Learning intentions and success criteria

Enter a topic and year level. Get a learning intention and three or four “I can” success criteria, ready to copy onto the board or into your plan.

Learning intentions and success criteria, briefly

A learning intention (LI) says what students are learning, not what they're doing. "We are learning to compare fractions with different denominators" is a learning intention. "We are making a fraction wall" is an activity.

Success criteria (SC) break that learning into steps students can see and check for themselves. Written as "I can" statements, they let students judge where they are and what to do next, and they tell you what to look for as you move around the room.

WALT, WILF and TIB

WALT: We Are Learning To. The learning intention.
WILF: What I'm Looking For. The success criteria.
TIB: This Is Because. Why the learning matters, in a sentence students understand.

The acronyms are common in New Zealand primary classrooms. Secondary teachers more often write "LI" and "SC", or "Learning intention" and "Success criteria" in full. They mean the same thing.

Writing good ones

Start the learning intention with a verb that names thinking: explain, compare, describe, identify, justify.
Keep one learning intention per lesson where you can. Two at most.
Make each success criterion observable. "I can understand fractions" can't be seen; "I can explain which fraction is bigger and why" can.
Order the criteria from the basics to deeper understanding, so every student has a first step.
Use words your students use. Years 0–3 need short, simple sentences, and a picture cue helps.

Using them in the lesson

Share the learning intention at the start, return to the success criteria during the lesson ("Which one are you working on now?"), and finish with a quick self-check against them: thumbs, a traffic light, or a sticky note with the criterion students reached. That last step is your exit ticket.

For a full walk-through with examples at different year levels, read how to write learning intentions and success criteria.

Questions teachers ask

What do WALT and WILF stand for?

WALT is "We Are Learning To", the start of a learning intention. WILF is "What I'm Looking For", the success criteria. Some classes add TIB, "This Is Because", to say why the learning matters.

What's the difference between a learning intention and success criteria?

The learning intention says what students are learning. The success criteria say how they (and you) will know they've learned it, in steps students can see and check.

How many success criteria should a lesson have?

Usually three or four. More than that and students stop using them. If you need more, the learning intention is probably too big for one lesson.

Should students help write the success criteria?

When you can, yes. Show a good example, ask what makes it good, and shape their ideas into "I can" statements. Students use criteria they helped write.

Guides for new teachers

Build the whole lesson around them

With a free account you get more goes each day, and Heapso writes full lesson plans with learning intentions, success criteria and timed steps.