Boost Comprehension: State the Lesson Objective First

Hello, friends! I’m Elizabeth Urbanowicz with Foundation Worldview, and today’s Teaching Tip is a comprehension strategy that you can use with the children you are teaching.

Today’s tip is this: present the objective or goal of a lesson before teaching that lesson, and then review it at the end so that the children you are teaching can monitor their progress.

For those of you who have used a Foundation Worldview curriculum with the children you are teaching, this strategy will already be familiar to you. This is because every single lesson in our curriculum is structured this way.

Now, this strategy does not take long. It’s very simple to present the objective at the beginning of a lesson and then take a moment or two to review it at the end. However, even though it’s simple, it is an essential strategy to implement with the children you are teaching.

Why Stating the Objective Matters

The reason this strategy is so important is that it lets the children we are teaching know what the end goal of the lesson is, so they can monitor their progress toward that goal throughout the lesson.

We want the children we are teaching to grow as independent learners. As the year goes on, we want them to become less and less dependent on us as teachers. Training children to monitor their own progress is a key part of helping them grow in independence.

However, children cannot monitor their own progress if they do not know what the goal of the lesson is. That’s why it’s so important to present the objective at the beginning of a lesson and then revisit it at the end.

A Curriculum Example

For example, in our Comparative Worldview Curriculum here at Foundation Worldview, the objectives in Lesson One of Unit One are:

1. To explain what it means for something to be true

2. To defend why knowing and following the truth is or is not important

At the beginning of that lesson, we clearly present these objectives. Everything we do throughout the lesson is working toward meeting those goals. Then, at the end of the lesson, we review the objectives with the children and provide them with an opportunity to demonstrate that they have met those goals.

If you’d like to see this strategy in action, you can get a sample of the first lesson of the Comparative Worldview Curriculum by clicking “Sample” in the upper right-hand corner at FoundationWorldview.com.

Applying This Strategy Across Subjects

This strategy works across all subject areas.

• In math, an objective might be to divide six-digit numbers by two-digit numbers.

• In English Language Arts, an objective might be to identify the subject and predicate of a sentence.

In general, any sound curriculum will list the objectives, goals, or essential questions at the beginning of a lesson.

A Biblical Perspective on Objectives

The importance of stating and reviewing objectives makes a great deal of sense from a biblical standpoint.

As God’s image bearers, He has created us with:

• A desire to learn more about the environment He has placed us in, and

• A desire to work and to be a necessary, contributing part of that environment.

Presenting objectives and then monitoring progress toward them helps the children we are teaching:

• See the purpose of what they are doing

• Grow in independence

• Fulfill that God-given desire to learn and to work meaningfully

How to Get Started

If you have never done this before with the children you are teaching, presenting the objective at the beginning of a lesson and reviewing it at the end may feel like a big shift.

So I recommend that you start small. Begin by implementing this strategy in just one subject area each day.

Do that for two months, and once it becomes a natural part of that subject, begin incorporating it into the other subjects you teach.

Final Reminder

Just as a reminder, today’s Teaching Tip was to present the objective of a lesson before teaching it, and then review that objective at the end, so the children you are teaching can monitor their progress.

For more help equipping the children you are teaching to think biblically, be sure to check out our other resources available at foundationworldview.com.

Thanks so much for joining me for this Teaching Tip, and I’ll see you next time.