Before you open a chat window, decide what the learner should be able to do. The tool comes second.
Every week someone asks which AI tool they should use for lesson planning. It is the wrong first question. The right first question is older than any model: what should a learner be able to do when this is over?
The verb is the whole design
A learning objective lives or dies on its verb. "Understand photosynthesis" gives a model nothing to aim at. "Explain how light energy becomes chemical energy, using a labeled diagram" gives it a target, a format, and a way to check the result.
Before
Write a lesson on photosynthesis for 7th grade.
After
Students will explain, using a labeled diagram, how a leaf converts light energy into chemical energy. Draft a 40 minute lesson that ends with that diagram as the exit ticket.
When we ran both prompts with the same model, the second produced a lesson our reviewers rated usable as written far more often.
A simple ladder
Pick a verb from the level you actually need, not the one that sounds impressive. Recall work and analysis work need different lessons, different checks, and different prompts.
If you cannot picture the evidence, you have not chosen a verb yet.
Try it with your team
Next planning meeting
- Write the objective before anyone opens a tool
- Underline the verb and ask: what would we see?
- Paste the objective, not the topic, into the prompt
- Compare the draft to the evidence you named
01You are a curriculum designer.02Objective: Students will [VERB] [CONTENT] by [EVIDENCE].03Design a lesson whose final task produces that evidence.04List the check for understanding at each stage.
Recording coming soon