1st grade homework choice board

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Literacy Choice Boards

By Mary Montero

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Literacy choice boards increase comprehension and accountability during novel studies. These work with ANY book and work for assessment too.

When I first started using novel studies , I felt like I had to have elaborate packets of text-specific comprehension questions for each book we read. I was concerned about comprehension, accountability, and assessment. However, time and experience has taught me that students really thrive on choice and that there are ways to still provide rigorous reading practice without novel-specific activities. Enter, literacy choice boards!

How Literacy Choice Boards Work

Each choice board has a variety of activities that appeal to different learning styles. As a teacher, I determine how many activities students need to complete from each board and if there are any requirements. For example, sometimes I might ask students to select one activity from each column or row.

Then students complete the activities in their reading journals during independent reading time. These activities can also become great discussion points during reading groups or centers when students share their journals. The work provides me valuable information about students’ comprehension and can also be used as assessments if needed.

Ready-To-Use Literacy Choice Boards

If you’re just starting out, differentiated choice boards are a great choice. My students always have these in their reading journals. The boards include dozens of prompts for responding to text and can be used for independent responses or literature circles. They meet many different learning styles and cover Bloom’s Taxonomy too.

I also have two free choice boards for incorporating writing and vocabulary into your novel study. Each one has 9 different and creative ways to respond to almost any novel.

You can download all four literacy choice boards for FREE here!

When you want your students to practice specific reading skills with their novel, I recommend using skill-based novel study choice boards . There are 33 different options here to practice fiction and nonfiction skills, including 5 specific genre related boards.

More Ways To Respond To Text

If you need even more options, my students also love these reading response task cards . I use these to engage students in thoughtful discussions and written responses about their reading all year long. The goal of these cards is to move your students beyond basic, literal understanding of what they are reading and branch out into inferential, critical thinking. Plus just like choice boards, they work with almost any book!

Reading Skills Response Task Cards 4412283

Mary Montero

I’m so glad you are here. I’m a current gifted and talented teacher in a small town in Colorado, and I’ve been in education since 2009. My passion (other than my family and cookies) is for making teachers’ lives easier and classrooms more engaging.

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Teaching with Jennifer Findley

Upper Elementary Teaching Blog

Choice Board Scoring Resources {Freebies}

Over the past year, I have received several questions about how I score the choice boards I use in my classroom. I decided to go ahead and compile my favorite choice board scoring resources and offer them for free. You can use these with choice boards that I create or with any choice boards you have. I have included a variety of different printables that you can choose from.

Do you use choice boards to differentiate and engage your students? If so, grab these FREE choice board scoring resources to help you and your students assess the work.

When the students have completed the work, I like for them to self assess themselves before turning it into me. I have included two different self assessment printables for your students to use: a rubric and a questionnaire. Use one or the other or use both.

The rubric requires the students to “score” themselves on specific categories. They highlight, color, or circle the descriptor that matches their work.

Need Choice Boards for Math and Reading?

Are you interested in purchasing full sets of choice boards for our grade level? Click on the grade level you teach to see choice boards for reading and math.

3rd Grade Choice Boards

4th Grade Choice Boards

5th Grade Choice Boards

Want some FREE choice boards to try out? Click here to read a blog post with more information about how to use choice boards and grab free ones!

Where do I get the free choice board scoring resources?

Grab all of these free choice board scoring resources mentioned in this post by clicking here or on the image below.

Share the Knowledge!

Reader interactions.

September 4, 2015 at 12:00 pm

I love that you have students evaluate themselves first!

September 4, 2015 at 7:21 pm

I love this. Do you have any for lower grades (1st and 2nd – in particular, reading) or would it be okay to create some along the same format?

September 9, 2015 at 9:08 pm

Hi Sydney! My friend Cyndie at Chalk One Up for the Teacher has 1st and 2nd grade versions. You can find them at this link: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Chalk-One-Up-For-The-Teacher/Category/Choice-Boards

July 16, 2016 at 12:16 pm

Hello Jennifer, I was wondering how long you give your students to complete the board and when you give them new ones. I read your original blog post, but didn’t see anything about due dates. This looks like a great resource and I’m so excited to use!! Thanks!!

November 5, 2016 at 8:49 pm

I think your choice boards are great but I’m in Texas and we don’t use Common Core. Do you know of anyone in Texas who has something similar for the TEKS? Thanks. Jana

April 7, 2017 at 1:50 pm

Do you happen to have these for sixth grade?

April 11, 2017 at 7:22 pm

Hi Deb, I don’t have 6th grade resources. Thanks for asking though!

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1st Grade Reading Choice Board Tutorial for Teachers

Common Core Standards: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.1.2 , CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.2 , CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3

Ideas & Examples of Great 1st Grade Reading Choices

Draw your favorite story scene, read to a stuffed friend, make a story bookmark, rhyme time with clay play, alphabet scavenger hunt, create a comic strip summary, puppet show retell, whisper read to a mirror, sound out and spell game, using a choice board to differentiate reading in a 1st grade classroom.

Keep It Simple

Everyone “teacher & student” should know exactly what they are doing. If you don’t make it even easier!

Differential Instruction vs Saving time?

There is nothing more irritating than “Saving Time” with a Choice Board & ending up with “More work!”. Are you using this to hit standards or save time or both?

"Self Guided" or "instruction-based"?

If you giving out work, should they do it on their own or are these more instructions for each choice?

