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This lesson plan format was developed by the 8th-grade ELA PLC at Argentine Middle School. They share one Google drive, and teachers have designated office hours, so students can check-in as needed during their day.

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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Write…now! Choose from hundreds of lessons, quizzes, and writing prompts for all ages.

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Storybird - Read, write, discover, and share the books you'll always remember.

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Become a better writer with Storybird's creativity tools. Online courses, challenges, and reader feedback will help you improve your writing.

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This video was created by the 8th grade PLC at Arrowhead Middle School. This quick tutorial guides students through their weekly assignments, identifying which items are "must do" and which items are "choice" items. Teacher choice and student choice is provided each week through this structure.

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Rebecca Brown, a teacher of English Language Learners at Schlagle High School, shares how she uses Fluency Tutor to continue to build students' skills. Her fun Ms. Brownie persona is one her students are familiar with!

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Unique Instruments - Fluency Tutor® for Google™.webm

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Anne Gittinger, an ELA teacher at Central Middle School, shares with us how she uses Alien Emojis to check on students' progress (and how they are feeling) throughout the week.

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This is the second mini lesson tutorial. This mini lesson is an example of how to coach students through crafting their own fictional narratives with a zombie twist!

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Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.

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These mini lessons were submitted by Aubrey Kennedy, an ELA teacher at Gloria Willis Middle School. These quick tutorials (provided via YouTube) help students navigate their assignments for the week and gain a better understanding of the expectations.

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This choice board was created by the 7th grade PLC at Eisenhower Middle School. After reading the text, students choose which task to complete. On Wednesday, students are introduced to a video that relates to the text. By Friday, students are asked to summarize their learning for the week.

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This mini lesson example provides a quick tutorial for students to create their own six-word stories.

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Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.

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The Science of Reading

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NCTQ considered fifteen programs as exceptional, ones that ranged from Arkansas Tech University, the University of Florida, to two programs in Utah and Mississippi, respectively. They found that undergraduate university education programs were more likely to offer scientific-based courses, with 57% earning an "A" or "B" rating. Graduate programs lagged behind with 33% earning a top mark.

While NCTQ is encouraged by the uptick in evidence-backed reading programs, president Kate Walsh said she hopes that news of the report puts pressure on even more to join them.

"Getting programs to the halfway mark means that half of all programs doing this," she said. "We hope that by the next time we release new findings, we will make much more significant progress."

How the brain learns to read

The report outlines the importance of providing teachers who teach reading with the understanding of how the brain learns to read. Learning to read is a function of spoken language, in which the brain connects the speech sounds of spoken language to the visual written "code" of letters and words. When a child learns to read, according to cognitive scientist Stanislas Dehaene , author of Reading and the Brain , the brain essentially creates an "interface between your vision system in your brain and your spoken language system."

Creating this "interface" involves making the connections between the speech sounds (that she already knows from spoken language) and the sounds that letters and letter combinations make. Though some children make those connections without much help, most kids need explicit instruction in phonics to learn the relationship between spoken language sounds and written letters and words.

But for decades, most classrooms haven't focused on phonemic awareness (the ability to hear, recognize and apply the individual units of sound in speech) and phonics (connecting sounds to letters) as the first crucial step in learning to read. Instead, teachers were teaching reading based on philosophies they learned in their training programs, most commonly called "whole language" and "balanced literacy."

These philosophies, unsupported by scientific evidence on how the brain learns to read, emphasized that kids didn't really need much phonics if they had plenty of good books to read. They argued that there are several strategies that kids can rely on if they come to a word they don't know--like looking at the pictures or re-reading the sentence and guess what word made sense. If children had lots of exposure to printed words, they asserted, the rest would take care of itself.

Training teachers before they head into classrooms

Though how the brain learns to read has been well-established in the scientific community for years and is backed by thousands of studies, many teacher preparation programs don't include the mountain of research on reading instruction in their programs. Sometimes they have actively resisted it.

But recent attention from frustrated parent groups and the media has put the spotlight on asking why so many young American readers struggle, and has put pressure on teacher prep programs to re-evaluate how they prepare teachers heading into classrooms.

Both NCTQ and universities recognize the role that teacher training plays in ensuring teachers are equipped with knowledge of the science.

