Central Focus, Learning Targets and Task Analysis
Objective: Given an objective, the learner will identify the Central Focus of the lesson and then complete a task analysis to identify the skills, content, procedures, and vocabulary needed for a student to master the objective and list activities to teach the vocabulary.
Central Focus
The Central Focus in a lesson plan is a description of what the lesson or unit is trying to accomplish.
The Central Focus should describe the following:
1. What you are teaching your students.
2. The purpose of teaching this content.
3. How the implemented standards or planned learning objectives apply to a learning strategy that you used, any skills that are acquired during the lesson, and any content-area connections.
4. How this lesson plan will work with other lesson plans in a unit to help students make these connections between the skills they develop and your essential strategy (or composing text in meaningful contexts).
Central Focus Example
The following is a complete example that has all the elements for success.
The purpose of this lesson is to build upon the student’s previous knowledge of plotting points and graphing. The students will learn the slope-intercept equation and display how to use it successfully in graphing problems. This lesson will also serve as a building block for future solving of algebraic expressions and graphing as well as real-life uses. Graphing is used today in a variety of magazines and websites that students will need to know how to interpret and understand .
The central focus must be in alignment with your TEK and describe how this lesson will link with other lessons in the unit.
Learning Target(s)
What students should know and be able to do as a result of the lesson. When students clearly understand classroom expectations, they’re better able to assess and improve their performance.
“Students who can identify what they are learning significantly outscore those who cannot.” Robert Marzano
Learning targets can be via words, pictures, actions, or some combination of the three—of what you intend students to learn or accomplish in a given lesson. Most teachers set up their learning targets in “I CAN” statements, to help students have a better understanding of their expectations of learning.
Learning Target Examples from a student’s voice:
5th Grade Mathematics
“I can describe how regular polygons are different than irregular polygons.”
6th Grade Science
“I can describe the impacts of the overpopulation of species on individual habitats and ecosystems.”
High School English
“I can identify and discuss the importance of symbols of order in the novel in an expository essay.”
Keep in mind that…
1. STANDARDS are externally (state or district) created goals AND several individual learning targets must be achieved to master one standard, thus somewhat creating a pacing guide or map
2. ACTIVITIES are methods teachers use to help students achieve a learning target.
3. Daily LEARNING TARGETS are what the student is supposed to learn when they DO the activities.
Watch this video for an example of teaching a learning target: https://vimeo.com/44052221
Teaching a Learning Target
Task Analysis
Have you ever been in a class where the instructor just made the learning “easy?” It may have been a very complex topic, but the way he/she taught it made it seem more manageable. This teacher is sought after by students and parents alike because students are successful.
To make the learning “easier,” this teacher probably completed a task analysis before teaching the lesson.
Task analysis is simply a process that breaks down an objective into smaller, more manageable steps. The task analysis helps the teacher fully understand the content and the prerequisite skills needed to be successful. It assists students by providing a sequence of steps to follow and practice. Also, if your students don’t understand something, breaking the problem/question/task down into its constituent parts helps you better pinpoint what subcomponent is tripping them up so that you can more effectively target your reteaching. You can use this evidence-based practice for any skill that can be broken down into smaller steps, including academics, behavior, communication, and social skills.
McCulloch, Carol Lee. (2019) Task Analysis Activities: Examples For Use in the Classroom to Help Students Reach Goals. Retrieved from https://www.brighthubeducation.com/special-ed-inclusion-strategies/104379-an-example-of-how-to-use-task-analysis/ (2019, January 20).
Valentine, Jennifer. (n.d.) Rounding to the Hundred’s Place. Retrieved from https://betterlesson.com/lesson/573920/rounding-to-the-hundred-s-place . (2019, January 10).
The Task Analysis Process
1. List the correct sequence of steps necessary to perform the skill/ solve the problem/meet the objective.
2. Check for accuracy. It is helpful to “teach” the steps to someone who knows nothing about your subject or to a child that is not a student in your class. They can either perform the task and/or give you feedback your step’s accuracy and clarity.
3. Adjust the task analysis to include missing steps or to add more clarity.
4. In the process, you will also need to identify the prerequisite skills required to complete the task. For example, you can’t teach a child to print their name if they don’t even know how to hold a pencil or the letters of the alphabet.
