Choice Boards and Playlists
Description
What is it?
Choice Boards and playlists are tools that allow students to choose different ways to learn concepts and practice skills within a learning goal. Choice boards and playlists are set up with a variety of activities aligned to the learning goals of the lesson. The teacher chooses the best way to complete the choice board or playlist, such as choosing three choices in a row, or allowing students to choose at random.
Why Use It?
Choice Boards and playlists empower students to engage with content through choice while ensuring adherence to important learning goals. They create a set of aligned activities that encourages engagement based on student interest and learning needs. Additionally, classrooms that use choice boards and playlists can provide opportunities for students to demonstrate mastery in many ways.
As teachers consider what types of activities to design, it’s important to keep differentiation in mind. Teachers can choose to differentiate by allowing students to decide:
what they will produce.
how they will engage with the information (learning modality).
which level of complexity they are ready for.
which activity appeals to their interests.
Quick Tips
Provide a variety of activities that support different learning modalities and interests.
For example, you could include a video for learners who prefer to learn from watching a clip on a topic, an article or textbook excerpt for students who would rather read about the topic, an interactive website for students who want to explore, or a game for students who want to learn by repetition and challenge.
Provide an anchor of support that explains expectations and instructions to allow for student agency and ownership of classroom practices.
Consider allowing opportunities for students to drive what is included in the choice board. How would your students like to demonstrate mastery of the topic you’re teaching?
Resources
Did you know?
Choice Boards are a great way to utilize the Individual Blended Learning model.
Choice boards relate to learning menus, playlists, and other student choice centered strategies. Selecting strategies such as choice boards supports students’ desire to drive their own learning and engage with content in ways that make sense to them. Additionally, choice boards are a strategy that teachers can use to provide differentiation to a variety of learners.