| Student choice
is an important part of differentiating
instruction. Giving students ownership in their
learning process increases motivation and keeps
interest levels high. |
| A simple way
to make choices is by providing menus. |
| Students can
choose from the menu and note their choices
accordingly. In this way, teachers can control
the assignment options that students have and the
students can have choices in their assignments
within those options for a "win-win"
situation. Teachers decide how many items on the
menu (minimum) that each student is required to
complete. This is adjusted to meet instructional
needs on an individual basis. Students may opt to
complete more than the required minimum if time
permits, but only while maintaining acceptable
standards on each item. |
| Student
options can be presented as a list of activities
on a "menu" from which students can
choose or arranged in a "Tic-Tac-Toe"
fashion. |
| In selecting
activities for the student choice, teachers
should provide a range of ability and complexity
to allow for the needs of individual students. |
| A blank "free"
space can be left in the menu or in the Tic-Tac-Toe
matrix for students to suggest a choice of their
own. The choice is always with teacher approval
for appropriateness of content and level of
difficulty. |
| |
|
|
|
Suggestions from Winebrenner's Teaching
Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom (2001),
published by Free Spirit Publishing, are linked
below. The book comes with a CD rom of these and
other forms that are customizable for classroom
use.
|
| Animal
Extentions Menu (Activities
list in Tic-Tac-Toe form ) |
|
|
| Reading
Activities Menu (Activities
list in Menu form) |
|
|
| These seventy-five
bookmarks contain
sets of questions about setting, plot, types of
literature, reading attitudes, and more that can
be used in a Tic-Tac-Toe menu. |
