Bellaire PS – Learning Intentions and Success Criteria

Aim High
Effective teachers ensure lessons have clear learning intentions with goals that clarify what success looks like. Lesson goals always explain what students need to understand, and what
Learning Intentions Success Criteria
they must be able to do. This helps the teacher to plan learning activities, and helps students understand what is required. LI and SC are:

APT
Visible and referred to throughout a lesson
Sentence Starter: In this lesson we are learning … Sentence Starter: I will be successful when … Meaningful to students 
LIs are statements which clearly describe what the teacher wants the students SC are measurable and observable outcomes that describe what mastery Purposefully unpacked and understood by

Planning
to know or understand (knowledge, skills, behaviour). They are the of the Learning Intention looks like (observable and tangible). They tell students
‘steppingstones’ towards what you want your students to learn (The Big the students what is required to achieve success Communicated in student friendly language 
Ideas / Essential Questions & Understandings). Co-created with students after Mini Lesson (SC)

Key Characteristics of High-Quality Learning Intentions and Success Criteria Learning Intentions and Success Criteria at
Learning
Intentions
1 LI is a focus on the learning, not the
activities
o Articulate key understanding students will learn - rather than an activity to be completed each stage of the Instructional Model
o Can be described as ‘intangible’ Mini The Learning Intention and SuccessIntentions
Criteria are unpacked and Criteria –
Examples of Learning and Success
o Developing conceptual understanding doesn’t just happen by creating activities to complete Lesson discussed together as a class. Any unfamiliar vocabulary is
demand tasks
explicitly taught. The LI and SC are visible to all students and
2 LI is a focus on the highest-priority o Focused on one particular learning outcome - reduces cognitive load
LI: In this lesson we are learningremain
how to visible
use vividthroughout
verbs to improve our writing.
the lesson. LI: In this lesso
learning for the lesson o ‘What is the main idea or understanding that I want my students to take away from today’s
Learning Students refer back to the Success Criteria to reflect upon their
lesson?’ SC: I will be successful
Time when: current learning. SC: I will be su
Success 3 SC describes something a student will be o I can locate vivid verbs in our mentor author’s text.
Learning Intention is what the learning is, and the Success Criteria are the steps to get there I can calculate
Focus
I can define the vivid Teachers collaboratively set and reflect upon student goals with
verbs I identify.
Criteria able to say, do, or produce if the learning is I can calculate
o Number of Success Criteria is dependent on the Learning Intention, Year Level, Task Groupswhich usereference
I can develop sentences the vivid to the we
verbs Learning
discuss.Intention and Success Criteria.
on track toward achieving the Learning I can justify my
o SC works well in conjunction with Worked Examples Students reflect upon and share their learning and understanding
Intention. They focus on evidence that
o Is co-constructed with the students after the Mini Lesson High Cognitive Demand Task: during focus groups
After showing and set future
their understanding goals.
of the vivid verbs from High Cognitiv
students can tangibly demonstrate
the mentor text, Conferenci The
by acting them out andteacher assesses
discussing student understanding
their meaning, through roving
students are to develop will buy lunch.
4 SC provides enough evidence to make both o What would be enough evidence (SC) to demonstrate that the students have reached the their own sentences ng by selecting vivid verbs andand
observations creating interesting
targeted teachersentences whichwhich
questioning use is guided your pocket on
students and the teacher confident that Learning Intention? (2-3 criteria) them. Students are to refer to differentiated checklists
by the Learning which also
Intention andsupport
Success andCriteria.
extend their cannot buy mor
students have achieved the Learning o How can students show they have met the Learning Intention? structuring of sentences e.g. confident writers are expected to use connectives, adjectives, Using the menu
Reflection
adverbs and varied punctuation. Students reflect upon their learning and assess their
Intention change back.
understanding against the Success Criteria. The teacher assesses
Both LI & 5 LI and SC are aligned to each other o Quality criteria shows the students how to achieve the Learning Intention student understanding and uses this evidence to inform future
SC o Learning Intention explicitly matches Success Criteria Learning Intentions and Success Criteria.
High-Quality LI & SC results in High-Quality Learning
6 LI and SC written to be understandable to o Written in ‘kids speak’
students Outcomes…
o Not to be ‘dumbed down’ 
o New vocabulary, terminology and metalanguage is unpacked and explained