Looking for a Learning Target

Looking for a

Learning Target

Formative Classroom Walkthroughs

Open Ended

What are you looking forward to in 2023?

What is a
Learning Target?

Open Ended

What does a learning target mean to you?

Are you able to answer these questions from the

student’s point of view?

1.What will I be able to do at the end of today’s
lesson?

2.

What do I have to learn to be able to do it?

3.

How will I be asked to show that I can do it?

4.

How well will I be expected to do it?

How do effective teachers design a Learning Target?

Figure 5.1: The Four-Column Learning Target Framework

The Learning Target

What am I learning?What
will I be able to do when I

finish today’s lesson?

What concepts & skills

are important?

How will I show my

learning?

How will I know I can do

it?

The shared learning target

statement: Describe the

learning in

age/developmentally
appropriate language

students will understand.

Lesson-sized chunk of

content knowledge, skills and

reasoning

Performance of
Understanding
Student “look-fors”

Yesterday we learned…

Today we are learning…

To be able to do this we must
learn and understand that….

You will show that you can do

this by…

Here is what you will look for

to know if you have hit the

learning target:

Yesterday we learned about the
question mark, what it looks like, and
that it comes at the end of an asking
sentence.

Today we are learning to write an
asking sentence that has a question
mark at the end.

Column 1: What will I be able to do at the end of today’s lesson?
Learning Target Example for Elementary School: Question Marks

To do this we must learn and
understand that some asking
sentences begin with a “question” word
such as who, what, where, when, why, or
how.

Column 2: What will I have to learn to be able to do it?

You will show that you can do this by
rewriting a list of telling sentences as
asking sentences and ending each one
with a question mark.

Column 3: How will I be asked to show that I can do it?

You will know that you have hit the learning
target when you are able to say the
following:

●I can use one of the asking words to
change my telling sentence into a
question.

●I can place a question mark at the end
of my asking sentence.

●I can answer my new asking sentence
by using my “telling” sentence.

Column 4: How well will I be expected to do it?

How will you recognize a good Learning Target?

Clear expectations

How students will
demonstrate their

learning in a product

B

“Look fors”

Contains criteria that
students can use to
judge how close they
are to the target

C

More than a Statement
A description of what is
important in student
friendly language derived
from content standards

A

Let’s check your understanding!

Page 83

Elementary Example

Poll

How would you rate this learning target?

1 - 4 with 4 being outstanding?

Middle School Example

Open Ended

What would you change/add to this learning target?

High School Example

Open Ended

What would you change/add to this learning target?

What observable strategies provide evidence that

students are aiming for a Learning Target?

LEARNING TARGET

Organizing visuals

Even Warmer stage

Visuals that explain,
illustrate, describe
and unpack the
important
concepts/skills

Teacher shares target
verbally

Cold stage

Teacher describes
what the students will
learn and why, not
just directions

Students asked to put
in own words

Warmer stage

Students explain to
their partner and give
a personal example
or explanation

What observable strategies provide evidence that

students are aiming for a Learning Target?

LEARNING TARGET

Students make
connections to past
and future learning

Hottest!

Discussions led by
students or the
teacher - students
see how their learning
builds

Teacher & Students refer
to target throughout the
lesson

Getting hot

What students are
saying and doing -
discussing, clarifying,
describing, etc…

Students analyze
strong/weak work

Getting hotter

Rubric “look-fors” are
used by students to
understand how close
they are to the
learning target

“If students are not using the target to aim

for, assess and improve their learning DURING

the lesson, there is no learning target”

Multiple Choice

Your standards-based objective should be written in _____________?

• Espanol

• A cryptic code

• Student friendly language

• Invisible ink

Multiple Choice

Clear expectations in the learning target can lead to....

• Students don't know how close they are to the target

• Students do not understand the directions

• Students know how to demonstrate their learning in a product/evidence

• Students working in groups

Poll

My learning target should change every day​

• TRUE

• FALSE