Free Secrets for Secondary School Teachers by Ellen Kottler, Jeffrey A. Kottler, Cary J. Kottler

planning.
    Goals
    Some lesson plan formats include the identification of goals or statements of broad direction that facilitate the designing of curriculum. Goals use such terms as “understand,” “appreciate,” and “learn.” For example: “Students will appreciate the contributions of the impressionist painters.” “Students will understand Japanese poetry.” They are used for long-term, general planning.
    Instructional Objectives
    An instructional objective is a statement that defines the outcome or product of instruction in a way that can be measured and observed. It is a subset of a goal. For each content standard, you will need to identify one or more instructional objectives.
    Whether you are writing for a daily lesson or a unit of study, the objectives will fall into three categories: cognitive or content; affective or feelings and attitudes; and psychomotor or skills. The emphasis will depend on the course. For example, keyboarding, physical education, band, and art will include many skill objectives; geography and economics will include more cognitive objectives.
    In some cases, the objectives will follow a sequence such as in mathematics or language development; in other cases, they may follow a theme such as in social studies. Using Benjamin Bloom’s Taxonomy of Thinking Skills as a reference in content areas will ensure that you are including the high-level thinking skills of application, synthesis, and evaluation, as well as the basic skills of knowledge, comprehension, and application.
    It is easiest to write objectives using sentences that begin with “The student will . . .” and follow with a verb that indicates performance, such as “define,” “identify,” “compare,” or “solve.” You will want to identify something that students can do that you can readily observe, so you can follow their progress. For example: “The student will describe the techniqueof the impressionist painters.” “The student will write a Japanese haiku.” Instructional objectives focus on what students will do.
    At the start of each period, you can then share (orally and by posting on the board or an overhead) the day’s objective(s) with students. This not only allows students to know what is expected of them, but also helps them to measure their progress and prepare for tests or other forms of assessment.
    Assessment
    Now that you have written the objectives, the next step is to decide how you will determine the degree to which students have mastered the objectives. There are two categories of assessment: formative and summative.
    Formative assessment takes place during instruction to see if students are progressing. Examples of formative assessment include checking for understanding by monitoring student work as it is completed in class or as homework. You may wish to ask questions as you present new material or demonstrate a new skill to make sure students comprehend what you are talking about or showing. Student responses might also be in the form of showing you answers on individual whiteboards, writing a summary at the end of a period for you to read, completing a graphic organizer that they submit for your review, or taking a quiz.
    Summative assessment takes place at the end of a unit. Examples of summative assessment include a unit test or an alternative assessment such as a product (the “proof is in the pudding” in family and consumer sciences) or performance (debating a piece of legislation in government, or playing an instrument in band). You will not be able to use all the various types of assessments for any given unit, but over the course of a semester or year, you can offer students a variety of assessment experiences. Remember, the more different methods you employ, the more different opportunities you give the students to demonstrate their achievements.
    Alignment
    Assessments need to align with the standards and objectives. They should cover the skills, vocabulary, and content you