Learning Intentions & Success Criteria/Learning Outcomes

Designing high quality lesson intentions is one of the most important elements in planning a good lesson and any successful lesson will be driven by these intentions. The diagram below suggests why intention-led lessons are so important.

Lesson intentions should be shared with students in each lesson.  Ideally they will be written on the board and explained orally.  It is essential that lesson intentions are:

• Made visual
• In ‘pupil-friendly’ language
• Explained fully to the pupils
• Relevant to your starter
• Referred to regularly throughout the lesson
• Reviewed in your plenary

Ideally, if an observer asked students in your class, they would be able to explain what they are trying to learn and why. Your questioning and explanations will be focussed on the learning intentions of the lesson and the activities you set will all help students to meet the intentions.

Intentions vs Outcomes

In planning lessons, we should consider the distinction between:

1.      Lesson intentions (What will the students be learning?)

2.      Lesson outcomes/Success Criteria (What will the students be doing? How will achievement be demonstrated by the students?)

N.B. When considering the difference between intentions and outcomes, some teachers find it helpful to think in terms of WALT (We Are Learning To...) and WILF (What I am Looking For...)

In planning, teachers should decide what they intend the students to learn and then plan the activities that will support this learning.  They should then review the learning outcomes to assess learning versus the learning intentions.

Intentions

When setting intentions, it is important that there is a clear distinction between what students will do in the lesson and what they will learn.  Beginning a learning objective with the words “To be able to…” is a simple and effective way of ensuring your objective really is a learning objective and not a description of the activity.  If you cannot use “To be able to…” the following stems may be helpful:

By the end of the lesson students will:

·        know that … (knowledge: factual information, e.g. names, places, symbols formulae, events)

·        develop / be able to … (skills: using knowledge, applying techniques, analysing information, etc.)

·        understand how / why … (understanding: concepts, reasons, effects, principles, processes, etc.)

·        develop / be aware of … (attitudes and values: empathy, caring, sensitivity towards social issues, feelings, moral issues, etc.)

Learning intentions may also focus on how pupils learn (e.g. ‘to appreciate how peer assessment can help you to improve your own work’).

When setting intentions (and/or the learning outcomes), consider the level of challenge they contain and try to avoid too many lessons being purely focussed on learning facts. Bloom’s Taxonomy can be a useful tool (see Planning for Feedback folder for additional resources) when thinking about how to introduce a greater level of challenge into lessons. Ideally, we should be aiming to set intentions (and/or the learning outcomes), towards the top of the scale as often as possible.

   

    -          more complex thinking

    -          more than one answer possible

-          less complex thinking

        -          one correct answer

Learning Outcomes (or Success Criteria)

                                                                                                                           

Intentions will need to be linked to outcomes (i.e. success criteria) so that students can demonstrate they have met the intentions set out by the teacher. Building appropriate success criteria into short-term planning is vital to ensure a focus on learning as opposed to activities. When planning, ask yourself;

·        What will my students have learned and what will they be able to do at the end of the lesson that they could not do before?

·        How will they demonstrate that they have met the intentions?

·        How can I make it clear to students what good quality work will look like (and avoid simply focussing on task completion)?

Wherever possible, it is a good ideas to include differentiated learning outcomes. For example, using ‘must, could, ‘should’  or all, most, some’

For example:

Consider the learning intention ‘To know about the structure of the Earth’

Possible Differentiated learning outcomes: -

-          You must draw and label a diagram to show the structure of the earth, name the layers and sequence them into the correct order

-          You should add to your diagram at least one of the characteristics of each of the layers so you can describe what it is like

-          You could choose 2 layers and compare and contrast their characteristics using key words and connectives

Bloom’s can be useful here in that it may guide you in deciding the nature of the outcome you are expecting eg. all students expected to ‘describe’ their K and U, most expected to include an element of ‘explain’ and some may be asked to ‘justify´ their reasoning.

Throughout the lesson, success criteria should be shared with students so that they always know what they need to do in order to demonstrate success. Success criteria should:

·         be based on the intentions

·         shape the teaching and modelling and provide the students’ focus while they are working

·         provide the key focus for all feedback and assessment

Displaying success criteria can provide a visual prompt for students and teachers during the course of the lesson or sequence of lessons.

It can also be very useful to involve students in setting the success criteria. For example, ask the students ‘what will you need to do to demonstrate to me that you have met the intentions for this task/lesson?’