Free learning target generator
TeacherHero's learning target generator turns a standard into one student-facing target plus the three success criteria that make it checkable. Below is real output for a Grade 6 ELA lesson, the fourth day of a five-day week. Inside a full lesson, that target is what all six sections are then generated backwards from.
One target students can read, plus the three success criteria that make it something you can actually check.
Learning target — body paragraph 1 of the unit essay
One target in student-facing language, plus the criteria that turn it from a topic into something you can grade.
Learning target
I can write a body paragraph that states a claim, quotes evidence, and explains it.
Success criterion 1
Your claim answers how people find courage while afraid.
Success criterion 2
Your paragraph quotes the complete dialogue sentence accurately.
Success criterion 3
Your reasoning explains how both sources support your claim.
The third criterion is where the standard actually lives: a paragraph that quotes without explaining how both sources support the claim is one level below it. These criteria were written on day four of a week, against the chart students built on Tuesday and the paragraph they wrote on Wednesday.
Frequently asked questions
What is a learning target?
A statement of what a student will be able to do by the end of one lesson, written in language the student can read. It is narrower than a standard — a standard usually takes several lessons — and it is what the lesson's final task must produce evidence for.
What is the difference between a learning target and a standard?
A standard is the destination and is written for adults; a learning target is one day's step toward it, written for students. One standard normally spans several targets. The standard says what must be true by the end of the unit; the target says what is true by the bell.
Why do I need success criteria?
Because a target on its own is not checkable. Success criteria say what the evidence looks like, which is what lets a student self-assess and what stops a lesson from drifting one level below the standard. They are also the fastest way to spot that drift while planning.
Does TeacherHero need a learning target to plan a lesson?
Yes, along with what students will produce. Every one of the six lesson sections is generated backwards from those two answers, so a blank one is blocked in code rather than quietly generating something generic. The target is the first thing you set.
More free tools
Exit ticket generator
One check that tells you whether today landed — with the responses to look for, so a stack of tickets sorts in two minutes.
See the outputDo Now generator
Three five-minute openers that pull yesterday forward instead of introducing today — the version of a warm-up that actually earns its minutes.
See the outputAcademic vocabulary generator
The words that actually block comprehension, defined in language students can use — plus the mix-up each one tends to cause.
See the outputThis is one section of six.
A whole TeacherHero lesson generates all six with your course, unit, and week in context — along with the packet, slides, printables, and answer keys.
Explore a whole example lesson