The first day of school may require specific tasks on how the beginning of class should go:
Getting Ready For Class to Begin
1. Walk towards your seat in the classroom.
2. Place your bookbag on the top of your desk.
3. Take off your coat and place it on the back of the chair.
4. Sit down at your desk.
5. Unzipper your bookbag.
6. Take out your books and pencils and place them inside your desk.
7. Take your book bag and coat to the closet.
8. Hang both on your hook.
9. Walk back to your desk.
10. Sit down quietly and wait for the teacher’s instructions.
McIntyre, Tom. (n.d.) Task Analysis. Retrieved from http://www.behavioradvisor.com/?s=getting+ready+for+school&searchsubmit= (2019, January 20).
Example of a Behavioral Task Analysis
A pre-K teacher wants her students to walk down the hall to lunch. But merely stating that to a group of 4-year olds will result in chaos. The teacher needs to teach, practice, monitor, and reteach (if necessary) the specific expectations entailed in “walking down the hall.” The teacher should do a task analysis and list all the components involved in successfully walking from the classroom to the lunchroom.
Example:
1. The teacher will identify one student as the “line leader” for the day.
2. The teacher will tell the line leader to stand at the door.
3. The teacher will ask each table to line up behind the leader—one table at a time. (Table 1, line up silently).
4. All students in line are to make a “ducktail” with their hands behind their backs. (To keep their hands to themselves.)
5. Students are to make a bubble (puff out their cheeks) and not let the bubble pop (by opening their mouths) to ensure that they are quiet.
6. The teacher designates one student as the caboose. (Most kids don’t like to be last, so this is a way to make the last person as special as the line leader. The caboose’s job is to help the teacher watch the line to make sure everyone is meeting expectations.
7. The line leader will go to the clock and stop. The teacher will inspect to see that kids meet expectations and ask kids to compliment the student behind them on their hands or bubble before the line proceeds to the next stop.
These examples allow you to visualize the step by step process that students go through to get ready for the day. As a teacher, you need to think through a similar process for academics and know what students need to understand before you begin the lesson.
Example of Academic Task Analysis
A high school English teacher might have an objective that students use figurative language in their writing. This teacher completes a task analysis to determine what students need to know to perform this task. First, they need to understand different types of figurative language, such as simile and metaphor. Second, they need to define figurative language. Third, they need to identify examples/non-examples. Finally, they need to look at their writing to insert several examples of figurative writing. The teacher then chooses the concept attainment method to accomplish this task. Watch the following video to see how it’s done.
Cult of Pedagogy (Dec 10, 2013). Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/VxvX6B_0nnI?list=PLh8j72So6cvzeEZs06m40WtIKypfAEI9-&t=319
A math teacher might list sequential steps such as the following:
Task Analysis: Count out 10s, 5, 1s to pay a price of $37
Prerequisite skills: count by tens, identify ten, five, one dollar
1. Identify price as (“37”)
2. Identify the need for TENS (thirty)
3. Determine # of TENS needed (3)
4. Identify possible use of a FIVE (7>5)
5. Count out the FIVE by counting on from the previous total (“35”)
6. Identify the need for ONES (ones left over after using FIVE)
7. Identify the # of ONES needed (2)
8. Count out the ONES by counting on from the previous total (“36,37”)
9. Announce the total amount (“37 dollars)
Ewart, Randy. (2015, May 8). Assessment for General Curriculum Math Topics. Retrieved from https://ctspedmathdude.com/tag/task-analysis/
McCulloch, Carol Lee. (2019) Task Analysis Activities: Examples For Use in the Classroom to Help Students Reach Goals. Retrieved from https://www.brighthubeducation.com/special-ed-inclusion-strategies/104379-an-example-of-how-to-use-task-analysis/ (2019, January 20).
When you are looking at your lesson, you not only need to identify the step by step process for learning, but you also need to identify skills, terms, and concepts that students need to understand to move forward.
Look at the examples above, notice they have identified prerequisite skills:
“Prerequisite Skills: Knowledge of place value, borrowing and carrying, the ability to add and subtract single-digit numbers”
“Prerequisite skills: count by tens, identify ten, five, one dollar”
Those are the skills that you need to review/refresh to ensure all students will be able to master your current objective.
Many times in this process, you also identify language and terminology that students need to be successful.
Assignment:
Think about the learning objective of the lesson you are planning. What step by step processes do you need to ensure the concept is broken down enough for the students to understand?
When looking at your “deconstructing / unpacking the TEKS” on the LPG form, what language/terms/concepts must be taught for students to understand your lesson?
What skills must they know to be successful with your lesson?
Here is a video that will take you through the lesson plan after you download it. You are highly encouraged to review before and while you are completing your lesson plan. This video support on how to do the lesson plan is provided by Beverly Bannister, one of our Teachworthy evaluators.
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