Making the Most of Learning Objectives

Learning objectives are common in many schools, and they’re often displayed prominently on the board as students come into a classroom. It’s become routine for teachers to read the objective aloud—or ask a student to do it—and then jump right into the lesson. 

But in Brittany Kelleher’s math class at Cedaredge High School in Delta, Colorado, she has evolved this routine into a way to introduce academic vocabulary and gauge students’ current understanding. By making the review of the daily learning objective into an activity for students, Kelleher sets the stage for new learning to connect to what they already know.

At the start of class, she has everyone jot down the day’s objective, making sure it’s clear and grounded in the academic vocabulary students will need for the lesson ahead. But instead of simply reading it aloud, she asks students to interact with it—circling the words they understand and starring the ones they don’t. 

As students identify unfamiliar terms, Kelleher invites them to share out. In small groups, they compare what they circled and starred, creating space to name what they don’t yet understand. Often, classmates step in to explain, helping build shared understanding before the lesson even begins. For Kelleher, this step is intentional. “We have to anchor students’ thinking,” she explains. “Using the objective is a really useful way to get students to activate the prior knowledge they have so that new learning can be attached to long-term memory.”

Jim Heal of Learning Science Partners explains why this matters: Simply posting an objective doesn’t guarantee that students understand it. “Unless we invite students to actually interact with an objective, how can we be certain they know what success actually looks like?” By identifying both what they know and where they’re unsure, students engage with learning targets in more precise and meaningful ways.

The routine also gives Kelleher a quick snapshot of student understanding. As she circulates, she can see which concepts are familiar and which need more attention, allowing her to adjust instruction in real time. And asking students to regularly share and discuss what they can’t make sense of yet helps foster and normalize productive struggle in her classroom—her students feel safe to be vulnerable and tackle the hard work of learning together.

When learning objectives are not just rote but interactive, prior knowledge gets activated, expectations are clarified, and students take a more active role in their learning. With a clearer sense of purpose from the start, they are better prepared to engage with new content and build lasting understanding.

This video is part of our How Learning Happens series, which explores teaching practices grounded in the science of learning and human development.