My Favorite Tool for Writing an Objective Statement

Creating a simple, short statement that illustrates exactly what I want or need to accomplish through a unit or lesson can be the most difficult and challenging in curriculum development. For me the development of each lesson, page by lengthy page, can often times be easier to accomplish than writing a concise sentence to explain all of it.

There is one tool that helps me begin this process: my Bloom's Taxonomy wheel (you can find one here for $8.95).

It provides specific language for the level of skill I'm trying to get my students to accomplish. In my unit or lesson I begin my asking whether I'm trying to introduce a concept or if I want my students to master it? Do I want my students to reach a basic level of knowledge and then show comprehension? Or do I want them to go as far as analyzing and evaluating? How I answer these questions will give me specific language to use. For example, if I wanted my students to analyze a portion of literature in order to compare it to a current event in the news I would refer to the Analysis section of my wheel. There I will find specific language that relates to this specific skill. There are also questioning prompts and suggestions for the teacher. All three are super helpful in developing this Overall Objective statement.

I would highly suggest this tool for any teacher in curriculum and assessment development. It challenges me to think about higher level thinking and questioning for each lesson that reveals what they know while also challenging them to become independent thinkers.

The revised edition given in the above link looks a little bit different than my ten year old wheel and I'm seriously debating on upgrading. There are a lot of helpful hints for a teachers quick reference. I find that this guide increases my level of curriculum and assessment and I can imagine all that the new one has to offer!