LO’s, SE’s, and all that implies

We’ve been talking about writing LO’s and I walked around and saw some REALLY good examples on campus yesterday! I know that many of you are still unsure of what you’re actually writing so I did some research. I found many sites that supported the use of LO’s in the classroom, and even some tips on how to most effectively write them for your classroom. I also found these great sample pics from Pinterest, 🙂

There is an argument on the “twitterverse” (@8Amber8) that the more a teacher “instructs” a student to become curious, the less likely that student is to become authentically curious. While I can see this for a high school student, I think the clarity provided with the LO for our elementary students is unarguable.

However, the same as with ANY tool, if the written objective is nothing more than something that looks good in the classroom but is not actually used to enhance learning, like a word wall that is never touched by teachers or students, then it defeats the purpose. INVOLVE your students in understanding the LO. This would be the L in the more traditional KWL chart.

Anywho, off rant.

Here are tips for writing effective LO’s…make them as grade level as possible, without losing the intent…

1. Create a stem. Stem Examples:After completing the lesson, the Lion will be able to . . . After this unit, the Lion will have . . . By completing the activities, the Lion will . . . At the conclusion of the course/unit/study the Lion will . . .

2. After you create the stem, add a verb:analyze, recognize, compare, provide, list, etc.

3. One you have a stem and a verb, determine the actual product, process, or outcome:After completing these lesson, the Lion will be able to recognize foreshadowing in different stories.   ELA examples: re-tell in his/her own words _____. summarize the plot of _____. make inferences from the text . . . demonstrate understanding by writing three facts about . . .

Math examples:

• use collected data to answer the question(s): _____
• construct _____ (picture graphs, bar graphs, etc.)
• create a series of mathematical steps to be used to . . .

Science examples:

• demonstrate an understand of _____ in terms of _____
• create a visual representation of _____ (the water cycle, etc.)
• understand the basic structure of _____ (an atom)
• identify states of matter . . .