Setting Goals and Monitoring Progress
Students learn to set a short-term goal (1-3 days) and a medium-term goal (1-2 weeks), use a planning tool with time estimates for each step, use work evidence to check progress and say what it shows, adjust a plan when it's not working by identifying what went wrong and changing one element, and reflect on what the goal taught them about how they work best.
Lesson Overview
What students will be able to do after this lesson: Students will be able to set two specific, checkable goals — one short-term and one medium-term — each with a success criterion, build a planning tool with time estimates, monitor progress using real work evidence, adjust one element when a plan is not working, and reflect on what the goal revealed about how they work best.
Skill segments at a glance:
| Segment | Segment name | Primary standards |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Setting Goals That Are Specific and Checkable | SM-GOL-3-1 · SA-REF-3-1 |
| 2 | Planning Your Steps and Checking Progress | SM-GOL-3-2 · SM-GOL-3-3 |
| 3 | Adjusting Your Plan and Reflecting on What You Learned | SM-GOL-3-4 · SM-GOL-3-5 |
Supporting standards reinforced:
| Code | Why it connects |
|---|---|
| SM-HAB-3-2 | A consistent work routine — same time, place, and starting step — gives students the structure they need to actually make progress toward goals session by session. |
| SM-FOC-3-1 | Starting promptly on a task is essential to goal progress; delays erode the planned time and make the time estimates in a planning tool impossible to follow. |
Key Vocabulary
- Goal — something specific you plan to achieve within a set time, with a clear way to know when you’ve reached it
- Short-term goal — a goal you plan to reach in 1–3 days
- Medium-term goal — a goal you plan to reach in 1–2 weeks
- Success criterion — the specific, observable sign that tells you the goal is done
- Planning tool — a sheet, list, or organizer that breaks your goal into steps with a time estimate for each step
- Evidence — something from your actual work — a draft, a score, a completed section — that shows where you are
Materials
- Whiteboard or chart paper for sentence frames and model content
- Planning tool example (projected or printed): a simple goal sheet with a Steps column and a Time column
- Process Steps Poster: 1. Set a specific goal with a success criterion. → 2. Plan your steps with time estimates. → 3. Check your work evidence. → 4. Adjust one element if the plan needs it. → 5. Reflect on what the goal taught you.
- Before the week begins: Post your unit anchor chart and I Can Statement where students can see them — you’ll reference both throughout the week.
How this lesson is structured: Each skill segment below has an I Do (teacher models the skill with a realistic scenario) and a We Do (class practices together with your guidance). Independent practice — the You Do — lives in the practice resources that go alongside this lesson.
What Students Need Before This Lesson
- What’s inside
- What students should already be able to do
- Helpful to have in place
- 3 quick set-ups before the I DoA goal is not a wish — it needs to be specific and checkable · A planning tool needs time estimates — a task list alone is not enough · Evidence is from your work — not from your feelings; adjusting means changing one element, not starting over
- Rescue planIf students are significantly behind
This section opens when Grade 3 launches.
Introducing the Skill
- What’s inside
- Opening hook
- What we’re learning
- Why it matters
- Core sentence frameThe frame students use all week
This section opens when Grade 3 launches.
Setting Goals That Are Specific and Checkable
- What’s inside
- I do: 4 teacher modelsTextbook example: two complete goals with different timeframes · Wrong version → fix: vague goal · Named character with both goals complete: Maya · Goal with specificity but no success criterion: Theo
- We do: 5 guided scenariosWith sentence frames, pacing notes and what to watch for
- Coaching in the momentWhat to say when students get stuck
This section opens when Grade 3 launches.
Planning Your Steps and Checking Progress
- What’s inside
- I do: 4 teacher modelsPlanning tool with time estimates: the complete version · Wrong version → fix: task list without time estimates · Evidence check done well: Sofia · Wrong version → fix: feeling check instead of evidence check (Marcus)
- We do: 5 guided scenariosWith sentence frames, pacing notes and what to watch for
- Coaching in the momentWhat to say when students get stuck
This section opens when Grade 3 launches.
Adjusting Your Plan and Reflecting on What You Learned
- What’s inside
- I do: 3 teacher modelsTargeted adjustment: one specific change · Wrong version → fix: restarting from scratch · Strong working-style reflection: Priya
- We do: 5 guided scenariosWith sentence frames, pacing notes and what to watch for
- Coaching in the momentWhat to say when students get stuck
This section opens when Grade 3 launches.
Closing the Week
- What’s inside
- 3 partner-share roundsOne for each segment, with the frame students say together
- Closing prompt
- Round 1 — Segment 1
- Round 2 — Segment 2
- Round 3 — Segment 3
This section opens when Grade 3 launches.
Practice for every skill segment
Each lesson comes with independent practice — the “you do” — for each of its 3 skill segments, in print and digital.
Printable practice
Ready-to-copy practice pages for each segment.
- View and print in your browser
- Answer keys for quick checking
Digital activities
Share one link — students open it on any device, and you see their answers.
- Works on Chromebooks, tablets and phones
- Students just type their name to start
While you wait: from the SEL Resource Library
Self-Management resources for Grade 3, ready to use today.