Eastern Tennessee State University, in Johnson City, Tennessee, where Hughes graduated in 2019, earned NCTQ's highest grade-an A+. But that's due to completely revamping their reading courses in 2015. Karen Keith, who became the elementary education department's chair that same year, said she and her team quickly realized that their reading courses needed a reboot.

They replaced existing courses they felt weren't serving students with evidence-based reading courses. For example, Keith said a course that taught undergrads how to write about general issues in education was replaced with a "foundations of literacy" course. The foundations course provided students with a deep dive into the brain science and the five pillars of reading. Then they created a second course that built on the foundations course, on how to use assessment data and differentiated instruction to target students who were struggling.

Teachers-in-training then have a chance to practice what they've learned at the on-campus lab school, as well as out in the field through student teaching. Hughes was placed in a fourth grade class for her student teaching, helping struggling readers. "We can learn definitions all day, but putting it into practice is the hard part," Hughes said. "There are so many needs, which is challenging. But then it's so rewarding when students are using the strategies you've taught them."

Education school leaders recognize how aligning teacher practice with methods backed by scientific research might start to crack the fortress of American illiteracy that many view as a crisis.

"It's a very clear cycle," said Merideth Van Namen, the Chair of Teacher Education, Leadership, and Research at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi, which also earned an A+ rating in the NCTQ report. "If we are better preparing teacher candidates when they enter the field, it's assumed that then they would better prepare those students to be fluent readers."

Could teacher training change how many American kids are able to read well?

Van Namen said the university has had a long legacy of teaching the science of reading, even when it wasn't popular to do so. But they recently strengthened the program that was already working, and have helped lead a statewide effort to get every Mississippi teacher trained.

"For the past several years, Mississippi institutions have collaborated through many efforts to enhance teacher preparation in the area of early literacy," as well, Van Namen said. "No one is working in isolation, and that's a likely factor [for the statewide gains]. We are all going in the same direction."

While NCTQ's rising numbers show promise, some teacher educators are skeptical about measuring something as broad and unruly as how teacher training translates into student achievement.

Researchers have been trying to untie that knot for years, said Nathan Stevenson, assistant professor of special education at Kent State University. Though research points to which instructional practices and strategies raise achievement, there are still many questions on how to scale them effectively.

"So then when you step back another level and say, how are we going to rank institutions that are producing these teachers that are trying to affect change for students?" Stevenson said, "You add a layer of complexity. We already didn't have a clean way to investigate these problems, not to mention doing it on a national scale. It's hard to capture what's really going on."

Teachers themselves seem to recognize that, even with good training, reaching individual students who struggle to read isn't easy. Hannah Hughes feels confident in her understanding of reading, but her students come to school with their own challenges. She has noticed, she said, that her struggling readers often don't read outside of school or are dealing with issues related to poverty-something over which she has little control.

Yet Hughes's training provided her with enough background knowledge to address some of those reading challenges, and she said her students have seen growth so far this year. Some of her "bubble kids"-students reading well who still need help with specific deficits- started the year at 40 words per minute and are now reading about 70 words per minute.

Karen Keith feels hopeful that the work that the university has put into giving teachers science-backed reading instruction methods will transform students' lives.

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How More Teachers are Being Trained in the Science of Reading | KQED

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NCTQ considered fifteen programs as exceptional, ones that ranged from Arkansas Tech University, the University of Florida, to two programs in Utah and Mississippi, respectively. They found that undergraduate university education programs were more likely to offer scientific-based courses, with 57% earning an "A" or "B" rating.

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National Council of Teachers of English 

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National Council of Teachers of English 

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Resources for Virtual Instruction and Online Learning

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Online learning and instruction offer their own particular benefits and challenges at any time-here we suggest some resources and activities that may help those suddenly faced with teaching online.
Download the PDF version.
Click on each item to jump directly to the resource described or scroll to browse.
Writing Together: Ten Weeks Teaching and Studenting in an Online Writing Course
This book narrates the experience of an asynchronous online writing course (OWC) through the dual perspective of the teacher, Scott, and a student, Diana Gasiewski, who participated in that OWC. Both teacher and student describe their strategies, activities, approaches, thoughts, and responses as they move week by week through the experience of teaching and taking an OWC.

You've probably heard that audiobooks serve as a useful resource for struggling readers. Classroom teachers sometimes use audiobooks to help students gain access to material that's too difficult for them to read independently. Audiobooks help novice readers build vocabulary, boost pronunciation skills, and develop fluency. What you might not have considered is what audiobooks offer proficient readers.

