You Have a Choice!

1. You Have a Choice! Differentiating Through Choice Boards Marcella Reppenhagen

2. Time for an Icebreaker! • Choice Board Icebreaker • Circle 3 activities to complete • You have 5 minutes…Ready….Set…GO!

3. Choice Board Icebreaker

4. Questions to Think About… • Go to http://todaysmeet.com/ChoiceBoards • Join and answer the questions posted at the top (You can discuss with a partner) • “Why are choices important in differentiation?” • “What did you like about this activity?”

5. What is a Choice Board? • A CHOICE BOARD  offers students a way to make decisions about what they will do in order to meet class requirements.  • A choice board could be for a single lesson, a week-long lesson, or even a month-long period of study. 

6. So Basically… • Choice boards are organizers that contain a variety of activities. • Students can choose one or several activities to complete as they learn a skill or develop a product. • Choice boards can be organized so that students are required to choose options that focus on several different skills. • Choice boards address readiness, interest, and learning preferences. They are easily adapted to a subject area.

7. How do I create one? • Identify the most important elements of a lesson or unit.  • Create a required assignment or project that reflects the minimum understanding you expect all students to achieve. • Create negotiables which expand upon the minimum understandings.  These negotiables often require students to go beyond the basic levels of Bloom's Taxonomy.  • You could create a final optional section that requires students the opportunity for enrichment.  The optional section often reflects activities that students can use for extra credit. from Fair Isn't Always Equal: Assessing and Grading in the Differentiated Classroom by Rick Wormeli

8. Tic-Tac-Toe • Tic-Tac-Toeis a simple way to give students alternative ways of exploring and expressing key ideas and using key skills.  • Typically, the Tic-Tac-Toe board has 9 cells in it, like that of the game.  This can, of course, be adjusted.  • Allow students to complete any 3 tasks--even if the completed tasks don't make a Tic-Tac-Toe. • Create different Tic-Tac-Toe boards based on Bloom’s Taxonomy. • Create Tic-Tac-Toe boards based on learning styles or learning preferences. For example, a board could include three kinesthetic tasks, three auditory tasks, three visual tasks. • Create Tic-Tac-Toe boards based on Multiple Intelligences. From Fulfilling the Promise of the Differentiated Classroom by Carol-Ann Tomlinson

9. Bloom’s Taxonomy

10. Bloom’s Taxonomy

11. Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences

12. Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences

13. OR… • You don’t have to use Bloom’s Taxonomy, Multiple Intelligences, or Learning Styles. • Your Choice Board could be about a specific topic or content. • You also don’t need students to complete it in tic-tac-toe style.

14. So… Students can.. • Do a Tic-Tac-Toe style with 3 boxes completed. • Choose only 1 box to complete. • Be assigned a column to choose from. • Work on 2 a day and have the entire board completed by the end of the week. • OR… Any other ideas?

15. Let’s take a look at… Examples!

16. Story/Novel Assignment

17. Writing – Based on Novel

18. Math – Fill it in with Unit content

19. Foreign Language

20. General Science – 9th Grade *Just for Jim*

21. What do you think? • Why are choice boards useful? • When might they be the most useful for you?

22. Now it’s your turn! • Get with a partner and create your own choice board. • Have fun!  • Share with everyone what you created.

23. Feedback – Choose 2 to respond to