Every lesson in the classroom needs to begin with clear learning intentions or goals. These goals clarify what success looks like. They are usually linked to our teaching and learning activities and students demonstrate their new insights by fulfilling the learning objectives or purposes. These goals usually begin with phrases such as “At the end of the lesson, students will be able to/demonstrate/write and so on.” However, let’s take a step back and think about what this should look like in an EAL classroom.
It is crucial we begin with the mindset that in an EAL classroom, we are teaching SKILLS, not TEXTS. So, what would our learning intentions reflect?
How do clear EAL learning goals help?
Clear and explicit lesson goals or intentions allow EAL students various opportunities to demonstrate their learning and experience success in the classroom. They also support retention of new skills and create a balance between safety and accountability during learning.
Teachers presenting explicit EAL learning intentions are able to gather substantial evidence about their students’ progress. This allows us to plan the focus of our next lesson and enable our EAL students to advance according to their individual needs and abilities. On top of that, we are providing ongoing mini formative assessments in our daily lessons. Most importantly, we are creating an equitable and inclusive environment in our classrooms.
The next time we are planning our EAL lessons, let’s be mindful that our learning intentions reflect all the criteria we have discussed here. Every child deserves an education and every EAL student deserves to progress at their own pace.
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