Book-to-film adaptations provide great ways for children to explore their favorite books in new ways.

Read on to see how you can use comics and cartoons with children and students.

Children and students need to feel that they own their space and the learning that takes place in it.

Encourage family relationship building by participating in family activities during breaks from school.

The following resources from NCTE and ReadWriteThink.org provide more ideas for fostering family literacy.

Nothing tests your knowledge like a crossword puzzle! But did you know the format of a crossword puzzle can be an effective learning tool, too?

If you are spending time with friends and family, in person or virtually, work together on these activities!

Since a majority of our students are engaging with social media outside the classroom, it makes good sense to integrate it into learning.

Breaks from school offer wonderful opportunities for families, caregivers, and out-of-school educators to help improve reading and writing. ReadWriteThink.org's Parent & Afterschool Resources and NCTE provide many resources, activities, and tools.

Reading and writing texts online are basic skills that students need to be literate citizens in today's world. Teaching with blogs provides the opportunity to engage students in both of these literacy activities, and the strategy has the additional benefit of enabling students to publish their writing easily and to share their writing with an authentic audience.

Take a few minutes and send someone a handwritten letter. Then, invite your students to write letters using these resources from ReadWriteThink.org.

Zines are small-circulation, self-published works of original or appropriated texts and images. Here are some resources from NCTE and ReadWriteThink.org to get you started.
Voices from the Middle
Lesson plans with specific digital tools mentioned to complete projects/tasks.
English Journal
The authors examine photovoice projects created by students and teacher candidates who explored issues of gender in response to a young adult novel and co-researched that process.
English Journal
This article describes blogging implementation in ninth-grade pre-advanced placement language arts classes to support strong writing practices. The author found that blogging empowered high school authors to craft worlds of digital expression where they pushed each other to become stronger writers.
Voices from the Middle
Recommendations of digital classroom tools from The Nerdy Book Club.
Voices from the Middle
This article describes how a middle school teacher uses technology, within an otherwise traditional writing workshop, to facilitate differentiated mini-lessons, confer with writers, and offer writers opportunity for peer response. In the end, she balances ways of streamlining workflow digitally, while maintaining the integrity of writing workshop and offering greater differentiation to meet the needs of writers in her middle school classroom.
English Leadership Quarterly
In this interview, Chris Bronke, teacher and CEL member, discusses useful digital tools for conferring.
Voices from the Middle
This article offers a model for organizing collaborative learning outside of classroom time. It describes affordances and constraints of the digital space and the process used. It also offers insight to how teaching in online spaces looks different from face-to-face instruction and how to support students. Includes screenshots that show very specific ways to set up a class module along with discussions of what to consider as you construct this.
English Journal
The authors worked with preservice teachers and youth in a juvenile detention center to pilot a curriculum focused on critical engagement with online text. Discussion of a specific lesson plan that involves analyzing Instagram posts.
English Journal
The setting and characters of To Kill a Mockingbird came to life in new ways when eighth graders in Georgia explored virtual reality apps as they studied the novel.
Voices from the Middle
While this specific lesson was classroom-focused, it could easily be adapted to digital work, especially related to current events.
English Journal
As an alternative to the traditional research paper for an English class, a digital narrative assignment positioned students as multimedia storytellers.
English Leadership Quarterly
Discussion of a specific lesson plan and digital tools for sharing peer responses to writing.
Language Arts
This Perspectives on Practice column focuses on using student audio recordings to help them craft their writing. Students use audio recorders of their own choice (like a smartphone or other kind of device) to record their own thoughts as they draft projects.
ReadWriteThink.org RESOURCES

ReadWriteThink's mission is to provide educators, parents, and after-school professionals with access to the highest quality practices in reading and language arts instruction by offering the very best in free materials.

Parent & Afterschool Resources

So just how are you supposed to read aloud? Or help kids write? Get quick and useful suggestions from the experts.

Not your everyday calendar, here you can find important events in literary history, authors' birthdays, and a variety of holidays, all with related activities and resources that make them more relevant to students. View by day, by week, or by month.

Want to help kids and teens with their reading and writing skills, but not sure where to begin? We've got engaging, step-by-step activities-just pick one and get started!

