The Teacher Clarity Playbook: A Hands-On Guide to Creating Learning Intentions and Success Criteria for Organized, Effective Instruction

Unlock the secrets to student achievement with purposeful learning and clear expectations

On a clear day, you can learn forever— that’s the adapted lyric you’ll be happily humming once you’ve covered this playbook, because you will have mastered using learning intentions and success criteria, the twin engines of Teacher Clarity. This template-filled guide shows you how to own it, do it, and live it—and your students will be more successful as a result.

In this fully revised edition, this succinct, smart, and swift book’s nine learning modules take you systematically through a process that begins and ends with standards. With abundant and all new examples that span grade levels, planning templates for every step, key professional learning questions, new videos, revised success criteria and relevance sections, and the latest research, you have the most practical and up-to-date planner for designing and delivering highly effective instruction:

• Identifying Concepts and Skills
• Sequencing Learning Progressions
• Elaborating Learning Intentions
• Crafting Success Criteria
• Modifying Learning Intentions to Include Language Expectations
• Determining the Relevance of the Learning
• Designing Assessment Opportunities
• Creating Meaningful Learning Experiences
• Establishing Mastery of Standards

Designed for PLCs or independent teacher use, The Teacher Clarity Playbook helps practitioners align lessons, objectives, and outcomes of learning seamlessly, so that the classroom hours flow productively for everyone. For any teacher striving to be more organised and have stronger relationships with students, this is the book that shows you how.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Module 1: Identifying Concepts and Skills

Module 2: Sequencing Learning Progressions

Module 3: Elaborating Learning Intentions

Module 4: Crafting Success Criteria

Module 5: Modifying Learning Intentions to Include Language Expectations

Module 6: Determining the Relevance of the Learning

Module 7: Designing Assessment Opportunities

Module 8: Creating Meaningful Learning Experiences

Module 9: Establishing Mastery of Standards

Moving Forward

"“Just like Teacher Clarity demystifies how to be successful teachers and learners, the authors of this practical playbook demystify Teacher Clarity for their readers. It’s a must-read, must-practice book used by all educators across our school district. It’s not another thing; it’s ‘the thing’ for targeted, successful teaching and learning!"
- Dr. Angela Lyon Hinton, Assistant Superintendent for Instructional Services, Spartanburg School District Two

"This playbook equips educators with a wealth of strategies, examples, and practical tools to amplify their impact on student learning. These resources empower educators to cultivate a learning environment where students are actively engaged, while also helping teachers develop a profound understanding of their expectations, thereby enhancing the overall learning experience."
- Kelly Jensen, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Palmdale School District

"With a through line of alignment and intentionality, this second edition of The Teacher Clarity Playbook emphasizes the cognitive complexities to consider in purposeful planning. This book truly highlights and reminds us of both the art and science of teaching and deepens our appreciation for teachers and leaders."
- Amy Miles, Professional Development Coordinator

"In this second edition of the playbook, teacher clarity is explicitly linked to alignment and the intentional moves teachers make when planning for and facilitating instruction. The authors provide a metacognitive roadmap for developing instruction that meets the cognitive complexity of content standards and supports students in knowing where they are now and where to next."
- Angie Schultz, Director of Curriculum and Innovation

"The new videos for each module on the Think Alouds give teachers an explanation of how practitioners are using a specific component of teacher clarity in a comprehensible way. It is a game changer when teachers discover the best hidden secret to learning (success criteria). By adding the seven different ways of sharing what success looks like with learners, Module 4 becomes even more powerful as teachers realize the different opportunities they have to reach and empower students."
- Chasity Gray, Director of Professional Learning