Determine the intent of the assignment. In a four-paragraph essay, for example, you may want to measure your students' competence in the areas of grammar, punctuation, spelling and logic. Alternatively, the assignment's purpose might just be to demonstrate how to tell a good story. The main focus of the objective would then be more on plot development. Use the curriculum for the student's grade-level as a guide.
Determine how you will evaluate the work. The objective should clearly state what the student will need to demonstrate, making it easier to devise a scale that shows the student's level of success.
Write a first draft of the objective. Use verbs such as define, explain, apply, distinguish, design and evaluate, which correspond to the different levels of learning, according to Benjamin Bloom in his taxonomy--knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation.
Show the draft to colleagues. They can either tell you if you're on the right track or make suggestions for improvement. The new ideas will help form strong objectives for future assignments.
Write your final draft of the objective, incorporating any new suggestions and ideas. Make sure it is concise and clearly demonstrates the required results.