When teachers articulate Learning Targets to students, they set kids up for success. By setting forth clear goals at the beginning of every unit, we maintain clarity in expectations, set goals, and keep those goals in mind as we work. But we do more than just let students know our expectations for that unit. We make connections to transferable skills and understandings; we let them know what they might carry with them after this course and after graduation. This knowledge creates an experience which is meaningful and lifetime-oriented: we're not just trying to ace a test, we're also trying to reach a greater understanding of the world and how we communicate through comparing Ancient people to ourselves.
I started out the year with a “course expectations” document which outlined my way of approaching SBL and some larger goals for our class. Then we began our first unit, Compliments and Complements, with the Stage XIII Unit KUD. The Unit KUD describes what all students should Know, Understand, and be able to Do by the end of the unit. It also includes a space for students to write down the dates on which our summatives will occur, a description of what those summatives will look like, and the learning target scales for that unit. We usually take a few minutes to read the targets aloud and talk about what they mean, after students have experienced and discovered a little of the grammar and culture of the unit. We are currently in our second unit, Toss me an Adjective!, so students are currently using the Stage XIV Unit KUD.
Target scales are not just for KUDs. In order to maintain consistency and send the message that all work counts as substantial practice, targets also show up right next to student tasks on formatives like sententiae de picturis (for Latin I). I also make sure to include scales on summatives like de servis and the Stage XIII Grammar Summative, so that students know which parts of the exam are testing which skill, and so that they remember the target as they are working.
I started out the year with a “course expectations” document which outlined my way of approaching SBL and some larger goals for our class. Then we began our first unit, Compliments and Complements, with the Stage XIII Unit KUD. The Unit KUD describes what all students should Know, Understand, and be able to Do by the end of the unit. It also includes a space for students to write down the dates on which our summatives will occur, a description of what those summatives will look like, and the learning target scales for that unit. We usually take a few minutes to read the targets aloud and talk about what they mean, after students have experienced and discovered a little of the grammar and culture of the unit. We are currently in our second unit, Toss me an Adjective!, so students are currently using the Stage XIV Unit KUD.
Target scales are not just for KUDs. In order to maintain consistency and send the message that all work counts as substantial practice, targets also show up right next to student tasks on formatives like sententiae de picturis (for Latin I). I also make sure to include scales on summatives like de servis and the Stage XIII Grammar Summative, so that students know which parts of the exam are testing which skill, and so that they remember the target as they are working.
unit KUDs
learning targets
scales
Unit KUD for Complements and Compliments - CLC Stage XIII
Unit KUD for Toss me an Adjective - CLC Stage XIV