The Bookish Bee

Why Choice Boards

Firm, standards based goals – flexible means.

That’s the Universal Design for Learning mantra. Choice boards offer flexible means of action / expression. We also know that one of the best ways to increase classroom engagement is by offering choices to students.

I’m the first person to say that choice boards can be powerful in ANY classroom, yet they are often used incorrectly. Why? We lose the firm, standards based goal.

Build a Better Choice Board with UDL

1. Pick a narrow standard

I live in Massachusetts, so I tend to use the wording from our standards instead of the CCSS language. Let’s say I want to assess RL.6.2 (Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of a text distinct from personal opinions or judgments).

2. Determine a clear, firm goal

In other words, what are the success criteria for this standard? For RL.6.2 has two distinct parts – theme and summary. For this example, let’s focus on theme. The criteria for success are a) determine the theme and b) explain how that theme is developed.

Previously in my career, I would have written a writing prompt like “How does the author develop the theme in chapter 19”, told my students to write their response, and then we’d discuss it as a class.

However, RL.6.2 says NOTHING about writing. So why should students have to write? For many students, writing is a huge barrier. Either they present with dysgraphia or something similar, or they hate writing so it’s a big task initiation obstacle for them.

As teachers, we have to fight so many battles each and every day. Trying to get kids to write when that’s not the point of the lesson is not one I want to fight any more.

Bring in the choice board!

3. Make a list of how students can share their knowledge

Categories to consider:

• speaking to a teacher or classmates
• writing / typing a paragaph
• making a list
• filling out a graphic organizer
• making a video or voice recording
• creating a visual

4. Further remove barriers by providing examples

I don’t know about your classroom, but in mine students will ask how to do something after giving clear instructions verbally 10,000 times, writing the directions in multiple places, and putting on a full Broadway show about the task at hand.

One way I avoid this, and remove additional barriers to success in the process, is by creating examples of each choice and linking it to the choice board. This can be a bit time consuming, but ChatGPT and other AI tools can be really helpful for this.

5. Create a simple rubric that works for all of the options

Use the success criteria you already came up with to make a clear rubric. Remember, clear is kind! Plus, in this case clear also means simplifying your life.

I grade using a points based system, so classwork is out of 10pts. Let’s say this was a graded classwork assignment me. I might do the following:

Similarly, if this was an ungraded, formative assessment I would probably create two T charts, one for each success criteria, and write the initials of students and whether they got it or didn’t.

Looking to save time?

If you are an ELA teacher, I am always adding standards based choice boards to my TPT store. For example, here is one focused on CCSS W.3d (Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to convey experiences and events).