m Content objectives
m Language objectives

But we can also add:

m Culture objectives
m "

 
 
  
  
Content Objectives
ô ey refer to concepts related to t e academic
content of t e lesson or t e topic of t e lesson.

Examples:

Students will:
m display an understanding of t e cinematic elements
t at define film genres.
m demonstrate an understanding of some of t e
reasons w y some indigenous peoples flee Central
America and seek refuge in t e United States.
m identify t e primary geograp ic regions of Spain.
Culture Objectives
ô ey identify learning about a particular
culture or may involve cross-cultural
comparisons.
Examples:
Students will:
m display an understanding of t e unique
genres of Japanese film.
m demonstrate an understanding of Spain¶s
geograp ic features by comparing t em to
familiar geograp ic features in t e U.S.
"earning Strategy or Skills
Development Objectives
ô ese objectives identify specific strategies
or skills, e.g., reading strategies suc as
using context clues, or development of
tec nology skills.
Examples.
Students will:
m identify cognates and use context clues to
find t e meaning of unknown words.
m s ow t e ability to work independently
m work cooperatively in pairs to complete
assigned tasks.
"anguage Objectives
ô ey refer to linguistic concepts,
including vocabulary, communicative
functions, and grammatical structures.
In CBI, t ey are divided into:
m 
 


 



 
m 
 

 



 
Content-obligatory language
objectives
ô ey reflect language t at is essential
for understanding and talking about t e
content.

Example:
Students cannot explain in Englis w en
to add or subtract wit out first knowing
t e terms suc as 'and', 'add', 'take
away' and 'subtract'.
Content-compatible language
objectives
xContent-compatible language objectives
can be taug t wit in t e context of a
given content but are not required for
successful content mastery´ (Snow, Met,
& Genesee, 1989).
ô ese objectives answer t e question:
W at additional language (vocabulary,
structures, etc.) can be taug t wit in t e
context of t is unit t at don¶t emerge
directly from t e content?
Example:
Students can discuss citizens ip wit a
wide vocabulary (e.g. liberty, despotic)
but can also learn t e concepts of
democracy wit less formal, more
everyday language (e.g. free, fair)
ô   
   


Students will use º

 to
Y (communicative function) wit Z
(words/word groups).
Example:

m Ã
  



  
     
 
 
 
   
  
      
{ 

   




Ã
 
m use t e present tense (3rd person sing/plural) to identify
t e location of geograp ical regions wit t e verb 
 and
directions,   (nort ), 
 (sout ),  
 (east), 

 (west) and vocabulary suc as     
       

 

 
    
  

 
 etc.)
m use ¬ (t ere is/are) to identify geograp ical features wit
terms like 

    
  
 


m use prepositions wit 
 in t e present tense to identify
locations wit p rases like  Ã !" 
  

 
#
m demonstrate understanding of w at/w ere questions, suc
as å
 
 

$
{  
   



Ã
 
m use t e present tense to make comparisons
between Spain and t e U.S. wit t e verb

(3rd person sing/plural) and , e.g., 

  

% 
 

  !" &%#
m use t e present tense to express like/dislikes
related to geograp ic preferences wit
'  
( and   
(. E.g.,
!  
 

 '  
#
  
 
 


 



1. Objectives should be written at the lesson level.

Example Needing Improvement Improved

a. Students will use basic survival language.
Students will use t e verb "gustar" in t e present tense to express food
likes/dislikes (e.g., "Me gusta X; No me gusta Y")
[language objective]
Students will use t e polite form of "querer" (quisiera) to order a meal in a
role play.
[language objective]