Kids and teens should read and write even when they are out of school. Why is this so important? Check out this flyer.

ReadWriteThink.org ACTIVITIES K-12

Act out a story after reading it. Work together to create a script and make costumes and props. Then invite others to watch and hear your story!

Choose favorite rhyming songs or nursery rhymes then replace the rhyming words with seasonal themes.

Help children use favorite photos to write a homemade memory book.

Boost vocabulary by taking an imaginary trip into space. After a lunar "landing," children return to Earth with a galaxy of new words.

After reading If You Give a Moose a Muffin, have a "Muffin Party"! Children will write invitations, follow a recipe, and enjoy sharing their homemade muffins.

Share a fun book about staying safe and then talk about real-life safety issues before writing a letter to someone in your community who can help.

Children will learn their address and phone number to help keep them safe.

The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and you're surrounded by brilliant shades of green! Observe and collect sensory images from nature and use the sights, sounds, smells, and textures to create original nature poetry.

In this activity, children go on a hunt for places where they can read and enjoy books: on a family road trip, at the pool, at the doctor's office.

Work together, create a bingo board that can be played while walking around town, going to the zoo or a museum, or traveling on a vacation.

In this activity, children write short everyday notes to remind, plan, request, or compliment others.

Find three fun online games that are designed to help children learn to recognize letters and how they sound.

These activities will have children reading signs, logos, brand names, and other words all over their homes and communities.

Children love books that rhyme and to create their own rhymes. It's a fun way to learn how words sound similar to one another!

With a piece of paper and a pen, kids can learn anywhere! This activity gets kids writing, looking closely at letters, and learning some new words in any room of the house.

Encourage children to connect words and pictures by having them write their own captions for family or magazine photos.

When you plant a garden, involve children in the process by writing down questions and observations on the garden's growth in a garden journal.

From dishes to doors, find shapes all around you while strengthening important reading and math skills.

Make learning how to spell words a little "wild and crazy" by ditching the pen and paper and using unique materials that will make your kids really smile while they're having fun.

Children incorporate materials from outdoors with paints or crayons to create pieces of art to display on their clotheslines, fences, or porches for a neighborhood art show.

Want to visit a museum without leaving your computer? Virtually dig for famous historical artifacts from around the world found in the British Museum.

Get children excited about writing and descriptive language by creating yummy descriptions of their favorite candy.

Use recipes to help children practice reading and writing step-by-step instructions. Have them sample the results to see how they did.

Use shape and theme poems-poems that look like the things they describe-as a fun way to introduce children to poetry.

Children learn how to make a convincing argument-an important skill in school and in life.

Have children make cards describing their favorite characters from the books they have read.

Using published comics and cartoons as examples, children can create their own while playing with images and language.

Children can interview family members and make an illustrated timeline of the most important family events and memories.

In this activity, children look closely at living things in their natural environments and then make books about what they see.

Children will draw on their knowledge of story structure and fairy tales to write their own.

Can't make it to a zoo? After reading a book about apes, observe animal habits and habitats using one of the many webcams broadcasting from zoos and aquariums around the United States and the world.

Playing board games or card games can be a fun activity, so why not make your own?

Sort through your junk mail and talk about what you find for a fun literacy activity before recycling it!

Children watch the nighttime sky come alive as they read a book about fascinating elements in the night and write a poem/story about the things they learn!

Let children explore an interesting subject-themselves. An online tool will teach them to summarize and organize information as they write.

While enjoying a book that features a journey, children write postcards from the perspective of the main character for each stop along the trip.

Shake up children's reading by introducing them to new and fun formats for storytelling.

After reading about historical figures and other important people that have changed the world, children choose someone that they consider to be "amazing"-either someone they've heard about or someone they know-and create a book page that highlights this person.

Create a treasure hunt out of word-puzzle clues hidden around the home or yard.

Everyone loves getting a greeting card, especially if it's handmade. Make a funny or thoughtful greeting card or invitation with pictures and a poem, a joke, or a riddle.

Kids will love Hink Pinks-word puzzles that use two-word clues to lead to a rhyming solution. Try one and get hooked yourself: Obese feline? Fat cat!

Brainstorm popular expressions with friends and family, then explore their meanings through game play and writing/drawing/cut-and-paste activities.

Explore fairy tales told in both old and new ways and use an online tool to help children create their own "fractured" version of a fairy tale.

