Using Choice Boards & Menus in the Classroom

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“But teacher, that’s boring!” Or “But I don’t wanna do that!” These are commonly heard phrases in the classroom. Even when you’ve planned a fun, exciting activity, there may be a few students who aren’t into it. And when students aren’t motivated to do an activity, chances are they won’t put their all into it. 

So, how can you solve this problem? One way is to offer choices! I love offering students in my classroom choices. Students in my class love getting to choose what they’re going to work on! It brings them a sense of empowerment and motivation that nothing else does. 

So, how do I use Choice Boards & Menus in the classroom?

ELA Reading and Writing Choice Boards & Menus in the Upper Elementary Classroom

Choice Boards & Menus un the Classroom

One way I bring choices to the classroom is with a range of choice boards. These boards look like bingo boards with 9 squares and have various activities related to a certain topic such as word work, writing prompts, independent reading, extensions, and more. 

Depending on how deep a dive I’d like students to take into the content, I have them complete anywhere from 1 to 4 of the activities on the board. Once the student has completed one of the activities, they can cross it off the choice board sheet. 

How to Use Choice Boards & Menus

Choice boards are versatile tools for teachers! I love to use them for several different purposes which include:

  • Homework: Send a choice board home and give the gift of choice to parents! They can help their kids choose a few of the choices to work on throughout the week and you’ve assigned homework for a whole week!
  • Fast Finisher Work: Do you have students in your classroom who finish their work before most of the rest of the students are done? I do! With these students, it can be easy to offer them a choice board of engaging activities so that they can pick something to do. That way, they’re busy and still learning!
  • Regular Classroom Work: Choice boards are also great to include in your regularly planned units such as writing, reading, spelling, and more. By offering your students choice in your regular units, you shake things up and give students a bit more say in their day to day activities. It can be a change that really brightens kids up and makes them eager to work!

Take a peek here, you will see the writing picture prompts, Extension (early finishers) in digital and in print format!

Digital Choice Boards & Menus

I have been using digital choice boards for a long time now. They’re easy to print off and hand out for homework, fast finisher work, or regular classroom work. But, in 2020 I had to really get creative and turn this resource into something that would also work well digitally!

So, I present to you my Digital Choice Boards Bundle! I put all of my favorite choice board resources together into one big bundle so that you can pick and choose from all of them. This bundle includes:

  • Word Work Choice Boards + Bonus Digital Option
  • Writing Choice Boards + Bonus Digital Option
  • Early Finishers + Bonus Digital Option
  • Reading Choice Boards + Bonus Digital Option
  • Writing Picture Prompts Choice Boards +Bonus Digital Option

Take a peek at the digital sets here!

Grab the bundle Here in my Shop or here in my TPT Shop

Choice & Menu boards help bring so much accountability and choice to your classroom. These activities are endless and your kids will grow independently in so many skills. So how will you start using them in your classroom today?

Blog Teaching points, just in case you skipped to the end…

  1. It bring students a sense of empowerment and motivation that nothing else does. 
  2. Choice boards are versatile tools for teachers.
  3. Choice boards are easy to print off and hand out for homework, fast finisher work, or regular classroom work!
  4. Now you can purchase these with all bonus digital formats added!

 

 

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ELA Reading and Writing Choice Boards & Menus in the Upper Elementary Classroom

 

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