Are you ready to use an awesome choice board in your Spanish class that will keep your students engaged, be easy for you to grade, and help you with differentiation? If you haven’t been using choice boards yet, now is the time to start! They are easy to make and can meet the needs of so many students! Read through this post to learn how to create your own choice board, how to grade a choice board, see choice board examples, and even snag a choice board freebie!
What are choice boards?
A choice board is an easy-to-use classroom project that gives students choice in the final product they complete. Long gone are the days of assigning one project to the entire class. A choice board gives students multiple options and tasks to choose from based on their own preference. Each task should be unique, giving students with different skills, talents, and learning styles a chance to succeed. Plus, they can keep students busy for days with authentic tasks and language usage!
Choice Boards are Differentiation
I always dread when administration brings up the word “differentiation.” In classes of 20-30 students, how can I meet every student’s needs, learning styles, and modifications? I had the assumption that differentiation meant that students needed different levels of tasks, but it is so much more than just differentiating by “content.” We can also differentiate by “product,” meaning we allow our students to create an end product that they prefer in which they demonstrate mastery of the content. For example, one student may prefer writing a letter about their favorite vacation, while another may prefer to record a video explaining their favorite vacation. They both have the end goal of explaining their vacation, but they can choose the final product.
Creating Your Own Choice Board
The key is to include a wide variety of “product” types. Think about the 3 types of communication: interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational. Determine what you are assessing – for a choice board, since you are differentiating by product, it is not best to assess just one communicative skill: reading, writing, speaking, listening, as students will choose one or a few tasks, and they may only touch on one or two skills. When designing a choice board, what you must assess is a can-do statement. I can describe clothing and materials. I can retell current events. I can compare and contrast holidays in the United States with holidays in Spanish-speaking countries. With each of these can-do statements, students can do any type of task: reading, writing, speaking, listening, and still demonstrate that they “can-do” the task.
Ideas for Choice Board Tasks in World Language
Once you identify your “can-do statement,” now, you’re ready to start brainstorming the choice board tasks. Another important aspect of an awesome choice board is to have an equal amount of each type of task. If you have enough time, you can have your students complete a minimum of one of each type of task – then you are getting a well-rounded assessment of their ability to complete the objective.
Reading:
- Read a poem and interpret each stanza in your own words
- Read song lyrics and draw an image to represent each stanza
- Read a news article and summarize it in your own words
Writing:
- Write a letter to a penpal
- Create a brochure, presentation, or poster
- Write a poem (haiku, acrostic, etc.)
Speaking:
- Record a video in an authentic situation (news reporter, travel guide, etc.)
- Give a persuasive speech
- Record a cooking show style video, explaining how to make a traditional dish
Listening:
- Listen to a podcast episode and summarize it
- Watch a Youtube video that aligns with the content and answer questions
- Interview a partner and take notes on their responses
Culture:
- Compare and contrast two holidays
- Identify the 3 Ps (products, practices, and perspectives) of a cultural element
- Make a traditional craft, food, game, etc.
Designing the Choice Board Layout
I recommend using Google Docs or Slides (or Word/PPT). Begin with the title of your choice board and don’t forget the instructions. This is where you need to specify how many activities, how many points, or what types of activities students must complete for full credit. (See the next section for ideas!)
Then, insert a table into your document. Determine how many activities you will create and make sure your board includes that many boxes. Since the boxes are going to be relatively small, it is hard to cram all of the requirements into each box. I recommend making a general rubric that can be applied to any option. Assess your students on their effort and creativity, vocabulary usage, content, grammar, etc. You can also specify that writing tasks must have a minimum number of sentences and speaking tasks must last for a specific number of seconds or minutes.
How to Assign and Use Choice Boards – 7 Ideas!
- If you design your choice board so that each row has the same style of task (reading, writing, etc.), then you can require your students to choose one activity from each row. That way, they cover all of the types of tasks!
- Require students to complete a specific number of activities. As they complete the activities, they can show you, and you can sign off on the boxes they do. Then, they must turn in the work and the choice board to demonstrate that they completed the required number of activities.
- Students can work in pairs and must complete a specific number of activities. As with all differentiation, some students work better in pairs rather than independently. If you want to allow students to work in small groups, then they can be required to complete the entire board! If this is the case, then have a system in place to check off their work as they go. Whether it is a stamp, sticker, or your initials, you need to mark off each task on the board.
- We all have students that finish their regular assignments much quicker than everybody else. You can turn the choice board into an “early-finisher” activity. Create a bulletin board with the choice board as the theme. You type up the options in a large font and print out. Display on your board and attach a folder with the handout on the bottom of the board. Attach a second folder for students to submit their work. By the end of the marking period, you could require each student to submit at least 1 or 2 projects, and you can grade them as they are submitted.
- Use choice boards as a Bell Ringer activity, especially if you create or use choice boards that have easy, quick activities. Choice boards with projects and creative tasks won’t work as well for bell ringers. Create a choice board based on the current grammar, upcoming holiday season, or story you are reading. Instead of titling each task with a different skill (reading, writing, etc.). Title them with the date! Then students will complete one per day. Make your questions short and sweet – like make a list of 5 vocab words related to Christmas. Write 3 sentences using the preterit tense. Write a caption for the picture on the screen. Plus, once your students do two or three days, they will know the drill, so if you get observed, administrators will love this creative bell ringer idea, keeping students engaged from the moment they walk into your room.
- Assign a numeric value to each activity. Easier assignments will be 1 point, more difficult or time consuming activity could be 3 points. Then, based on the skill level of your class, require students to complete a specific amount of points, such as 9. They can determine the activities that add up to the 9 total points.
- Sub Plans! I used choice boards as one of my common sub plans when I had to take a sick day. It is low-prep, especially if you have one from the previous year. And if you plan on being out for multiple days, or you have to suddenly extend your absence, just require your students to complete more tasks the following day!
Grading Choice Boards
You may think, wow, this would be a lot of grading, but there are definitely benefits to assigning and grading choice boards! Remember – using a rubric will make your life much easier!
If your students work in pairs or groups, then you are grading a few projects across multiple students. Grading choice boards can become tedious when you have students work independently and complete multiple options.
The sneaky way to get around this is to tell your students that they must turn in 3 projects, and two will be graded for completion, and one will be graded based on the rubric, but they won’t know which one! This hopefully ensures that they put in the same amount of effort on all three projects.
Choice Board Examples
If you love the idea of choice boards, but just aren’t ready to create your own – check out my choice boards below. Plus, snag your FREE Learn Spanish at Home Choice Board, which is great for extra credit, virtual learning, or fun homework assignments.
- Frida Kahlo Self Portrait Choice Board
- FREE Learn Spanish at Home Choice Board – great for extra credit, virtual learning, or homework
- Story Comprehension Choice Board (any World Language)
- La Navidad Choice Board
- Las Fallas Choice Board
- Día de San Valentín Choice Board
- Cinco de Mayo Choice Board
- Hispanic Heritage Choice Board – in English & Spanish
- Day of the Dead Choice Board
- Holiday Choice Board Bundle – Buy 6 get 1 FREE!
Let me know your favorite tasks to add to choice boards! I’m always looking for new and authentic tasks to spice up my current choice boards.
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