearrange
Synthesize
Comply
Explain
Reconstruct
Tell
Compose
Formulate
Relate
Write

39. Bloom’s Taxonomy: Evaluation
Critiques a set of communications for their ability to communicate clearly.
Evaluation Behaviors/Verbs/Actions
Appraise
Conclude
Evaluate
Predict
Argue
Contrast
Explain
Rate
Assess
Defend
Judge
Select
Attach
Describe
Justify
Summarize
Choose
Discriminate
Interpret
Support
Compare
Estimate
Relate
value

40. Behavior Name the behavior in the following objectives. The class will
serve food to needy individuals
at a community shelter
for two hours.
With a spoon,
each toddler will
feed himself or herself at lunch
without spilling food on his/her clothing or floor.

41. This is the behavior in the objective
This is the behavior in the objective. This is the observable action that will be measured to determine if the learning outcome has been met.
Return to previous slide

42. Condition
The condition identifies materials and/or tools that will be accessible to the learner while his/her performance is evaluated.
This should be explicitly stated in your objective.
The condition should be assessment used to evaluate learners.

43. Condition Name the condition in the following objectives.
The child will
compute sums of single digit numbers
when presented in written word problems
with 80% accuracy.
Given water colors, paint brushes and paper,
the pupils will
create secondary colors
with 90% accuracy.

44. This is the condition for the objective
This is the condition for the objective. This is the criteria that will be used during the assessment of the learning outcome. The condition in the objective should be present in the evaluation.

45. Degree
The degree is the level of proficiency required to indicate successful completion of the objective.
This should be explicitly stated in your objective.
Typically, you should not require your learners to be perfect to complete an objective, as this sets them up for failure.
Examples:
within ½ inch
for 3 hours
with 80% accuracy
9 out of 10 times

46. Degree Name the degree in the following objectives.
To the nearest millimeter,
lab participants will
measure the height of plants
with a tape measure.
The students will
illustrate their original narratives
with colored pencils and construction paper
within 30 minutes.

47. This is the degree of success expected to meet the objective
This is the degree of success expected to meet the objective. Stating the level of success allows you to recognize if learners are ready to move on or need remediation. Perfection is impossible because everyone makes mistakes, so the degree of success should not require 100% accuracy.

48. Instructional Objectives Summary
Start the process of determining instructional objectives by reviewing the subject area standards for the grade level you are teaching.
Identify the standard your lesson is focused upon.

49. Writing Instructional Objectives Summary
If the standard involves learning a complex concept, generalization, or skill, complete a task analysis.
Identify the steps in the task the lesson will address.

50. Writing Instructional Objectives Summary
The statement of an objective should reflect an appropriate level in the cognitive, affective, or psychomotor domain.
The statement identifies learning outcomes for students and not actions by the teacher

51. Writing Instructional Objectives Summary
The statement guides the selection of instructional resources and activities.
The statement determines the assessment or evaluation that will be used.

52. Writing Instructional Objectives Conclusion
Instructional objectives guide the remaining steps in planning a lesson.
No lesson can be effective without effective instructional objectives.
A lesson without effective objectives is like a trip without a destination…

53. Writing Instructional Objectives Conclusion
You don’t know where you are going.
You have no means to determine how to get there.
And, you don’t know when you have arrived.