Hands-On Guide to Creating Organized, Effective Instruction

The Teacher Clarity Playbook, Grades K-12: A Hands-On Guide to Creating Learning Intentions and Success Criteria for Organized, Effective Instruction 
By Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, John Taylor Almarode, Kierstan Barbee, Olivia Amador Valerio, and Joseph Michael Assof
(Corwin, 2024 – Learn more)

Reviewed by Amy Leach

I’ll admit it: when I first picked up The Teacher Clarity Playbook, part of me thought, I already do this. After all, I’ve been teaching long enough to know about learning targets, success criteria, and unpacking standards.

But this book proved me wrong in the best possible way. Even as a seasoned educator, I found myself underlining, nodding along, and jotting down new ideas.

This is one of those rare professional texts that actually lives up to the promise in the subtitle – hands-on. It doesn’t just talk about why clarity matters (though it does that very convincingly). It walks you step by step through the how, with a level of precision and practicality that makes it feel less like a book and more like a toolkit. This practical approach will empower you to implement the strategies in your own classroom.

Key components of teacher clarity

The Playbook is organized around the key components of teacher clarity, and each gets its own thoughtful chapter. For instance, the chapter on ‘Identifying Concepts and Skills’ provides practical strategies on how to figure out exactly what students need to know and be able to do.

• Identifying Concepts and Skills: How do you figure out exactly what students need to know and be able to do?
• Sequencing Learning Progressions: What’s the most logical, supportive way to build knowledge and skills over time?
• Elaborating Learning Intentions: How do you craft clear, student-friendly statements of purpose?
• Crafting Success Criteria: What does success look like, sound like, feel like, and how will everyone know when it’s been achieved?
• Modifying Learning Intentions to Include Language Expectations: A crucial piece that too often gets overlooked, especially for multilingual learners. This chapter provides specific strategies for modifying learning intentions to ensure they are accessible to all students, regardless of their language proficiency level.
• Determining the Relevance of Learning: Why does this matter to students, and how can you help them see the connection?
• Designing Assessment Opportunities: How do you check for understanding in a meaningful, aligned way?

Each chapter follows the same clear structure: explanation, examples, reflection questions, and space to plan your own lessons. I especially appreciated the variety of examples across grade levels and content areas. Whether you teach kindergarten reading, middle school math, or high school social studies, you’ll find concrete models to adapt.

Classroom ready

What really makes this book stand out is its ready-to-use nature. You don’t finish a chapter and think, “Well, that was interesting—maybe someday I’ll try it.” You finish a chapter and think, “I can do this tomorrow.” The authors have obviously spent a considerable amount of time in real classrooms, and it shows.

One of the biggest takeaways for me was how the book pushes you to go beyond generic statements like “Students will understand fractions” or “Students will be able to write essays.” Instead, you’re guided to name the concepts (the big ideas) and the skills (what students actually do), then sequence them into coherent learning progressions. This level of specificity makes planning feel purposeful rather than perfunctory.

Another highlight is the section on success criteria. I was pretty solid in this area, but the examples and reflection prompts challenged me to be more precise and more concrete. It’s easy to assume that kids “know what good work looks like,” but the Playbook shows exactly how to define it so that everyone – students and teacher alike – is on the same page.

Even the more experienced among us will find fresh insights here. The chapter on connecting learning intentions to language expectations was especially useful. It’s an area I sometimes gloss over, but the Playbook makes a strong case that language development isn’t an add-on; it’s integral to clarity.

If I had to pinpoint one small critique, it’s that occasionally the examples feel a little scripted. But honestly, that’s a tradeoff I’m happy to make – because having such detailed models makes it much easier to adapt the ideas to your own style.

Who should read this book?

In my view:

• New teachers who want a clear roadmap to planning effective, purposeful instruction
• Veteran teachers looking to refine and deepen their practice (you will learn something new)
• Instructional coaches who support colleagues in making standards more transparent and accessible
• Teams working on curriculum alignment or PLC work – this would be a fantastic book study

In short, The Teacher Clarity Playbook doesn’t just tell you why clarity matters. It shows you how to achieve it, step by step, with all the templates and examples you could possibly need. Whether you’re working to create more meaningful learning experiences, establish mastery of standards, or simply get your own planning more organized, this is a resource you’ll reach for again and again. Its practicality ensures it will be a valuable resource in your teaching journey.

With over 30 years in math education and assessment, Amy Leach teaches Algebra, Geometry, AP Precalculus, AP Calculus, College Algebra, and a self-developed Data Science course at Spring Valley (WI) High School. Her background includes two decades designing performance tasks and inclusive assessments, ten years in middle and high school classrooms, and service as a math curriculum coordinator. A lifelong learner, she recently deepened her expertise through the Data Science Summer Institute.