Have children explore the different parts of mystery writing by making a puzzle about a favorite book. They can then invent and write their own mysteries using the online Mystery Cube tool.

Let children practice using different types of words in a fill-in-the-blank-story game before making their own word list for a magnetic poetry set.

Encourage children to spend a little time thinking and writing about just what makes a hero and who their personal heroes might be.

Visit a museum or art gallery (either online or in person) with children and teens, helping them find inspiration for a story based on a piece of art that they particularly enjoy or relate to.

After reading a book or magazine, children and teens can choose a section and transform it into a "found poem."

Before seeing a film based on a book, classic or contemporary, children can learn about filmmaking and create their own scenes based on their favorite moments from the book.

Invite young adults to write letters to classmates, postcards from travels, and emails to family and friends.

Writing stories that imitate a certain genre or type of fiction allows children to explore a book they love by imagining new twists for their favorite characters and plot lines.

This activity invites children and teens to explore various careers and then write about what they might want to be when they grow up in a blog.

Kids learn about weather sayings throughout history while writing and illustrating a book for younger children.

Explore how music can have an emotional impact on a scene in a movie, then help teens write and film a scene of their own.

Invite teens to explore issues that are important to them and then write a script and film a video public service announcement.

Work with teens to learn about family members' significant personal experiences by interviewing them and sharing their stories with the rest of the family.

Engage teens in this activity in which they use photographs to examine and write about courage on a blog.

This activity can help teens create picture books that a teen caregiver can then share with children.

This activity will help pairs or groups of teens explore a hands-on approach that lets them become both comic book writers and comic book artists.

In this activity teens are encouraged to explore their reading history as they remember books they liked reading as children and then revisit these old favorites.

Work with a teen to create a wiki with everything people should know about the teen's top ten favorite songs-and your favorite songs as well! Then invite friends to add their favorite songs too.

Teens can take part in the process of building family histories by recording the stories, or memoirs, of family members.

In this project, teens create autobiographies, adding music selections to their life stories.

This activity gives teens an opportunity to write reviews on the movies, television shows, music, restaurants, and books they love-and hate!

Using a variety of artifacts, mementos, and technologies, teens can create an electronic scrapbook of their most important moments in high school.

In this activity, you can discuss with teens how they can tell the "good" characters from the "bad" ones by watching for clues that the movie makers have left.

This activity will help teens create a professional résumé that effectively presents their skills and talents to future employers.

FROM OTHER EDUCATION ORGANIZATIONS

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Resources for Virtual Instruction and Online Learning

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Online learning and instruction offer their own particular benefits and challenges at any time-here we suggest some resources and activities that may help those suddenly faced with teaching online. Download the PDF version. Click on each item to jump directly to the resource described or scroll to browse.

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Vocabulary word test and practice for the SAT, ACT and more! Free Vocabulary tests and free vocabulary games for teachers and students.

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Welcome to
VocabTest.com
Where practice makes perfect.

We're now untitled-goose-friendly!

Yesterday's Most Missed Word

Study it. Learn it. Don't miss it again.

PLEASE NOTE: No publishers or educational institutions were involved in the production of this website. VocabTest.com™ is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or otherwise associated with Vocabulary Power Plus®, Vocabulary Workshop®, or Wordly Wise 3000®. Shame on you for thinking otherwise.

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Play VocaBuzz

Our competitive online vocabulary game that tests your vocab skills.

Vocab Test.com offers you, the eager student ready to learn, free vocabulary tests, which are the best way to boost your verbal skills. How, you ask? Simply make your own quiz using the new words you want to master! We also have tests over Common Prefixes and Suffixes to help you decipher new words based on their word parts. Whether you're cramming for English class, honing your SAT Vocabulary skills, or just plain bored, the SAT Vocabulary Word Tests at Vocab Test.com will help! You'll increase your SAT vocabulary score, up your grades, impress your friends, meet new romances and live a fuller life - ALL because you weren't afraid to tackle the unknown and intimidating complexities of our language. Heck, building vocabulary is the main activity of avid dating teenagers. Suddenly things will be easier: conversations, interviews, tests, Shakespeare, did we mention SAT Vocabulary? Sheesh - if you aren't using the practice vocabulary tests on Vocab Test.com, how are you getting through everyday life? Yes, it can be scary. There are lots of words you don't know, a lot of mistakes you may make, especially on the SAT.