b. Students will learn t e alp abet. Students will identify words beginning wit t e letter "p" in t e context of
X poem.
[content objective]
Œ. Objectives should be focused. One objective shouldn¶t include multiple
embedded objectives.
Example Needing Improvement
Students will be able to recognize and
identify numbers (1-10) and be able to
trace or write t ese numbers in printed
form.
Improved
Students will be able to identify written numbers.
[content objective]
Students will be able to identify a written number
in relations ip to t e number of objects it
represents.
[content objective]
Students demonstrate knowledge of t e numbers
1-10 by writing t em in relations ip to t e number
of objects t ey represent.
[content objective]
Students will be able to trace t e numbers 1-10
accurately.
[skills objective]
. Objectives should be specific.
Example Needing Improvement
a. Students will know w at a fairy tale is.
b. Students will be able to combine knowledge
from previous class (read a play) and apply it to
writing t eir own play. [t is is a larger goal t at
can be broken down into objectives]
Improved
Students will identify t e literary c aracteristics of a fairy
tale.
[content objective]
Students will be able demonstrate t eir knowledge of t e
components of a play by including t em (e.g., setting,
props, c aracters) in writing a class play.
[content objective]
Students will use t eir prior knowledge of plays in writing
an original one.
[learning strategy objective]

c. Students will say t e key words.
4. Objectives should be stated in terms of what
 
should know or be able to do, not in
terms of what teachers should know or do.
Example Needing Improvement
a. ôeac t e names of s apes.
Students will use key words (XXX) to identify t e objects
t ey represent.
[language/vocabulary/possibly content if related to
content concepts]
Improved
Students will demonstrate t eir knowledge of basic
s apes by correctly identifying by name 5 basic s apes.
[content objective]
. Objectives should be stated in terms of what
 
should know or be able to do. They should 

be stated in terms of the activity that students will engage in. Objectives should point at the why that
underlies the activity²why are you having students engage in the activity?
Example Needing Improvement Improved
, " , and
a. Students will introduce family members.
b. Students will listen to German exc ange
students talk about U.S. sc ools.
c. Students will create a bar grap s owing
population growt .
d. Students will transfer information from group
presentations to paper.
Students will use words/p rases suc as )
" to introduce family members.
[language objective]
Students will identify perceptions of U.S. sc ools from
viewpoints s ared by German exc ange students.
[cultural objective]
Students will demonstrate t eir knowledge of presented
information on population growt by creating a bar grap .
[content objective]
Students will demonstrate understanding of t e content of
group presentations.
[content objective]
Students will practice active listening skills by completing
an informational c art (or taking notes) during group
presentations.
[skills development objective]
£. Language objectives should incorporate a function, structure, and vocabulary (using the formula
when appropriate). They should be written at the micro-level, not the macro-level.
Example Needing Improvement Improved
a. Students will introduce family members. Students will use t e present tense and words/p rases suc
(ô is only identifies t e function but not t e as )
, " *, and " to introduce family members.
grammatical structures and vocabulary [language objective]
necessary for carrying t e function out.)

b. Students will give oral presentations.
(macro-level)
Students will use t e preterit and imperfect tenses of regular
verbs and irregular verbs to give an oral presentation on t e
istory report (vocabulary will depend on t e content being
presented).
[language objective]
Students will use logical connectors to sequence events in an
oral presentation (e.g., first, t en, next, afterwards, finally).
[language objective]
Students will use key content vocabulary to make oral
presentations. (vocabulary would be listed)
[language objective]
INSTRUCTIONS: Identify the X, Y and Z sections in the objectives
below.
"

  
 
 

 
m identify geograp ic features using ay (t ere is/are) and terms like 


(mountains),   (river),  
 (desert),  

(forest),  
 (coast)
m use prepositions wit 
 (to be) in t e present tense to identify
locations wit p rases like  Ã !" 
  
 

#(ô e Sierra Nevada mountains are in t e sout ern part of t e
country.)
"

    
 

 
m use w at/w ere questions, suc as
 
 

$ (W ere
are t e Pirinees?) to ask about geograp ic location wit t e verb 

(to be) and question words suc as 
  (w ere, w at), etc.
m express like/dislikes related to geograp ic preferences using t e present
tense wit ',  
( and   
(. Examples: ! 

 

 '  
# (I don't like mountains; I prefer
t e coast.)
m use t e verb
 (3rd person sing/plural) and  to make
comparisons between Spain and t e U.S. in t e present tense.
Examples:  
  

% 
  
 
!" &%# (ô e west of Spain is like t e state of New Mexico.)
Ã  
ttp://www.carla.umn.edu/cobaltt/modules/
curriculum/obj_write. tml