What is the Purpose of a Learning Target?

This Monday was our first day of gifted reading class. The students spent the first half of the week participating in class building activities, team building activities, and learning the ins and outs of the classroom. I always give a classroom tour at the beginning of the year, and I make it a special point to discuss the learning target bulletin board. It is key for students to know the importance of a learning target, and I did this by having them participate in a team building activity.

I began the lesson by asking the students for their definition of a learning target. One student responded with a spot on answer: A learning target is a goal for what you should know by the end of a lesson.  

I explained to the students that through a team building activity they would learn the purpose of a learning target. I handed each group a plastic bag containing 100 puzzle pieces, which did not include the picture to the puzzle. I told them to put the puzzle together. When they began I heard the students say: How do we know what the puzzle is supposed to look like? This would be so much easier if we knew what we had to do. The groups did well with communicating and sorting the pieces that looked similar.

After about 10 minutes I briefly showed each group the picture to the puzzle. This helped the students have better idea of the end goal. From briefly viewing the picture they were able to place pieces they put together in the appropriate areas of the puzzle.

Finally after about another five minutes I gave the students the picture of the puzzle. Most groups came very close to completing the puzzle in the time allowed. It was so much easier for the students put the puzzle together once they had the final picture in front of them.

We discussed how the picture of the puzzle was the target in the activity, and when they were given the target the activity was a lot easier to complete. I finished the lesson by explaining to the students that when they know their target of the lesson learning is purposeful and meaningful.

  

The pictures above show the students at the start of the activity.

The pictures above show the students' progress after briefly being shown the puzzle picture. 

The pictures above show the students' progress after receiving the target.