But trust us, this is exactly why you'll want to take our SAT Vocabulary practice tests, or create vocabulary word tests on Vocab Test.com.

So right now what we have available for you on Vocab Test.com is this: vocabulary word tests for some middle school levels: 6th Grade Vocabulary, 7th Grade Vocabulary or 8th Grade Vocabulary and all high school levels: freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, or advanced senior levels. Our vocabulary tests on Vocab Test.com will also facilitate cramming for your English vocabulary tests. If you're familiar with the Vocabulary Workshop® books by Jerome Shostak, also intended to help your SAT Vocabulary score, you can tap into Level A, Level B, Level C, Level D, Level E, Level F, Level G, and Level H right here at Vocab Test.com. Find your level and your unit and expand those brain synapses! Also, we have added the books Vocabulary Power Plus® for the New SAT. We currently have Vocabulary Power Plus® Book 1, Vocabulary Power Plus® Book 2, Vocabulary Power Plus® Book 3 and Vocabulary Power Plus® Book 4 all free vocabulary tests!

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Vocabulary Tests and Games on VocabTest.com - Free Vocabulary Tests

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Welcome to VocabTest.comWhere practice makes perfect. We're now untitled-goose-friendly! Study it. Learn it. Don't miss it again. PLEASE NOTE: No publishers or educational institutions were involved in the production of this website. VocabTest.com™ is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or otherwise associated with Vocabulary Power Plus®, Vocabulary Workshop®, or Wordly Wise 3000®.

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This document provides step-by-step instructions on how to "Kahoot" remotely. This document was created and shared through Greenbush.

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Modified on: Tue, Apr 7, 2020 at 11:00 AM

Download the PDF linked at the bottom of this post to unlock the ability to click on the underlined text to view more info.

Ronnie is the author of this solution article.

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Modified on: Tue, Apr 7, 2020 at 11:00 AM Download the PDF linked at the bottom of this post to unlock the ability to click on the underlined text to view more info. Ronnie is the author of this solution article.

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This choice board spans an entire unit. Multiple ways for students to express themselves through writing, and writing is ongoing.

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This choice board example was created and shared by Greenbush.

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Secondary Greenbush Resource Choice Board Middle/High School

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Engaging students with learning

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How to host a kahoot live over video with remote participants

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Examples of 6 word stories

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Example of a Choice Board Project Covering Dystopian Literature

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Creating Choice Boards to Meet the Needs of Every Student--Achieve the Core

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Creating Choice Boards to Meet the Needs of Every Student--Achieve the Core

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My goals for this post are to answer several of the most popular questions that were asked after my original choice board blog was published and inspire more teachers to share this “best practice” with their students.

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When I am asked to share a guest blog on websites, I hope I serve as a partner alongside my fellow educators to engage students in purposeful and complex activities. I am in awe of the thousands of responses Achieve the Core received to my last post Giving Students a Choice with Their Learning via the comments section, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

Teachers of every grade level and several subject areas shared their excitement, their questions, and their ideas about using choice boards with their students.

John Hattie, author and educational researcher of influences and effect sizes related to student achievement, states student efficacy has a .92 effect size on student learning (Visibile Learning 2019). Student efficacy is the understanding that pupils believe they can achieve a complex goal or outcome. Choice boards give students the opportunity to have a choice in showing what and how they have learned.

