All of Your Questions about Choice Boards Answered: Why? How? Where?
Teachers: Do you need an engaging way to teach your state's standards? I LOVE choice boards because they give students the power of choice, while also requiring students to use the higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy.
Why Should You Use Choice Boards in Your Classroom?
Choice boards are the perfect addition to any classroom. Students love choice boards because they can choose which activities they’d like to complete. Teachers love choice boards because they are engaging and differentiated.
If you have gifted, talented, or high-level students, choice boards are excellent to use for extension and enrichment.
How Can You Get Started with Using Choice Boards?
Invest time in the beginning to communicate your procedures and expectations.
- Can students work together on the activities, or do they need to work silently by themselves?
- Where should students store their choice board activities? I recommend that each student has their own “Choice Board Folder” that they can keep in their desk or cubby. In it, they should store their copy of the choice board, the rubric, and any activities they are working on, such as brochures, poems, writing samples, etc.
- What do you expect your students' completed work to look like? It’s helpful to show students how to start their activities and give them criteria for what you’ll grade (such as with a rubric, activity pages, or posters). You may also want to provide a completed example.
- When can students work on their choice boards? Should they work on them during rotations, first thing in the morning, as seat work, after completing their other work, or at another time?
Have supplies available.
- I recommend having one area in your classroom with choice board supplies, such as markers, glue, paper, colored pencils, etc.
- Label everything, so students know where to return the supplies without it becoming a mess.
- If you’d prefer, you can also have students be responsible for bringing their own supplies.
Use choice boards to support what you’re already teaching.
- Choose choice boards that are aligned to your state’s standards.
- Here is a free choice board you can download from my Teachers Pay Teachers store. It's perfect for the beginning of the year in science:
Where can you find choice boards?
I have a variety of choice boards available in my TPT store, including several that are free!
You can also click here to download The Teacher's Guide to Using Choice Boards, which is a free resource in my store.
Interested in learning how you can use choice boards during distance learning?
Click here to read my best tips for using choice boards in a digital learning or distance learning environment.
-Janelle
