Student Choice: Definition and Key Features

Definition: Meaningful options for engaging in academic and prosocial learning activities.

Key Features for Supporting All Students: 

Key Feature 1: Promoting the value of divergent approaches to learning or solving a problem.

Key Feature 2: Offering students choices across several activities each week. 

Key Feature 3: Depicting choice options in multiple formats. 

Key Feature 4: Encouraging students to reflect on their choices to learn about their own strengths and need.

Purpose: To enhance engagement in classroom activities by making the activities more relevant to the student’s interests, strengths and needs; to foster student’s sense of autonomy and agency in the learning process.

Examples:

• Where to work (e.g., desk, floor, flex seating area).
• How to work (e.g., individually or with a partner; reading vs. listening; selecting a method to solve a math problem).
• The order of activities (e.g., complete 3 tasks but students can select the order).
• Allow students to personalize assignments by choosing a topic or method of interest (e.g., write about an animal of your choice).
• Choice of reading (e.g., headphones for listening, choice for individual reading, or allowing two students to be on a beanbag or designated area when peer-reading).

Tips:

• Provide choices that match different learning styles, including visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile. This allows all students to engage in ways that suit their strengths.
  • Visual: Students can cut out pictures and create a collage of relevant content; or draw comic strips to depict relevant content 
  • Auditory: Allow students to share content verbally or create an audio recording of their work (e.g., a poem, story or personal share). 
  • Kinesthetic: Students act out scenes from a diverse range of equity-focused storybooks.
  • Tactile: students can craft their ideas and feelings using clay or playdough or build tactile models using various materials. 
• Offer resources and activities in multiple languages to support English language learners and students from diverse linguistic backgrounds. 
  • Provide picture books with text in multiple languages for students to explore various cultures’ stories.
  • Offer bilingual flashcards to help English language learners and other students expand their vocabulary. 
• Ensure that all students, regardless of ability, can access and participate in the choices provided. Adapt materials and activities as needed to accommodate diverse needs.
  • Provide tactile materials such as textured cards for students to learn through touch and offer visual aids like picture schedules for students with special needs to understand daily routines.
• Allow students to showcase their understanding through diverse assessment methods such as presentations, visual projects, discussions, and written assignments.
  • Presentations/Visual Projects: Students can share their learnings in a show-and-tell presentation and/or create collages and murals.
  • Discussions: Third-grade students can participate in class discussions about different cultural celebrations and share their family traditions.
  • Written Assignments: Kindergarten students can draw and label pictures to describe their learnings, while older students can write short paragraphs about their favorite book characters.
• Include choices that promote social responsibility and prosocial behaviors. Activities like community service or empathy-building projects contribute to a positive classroom culture.
  • Community Service: Students can choose to participate in a classroom cleaning activity to foster a sense of responsibility.
  • Empathy-Building Projects: Students can engage in storytelling sessions where they share experiences of helping others, fostering empathy.
• Regularly gather input from students through surveys to understand their preferences and interests. Use this feedback to inform your classroom activity options.
  • Conduct a survey among first-grade students to understand their preferences for animals, then plan a thematic unit based on the most popular choices.
  • Students in grade 3 -5 can vote on the topic of a group project, such as creating a mural about their local community. 
• Encourage students to reflect on why they chose a particular activity. This helps them articulate their learning goals and preferences, fostering metacognition. 
  • After a nature exploration activity and/or being outside at recess, K-2 students can draw and discuss what they discovered, encouraging them to express their observations.
  • Grade 3-5 students can reflect on their favorite parts of a book they read and explain why they enjoyed those sections. 
• Design choices that involve peer collaboration and group work. This promotes the sharing of ideas and experiences among students with different backgrounds.
  • K-2 students can work in pairs to build structures with blocks, fostering teamwork and cooperation.
  • Grade 3-5 students can collaborate in groups to create a multicultural cookbook, celebrating diverse cuisines. 
• Provide scaffolded choices that allow students to start with entry-level activities and progress to more complex ones as they build confidence and skills.
  • Students can choose from different levels of difficulty in a math game and/or literacy groups, ensuring inclusion for various skill levels. 
• Encourage students to reflect on their experiences with the chosen activities and provide feedback. Use their insights to refine and improve your choices over time. 
  • After a collaborative art project, students can discuss their favorite parts and offer suggestions for future group activities, promoting a sense of ownership.
  • For students in grades 4 –5, facilitate a debate activity on a current or historical event, and have students reflect on their arguments, evaluate their peers’ viewpoints, and provide constructive feedback.