Every lesson should have a clear learning objective. An objective describes what students should know or be able to do better by the end of the session.

Without a clear objective, a lesson can easily become a sequence of exercises rather than a coherent learning experience.

1. Think about learning, not pages

Completing pages of a coursebook is not a learning objective.

Instead of:

“Today we are going to do pages 34–37.”

Think:

“By the end of the lesson, students will be able to compare past experiences using the Present Perfect and Past Simple.”

Or:

“Students will be able to identify the writer’s main argument and supporting ideas in a B2 text.”

The coursebook provides the activities; the objective explains why we are doing them.

2. Make objectives specific and achievable

Avoid objectives that are too vague:

“Practise English.”
“Learn vocabulary.”
“Improve speaking.”

Use objectives that describe observable learning:

“Students will be able to use six new personality adjectives to describe people.”

“Students will be able to give and justify an opinion using B1-level language.”

“Students will be able to identify distractors in Cambridge Listening Part 1.”

A useful formula is:

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to + action.

3. Share the objective with students

Students should understand what they are trying to achieve.

At the beginning of the lesson, the teacher can briefly explain:

“Today we’re going to learn how to talk about experiences using the Present Perfect.”

With children, objectives should be expressed in simple, age-appropriate language:

“Today we’re going to learn how to talk about what we can and can’t do.”

The objective does not need to become a long explanation. Students simply need a clear sense of what they are learning and why.

4. Connect activities to the objective

Activities should contribute to the learning objective.

For example, if the objective is:

Students will be able to give and justify their opinions about environmental issues.

The lesson might progress through:

Activate vocabulary → introduce useful expressions → controlled practice → prepare ideas → pair discussion → feedback.

Each stage prepares students for the final objective.

When planning an activity, ask:

“How does this help students achieve today’s objective?”

If there is no clear answer, consider whether the activity is necessary.

This also applies to games. A game should not be included simply because students enjoy it; whenever possible, it should reinforce or practise the target learning.

5. Do not try to achieve too much

One of the most common planning mistakes is having too many objectives.

For example:

Present Perfect + vocabulary + pronunciation + reading + speaking + writing + Cambridge exam practice.

All of these may appear during a lesson, but they cannot all receive equal attention.

Establish one or two main objectives and treat other elements as secondary or supporting aims.

A smaller number of well-developed objectives is usually more valuable than superficially covering many different areas.

6. Objectives should match the level

The same topic can have very different objectives depending on the level.

A2

Students will be able to describe their last holiday using basic past-tense forms.

B1

Students will be able to describe a past experience and explain their reactions to it.

B2

Students will be able to narrate and develop an experience using a wider range of narrative structures and descriptive language.

C1

Students will be able to narrate an experience effectively while controlling register, emphasis and a broad range of language.

Objectives therefore help teachers maintain the appropriate level of challenge discussed in section 3.3.

7. Check whether the objective has been achieved

An objective is only useful if we eventually check it.

At the end of the lesson, return briefly to what students were expected to learn.

This could be done through:

• a quick question;

• an exit ticket;

• a short speaking task;

• retrieval of the target vocabulary;

• one final example;

• a mini-whiteboard response;

• a short exam-style question.

For example:

“Without looking at your notes, tell your partner three expressions we learned today for giving opinions.”

This provides the teacher with information about whether students are ready to progress or whether the content needs further work.

8. Connect lessons across the course

Objectives should not exist independently from one lesson to another.

Effective teaching involves a cycle:

Previous learning → Review → New learning → Practice → Feedback → Retrieval in future lessons

Important language should therefore reappear in later sessions.

Students may perform successfully immediately after something has been taught, but this does not necessarily mean that it has been retained. Revisiting previous learning over time helps teachers see whether students can retrieve and use it independently.

Remember

Before every lesson, the teacher should be able to answer three questions:

1. What do I want my students to learn or improve today?

2. What will they do to achieve it?

3. How will I know whether they have achieved it?

If these three questions have clear answers, the lesson has a clear pedagogical direction.