My goals for this post are to answer several of the most popular questions that were asked after my original choice board blog was published and inspire more teachers to share this "best practice" with their students.
How do I create a choice board?
I always keep the "end goal" in mind when I choose to create a choice board for my students. I look at the cluster of standards I am teaching and decide what I want my students to accomplish as they complete the assignments on the board. Choice boards can be as small as three choices and as large as 12 choices depending on the purpose.
How do I make sure choice boards do not become busy work for me or for my students?
Choice boards allow students to have a choice on how they will show their learning. It is important to include a cluster of standards (e.g., Numbers Base Ten for math or comparing characters, setting, and theme in a complex text) in order to create a variety of options. I do not use the boards for early finishers because I want everyone to have equal access to them.
Where do I get my ideas for choice boards?
I am a firm believer that two or more heads are better than one, thus I brainstorm choice board ideas with my grade level and my instructional coach. My students have also served as contributors to several choice boards throughout the year especially for our #softstart Morning Choice and for our novel studies. I also ask my Professional Learning Network (PLN) via Twitter for ideas.
How do I grade choice boards?
I only grade choice boards when they are completed in class. I create a rubric and share it with my students to show them how each choice will be graded. Daily check-ins are an integral part of ensuring my students are choosing challenging choices with a purpose. I do not grade homework choice boards. The goal of my homework choice board is to encourage families to read, discuss, and learn together.
How do I differentiate choice boards to meet the needs of all of my students?
All students should have access to complex problems, rigorous tasks, and quality text. Therefore, I may use color choices on some boards. The red choices might include technology; the blue choices might include inquiry options; yellow choices could include checking in with the teacher when they complete the task, and the green choices could be constructed responses. This ensures students have a supervised choice in order to have multiple entry points. Some choices might need a teacher's support, while other choices might be completed with a partner or independently.
How do I make certain every student will be interested in one or more choices on the choice board?
One of the easiest ways to have students buy into choice boards is to start with a non-academic one. I start the beginning of the year with a "get to know you" choice board. Students can choose two or three choices to help all of us get to know each other. Building relationships is an intricate part of implementing choice boards successfully.
What technology could I include in the choice boards?
Including intentional technology in choice boards is a great way to engage our learners. Apps and web-based programs like @Flipgrid, @IMovie, @TEDTalks, @BrainPop, @Newsela, @ReadWorks,@Seesaw, QR Codes, and Google Classroom are just a few options out there. What other apps and web-based programs could you include? Let me know in the Comments section below.
What are some alternatives to Choice Boards?
Gamification is another way to engage students through choice. John Meehan is a high school teacher and author of Edrenaline Rush. His book and his website have several resources to start you on your journey. Michael Matera is the author of XLAP, and his website includes strategies you can implement immediately in your classroom to promote choice in learning.

Choice Boards can be used in every grade level and with any and all subject matter. Choice gives our students a voice in their learning.

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Creating Choice Boards to Meet the Needs of Every Student - Peers and Pedagogy

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When I am asked to share a guest blog on websites, I hope I serve as a partner alongside my fellow educators to engage students in purposeful and complex activities. I am in awe of the thousands of responses Achieve the Core received to my last post Giving Students a Choice with Their Learning via [...]

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Book Project Choice Board

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Color-Coding Choices-6th Grade Choice Board 

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Color-Coding Choices-6th Grade Choice Board 

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This choice board was created by the 6th grade ELA PLC at Argentine Middle School. Students choose which color-coded track to follow throughout the week.

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These middle school ELA quests were created by Emily Young, an ELA teacher at Argentine Middle School.

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This activity board was created by Jamelle Brown, a teacher at Sumner Academy. This activity board was created for a forensics course.

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Sumner Academy Forensics:  Weeks 1 - 3 Learning Board

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Tic-Tac-Toe Menu Board--10th Grade Choice Board Example

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Tic-Tac-Toe Menu Board--10th Grade Choice Board Example

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This choice board was created by the English II PLC at Harmon High School. Students are familiar with iXL and have been using this learning website throughout the year.

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"As we're all navigating new learning expectations and creating new 'rules' for school and home, permit yourself to focus on what matters most.  Relationships."

Greenbush, Continuous Learning Support

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Instructions on how to join for free

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Create screencast videos with our screen recorder. It’s fast, free and easy to use! Capture your screen, add a webcam and use narration to customize your video.

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Schlagle 10th Grade PLC Example of Changemaker Project 

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Schlagle 10th Grade PLC Example of Changemaker Project 

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Created by the 10th Grade PLC at Schlagle High School.

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Students learn about social + environmental issues in an online course, together with other changemakers from all over the world.

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Students learn about social + environmental issues in an online course, together with other changemakers from all over the world.

Each team identifies a problem to research, ideates potential solutions, generates a prototype, user-tests, and iterates the design to create an innovative solution.

