Learning Objectives
An Essential Step in
Differentiating
Instruction
September 5 & 6, 2006
Differentiated Instruction
Differentiated instruction is an
approach to teaching that
responds to the learning
needs of all students.
Differentiated Instruction
Rests on:
•
•
•
Clarity of outcomes and
expectations for all students
Assessment of student progress
towards these outcomes
Planning for different kinds of
progress and needs among
students
What are Learning
Objectives?
Learning Objectives are:
Statements of what students
should Know and Be Able To
Do at the end of a lesson
 Expressed in terms of the
curriculum
 Written and communicated to
the students

Learning Objectives are
Student-centered
and expressed in studentfriendly language.
At the end of the lesson,
students (or you) will be able to ……
Learning Objectives are
Specific
in terms of curricular knowledge.
At the end of the lesson, students (or
you) will be able to explain three types
of evidence to support the theory of
continental drift to each other.
Learning Objectives are
Concrete and able
to be assessed.
For example, by the end of the lesson,
students (or you) will be able to:
•Demonstrate
•Describe
•Explain
•Define and give examples of
•Compare and contrast
•Synthesize
•Evaluate
Learning Objectives are
Appropriate.
This means they are:
 Linked to Standards, and State and
District curricula
 Worth knowing
 Matched to students: challenging and
attainable
Learning Objectives vs.
Activities


A learning objective focuses on what
students will learn, not what they are doing
in order to learn.
If the objective is student learning, the
teacher will have students do something
that will increase their likelihood of
acquiring a particular knowledge or skill,
but the goal is the learning, not the activity.
Learning or activity?




Students will be able to describe to each other
the principal causes of World War I.
Students will watch a video on earthquakes
using an organizer, then answer questions
based on their notes.
Students will go to the Museum of Fine Arts and
write a paper on their favorite painting.
Students will apply the rules for stem-changing
in the subjunctive by generating “what if”
questions.
Clarity of expected student
outcomes related to the
curriculum is an essential
part of Differentiated
Instruction.
Components of DI:
• High quality, guaranteed curriculum
• Clear outcomes
• Ongoing assessment
• Differentiated responses to assessments
Are these Learning Objectives?
YES

Students will identify the
qualities of an effective
leader as proposed by
Machiavelli in The Prince.

Students will evaluate the
impact of drug use on
teenagers in American
society.

Students will compare
and contrast daily
teenage life in the native
and target cultures

NO
Students will read about
effective leaders in The
Prince by Machiavelli.

Students will understand
the impact of drug use on
teenagers in American
society.

Students will appreciate
the contrast of daily
teenage life in the native
and target cultures.
Are these Learning Objectives?
NO
YES

Students will be able
to write the electron
configurations for
elements 1-36 using
only a periodic table.

Students will apply
the rules of traveling
and double dribble in
a small sided
basketball game.

Students will memorize
the electron
configurations for the
first four rows of the
periodic table.

Students will play a
three-on-three
basketball game.
Checking on Learning
Objectives
Is this learning objective…

Student-Centered?
At the end of this lesson, students (or you) will …….

Expressed in student-friendly language?

Specific in terms of curricular knowledge?
At the end of this lesson, students (or you) will be
able to name and define the Five Pillars of Islam.

Concrete and able to be assessed?
At the end of this lesson, students (or you) will be
able to define, explain, describe, etc.

Appropriate (linked to Standards, worthwhile and of
reasonable challenge)?