Standards = Objectives = Assessment

One of my weekly tasks is to review and provide feedback on teachers’ lesson plans. Over time, I began noticing a bit of a gap in aligning standards, objectives, and assessments.

Here's an equation for you: Standards = Objectives = Assessments (SOA).
If your standard says recognize and explain the meaning of common idioms,

1. your objective would be: students will be able to/ I Can recognize and explain the meaning of common idioms.

2. So, your methods & instructional activities would be teaching students HOW to recognize and explain the meaning of common idioms.

3. Thus, your assessment would be students demonstrate that they can recognize and explain the meaning of common idioms by writing/telling/drawing (etc)

That is the very first step in aligning S, O, and A. The next step is creating tiers (i.e. a rubric) that demonstrate mastery of the standard.

Here are some articles about aligning S, O, and A.

https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/assessment/basics/alignment.html

https://www.ucdenver.edu/faculty_staff/faculty/center-for-faculty-development/Documents/Tutorials/Assessment/module1/course_alignment.htm

https://www.learningsciences.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Aligning-Standards-with-Instruction.pdf (this is really long!)