Learning intentions and success criteria
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What your associate teacher and lecturer look for
On placement, the plan is evidence. Your associate teacher (AT) wants to know you can run their class safely without derailing their programme. Your visiting lecturer wants to see that you can link learning to the curriculum, know who is in front of you and adjust when things change. Both will read the plan before the lesson and compare it with what happened.
- A clear learning focus. One learning intention that names learning, not a task.
- Fit with the class programme. The lesson continues what the class is already doing, using the AT's long-term plan.
- Realistic timing. Transitions, packing up and handing out gear are planned, not forgotten.
- Knowledge of the learners. Named adjustments for specific groups or ākonga, agreed with your AT.
- Evidence of learning. How you will know who got it, during the lesson and at the end.
- Honest reflection. What you would change next time and why, written soon after the lesson.
Always use your provider's template if it has one. Lecturers mark against it. The structure below maps onto most NZ initial teacher education templates.
Section-by-section structure
1. Context
Year level, number of students, date, time and length of the lesson, room or space, and where this lesson sits in the unit (for example, lesson 3 of 6). Note anything that affects the lesson: a relief day yesterday, assembly straight after, a student with a known trigger. Keep personal details about students out of anything you submit; use initials or group names.
2. Curriculum link
Name the learning area, the strand or big idea and the level or phase, using the curriculum documents your school is currently using. These are changing as the curriculum is refreshed, so check with your AT and use Tāhūrangi for the official versions. In secondary, add the NCEA standard if the lesson builds towards one, and check the current version on NZQA.
3. Learning intention
One sentence that says what students will learn, written so you can share it with them. ‘We are learning to use evidence from the text to support an opinion’ is a learning intention. ‘We are writing a book review’ is a task.
4. Success criteria
Two to four criteria that show what success looks like for this lesson. Write them so a student could check their own work against them. Our guide to learning intentions and success criteria has examples by year level.
5. Prior knowledge
What students already know or can do, and how you know (last lesson's exit tickets, the AT's assessment data, a quick pre-test). Name any misconceptions you expect to meet.
6. Timed sequence
Set this out as a table with time, what you do, what students do, and resources. Include the hook, the explicit teaching, guided practice, independent practice and the closing. Build in at least one check for understanding before you release students to work alone.
| Time | Teacher | Students | Resources |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0–5 min | Share LI and SC. Quick recall question from last lesson. | Answer on mini whiteboards. | Whiteboards, slide 1 |
| 5–15 min | Model the skill with think-aloud. | Watch, then try one example with a partner. | Visualiser, model text |
| 15–35 min | Roam, conference with target group. | Independent task against the SC. | Task sheet (two versions) |
| 35–40 min | Ask students to self-assess against the SC. | Exit ticket. | Exit slips |
7. Differentiation
Be specific. ‘Support for those who need it’ tells your lecturer nothing. Write what you will do: a sentence starter for the group still building written language, a worked example on the table for two students, an extension question that asks for a second piece of evidence. Ask your AT about any learning support plans, students learning English, or ākonga who need adjustments, and plan for them by name in your private notes.
8. Assessment
State how you will gather evidence against the success criteria: observation notes, questioning, a checklist, exit tickets, student self-assessment. Say what you will do with it, such as regrouping students for the next lesson.
9. Reflection
Write it the same day. Use the success criteria as your frame: who met them, who didn't, and what in your teaching caused that. Then name one change for the next lesson. Your AT's feedback belongs here too, along with what you will do about it.
Common mistakes
- Activity as the learning intention. If the LI could be completed without anyone learning anything, rewrite it.
- Too much content. First plans almost always overrun. Cut one activity and keep it as an extension.
- No transitions. Moving 28 Year 3s from the mat to tables takes time. Plan it and teach it.
- Generic differentiation. Name the adjustment and the group it is for.
- Reflection that only describes. ‘The lesson went well’ is not reflection. Say what the evidence showed and what you will change.
- Plans finished late at night. Most ATs want plans in advance so they can give feedback. Agree the deadline in your first week.
Draft your learning intention and success criteria first, then build the sequence to fit them. The free learning intentions and success criteria tool gives you a starting draft to edit.
After the lesson
Keep your best plans and the AT's feedback. Annotated plans with reflections are strong evidence for a graduate teaching portfolio and give you real examples to talk through at interview.