Teams submit projects for a chance to have them funded-- finalists from around the world will be invited to Global Pitch 2020 in San Francisco!

what our participants are saying

"It inspired me to want to do more for people." - Cydney, New Orleans, LA

"Going from seeing problems to making change, made me feel better about the world." -Jacob, Berkeley, CA

"We learn social issues at schools, but we never try to fix it by ourselves. Changemaker encouraged me to take one step further and make a difference and share it with others." -Shu, Tokyo, Japan

"It is an excellent platform for students around the world to come together and do their part for a better world." -Mohit, Mumbai, India

"I just realize it is easier to make a change than I previously thought. Because of The Changemaker Project I'll try and be more proactive about solving issues in my community." Jacques, Berkeley, CA

"I loved the fact that us as young people can take initiative to change the world into something greater, beyond Trump!" -Kaira, New Orleans, LA

"I enjoyed reading different peoples stories, and getting to understand how they feel about the different issues from that side of the world." -Angel, Arusha, Tanzania

"The changemaker project allowed me to finally have a voice and create something with my friends to help better and expose culture to the world and people around us." -Leilani, New Orleans, LA

"I think it's a great way to get students involved, get students' heads into the world they live in. Get them to stop waiting for someone to change the issues they are aware of and start being that change." -Arwen, New Orleans, LA

Meet The Changemaker Project team

AnnaLise is an educator, artist, and entrepreneur. She holds a BA in philosophy and art from the University of Notre Dame, a EdM from Harvard University, and a CA teaching credential. She has been an elementary school teacher, a nonprofit director, and a sustainable foods startup founder. In 2017 she launched The Changemaker Project because she believes in the power of young people to change the world. AnnaLise also serves on the board of YES Nature to Neighborhoods, a nonprofit focused on bringing Richmond youth into nature. In her free time, AnnaLise enjoys sailing, sewing, art, traveling, and getting into the outdoors as much as possible.

Laura is a graduate student at Columbia University studying Social Work and Administration. As Head of Partnerships for The Changemaker Project, Laura hopes to bring opportunities for social impact to many more students around the world. She believes that education is the foundation of social change and is very passionate about spreading awareness of social issues at work and in her community. Prior, Laura worked in Partnerships for five years in the technology sector after completing her B.A. in Psychology at University of California, Berkeley. In her free time, she enjoys hiking and biking around the Bay Area where she lives.

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Students learn about social + environmental issues in an online course, together with other changemakers from all over the world. Each team identifies a problem to research, ideates potential solutions, generates a prototype, user-tests, and iterates the design to create an innovative solution.

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Animated Educational Site for Kids - Science, Social Studies, English, Math, Arts & Music, Health, and Technology.

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More than 12 million people use Screencastify to easily record, edit, and share videos.

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Parlay puts your students and their unique perspectives at the heart of learning.  Best practices like scaffolding and peer feedback are built right in, ensuring deep and intentional discussions online and in person.

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Reading comprehension instruction that works. Driven by cognitive science research, this website provides free content, curriculum and tools to power teaching and learning.

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Listen.  Honor.  Share.  StoryCorps’ mission is to preserve and share humanity’s stories in order to build connections between people and create a more just and compassionate world.

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Getting started with ELA in Newsela

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Engage students with topics they care about, while building the background knowledge and vocabulary they need to become active, engaged readers.

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Educational raps, songs, videos, and activities for K-12 online learning.

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This choice board was created by the 8th grade PLC at Gloria Willis Middle School.

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This is a simplified checklist for teachers of the 76-page CLP document provided by Greenbush.

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Builds stronger writers through interest-based curriculum, adaptive exercises, and actionable data

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Ready-to-use classroom resources

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achievethecore.org's digital tools and resources for teachers have been made possible by contributions from teachers across the country as well as through generous support from the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust and the GE Foundation.

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Free reading passages and literacy resources

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This choice board is an example provided by our KSDE ELA Program Consultant.

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This resource provides a quick way for teachers/students to bookmark favorite websites.

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Templates provided here for creating choice boards/tic-tac-toe

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Coping with Covid---Teaching During a Quarantine (This website provides helpful tips on video conferencing with students and tips on transitioning to online instruction.)

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Santa Barbara City College

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created by Penny Kittle

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This website provides examples of different options when creating choice boards.

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The Learning Network:  The New York Times

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The Learning Network:  The New York Times

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Teach and Learn with the Times: This website provides writing prompts for students based on current events.

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Teach and learn with The Times: Resources for bringing the world into your classroom

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Example of Novel Choice Board (Tic-Tac-Toe)

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Example of Novel Choice Board (Tic-Tac-Toe)

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Novel Study Tic-Tac-Toe Menu Choice Board - Google Docs