General rule, if the grade is > 3 there is more work per choice.

FREE Blank Fillable & Custom Choice Board

All ages, all grades where you need 9 grid choice board. Start loving learning again!

How To Manage Your 1st Grade Classroom During Reading (With a Choice Board)

I find its easiest to use a big board at the front of the classroom where all students can see the choices then decide what they want to do .

This often will be coming in from a break or transition between subjects.

If you can get all students to know whats expected during a choice activity it becomes one-hundred times easier to manage the class & have everyone know what choices they have!

There are three core steps you have to hit when using a Choice Board;

1) The Set Up 2) The Instruction 3) The Q+A

1) The Set Up

Select your choices, decide on how you are going to use this time in your classroom. Build the choice board

1) The Instruction

Tell the students what they are going to be doing (this becomes easier over time) Simply start with 3 options & move from there.

1) The Q & A

Does anyone have questions? This will help you or the next time. Remember the goal is to make this easier each time!

Why Use A Choice Board?

So, let’s chat about choiceboards and why they’re like the coolest thing ever in your classroom.

Picture this: kiddos bouncing into the room, eyes lighting up because they get to pick their own adventure in learning new words.

It’s like a mini vocab party, and everyone’s invited!

We all have our own jam, right? Some of us are little artists, others are born performers, and some love to get lost in stories. Choice boards are like a buffet of fun learning snacks, so every munchkin finds something tasty that helps the vocab stick!

And here’s the kicker – when the little ones get to steer the ship, they turn into these mini captains of learning. They’re making the calls, and with every choice, they puff up a bit more with confidence. It’s a win-win – they’re learning and feeling like the boss at the same time.

Plus, for us teachers, it’s like having a secret helper in the room. We get to sprinkle in all sorts of activities that match our students’ levels and what makes their hearts tick. It’s like custom-making a learning playlist that gets every kid grooving to the vocab beat. How cool is that?

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How I Use Choice Boards to Increase Student Engagement

Because we all know one-size-fits-all lessons don’t exist.

One of the most common challenges that teachers face is planning engaging, hands-on lessons that are accessible to all students. Teachers know that a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work. That’s why I’m a big fan of the choice board. Choice boards can be implemented for any grade level or subject. They typically include a wide array of activities of varying difficulty. As a result, all students, regardless of learning style, are able to get the skills and learning they need.

Here’s how I use choice boards in my classroom.

The setup of a choice board is simple. First of all, I plan at least nine activities that can be done at stations or centers around the classroom. Each activity is then assigned a point value based on the level of difficulty or work required to complete it. Students must acquire a certain number of points by doing activities of their choice.

When I introduce the activity to the class, I distribute the choice board and review directions orally as students follow along. Next, I walk around the room, visiting each station and explaining each activity. That way, students know where to find them and what to do. At each station, I place another set of directions, this one specific to that activity. I have found this extremely helpful, especially for students who need information presented in smaller chunks. Of course, everything that students need to complete the activity is waiting for them at the station. This really helps avoid confusion.

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Choice boards should offer a variety of activities that appeal to all learning styles.

Another benefit of using choice boards for inclusion classes is that modifications can easily be made without students feeling different or separated from their peers. A professional development seminar that my school held on UDL (Universal Design for Learning) really resonated with me. CAST, a nonprofit education research and development organization, defines UDL as “a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn.” This approach really motivated me to be extra diligent in creating lessons that were accessible to all learners.

Here are examples of activities from the choice board shown above:

Choice boards require a decent amount of preparation, but their outcomes are worth the extra time.

The students are learning, but they are also having fun while doing it. When students get to select the activities they do, they are involved in their own learning. This sets them up for success, and as a result the classroom becomes a safe haven for them. Consequently, they develop a positive attitude toward education.

Students also appreciate a teacher who they know is willing to go the extra mile for them. They can tell when a teacher thought outside of the box while planning assignments. If you’re looking to create an engaging, hands-on lesson that allows students to take ownership of their own learning, then give choice boards a try.

Have you tried choice boards in the classroom? Come and share your experiences in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook.

Plus, how I engage middle and high school readers by offering more student choice.

How I Use Choice Boards to Increase Student Engagement

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Creating Choice Boards to Meet the Needs of Every Student

FAQs about using choice boards

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.

ELA / Literacy
Mathematics

2 thoughts on “ Creating Choice Boards to Meet the Needs of Every Student ”

Thank you for sharing this wonderful blog! I will be adjusting a few things during my morning choice! I love that this is so purposeful.

Choice boards allow students to have choice and voice in the classroom. It allows them to pick their partners, choose their literary skill to focus on, choose their medium in which to illustrate mastery of that skill, choose methods of further learning the skill, be creative, innovative and problem solve. It also provides a great opportunity for one on one and group instruction as well as redirection and reteaching as the students have questions and are solving problems.

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About the Author: Tika Epstein is celebrating her twenty-fifth year in education. She currently serves as a fourth/fifth-grade interventionist and instructional coach at an elementary school in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tika also mentors new teachers and facilitates professional development at the site and District level. Please reach out to Tika via Twitter @tikaee or by email [email protected] with questions or to collaborate on a Choice Board.

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First Grade Choice Boards for Distance Learning!

I created these fun first grade choice boards to provide flexibility to both teachers and parents who are trying out distance learning from the safety of their own homes! You will receive both printable and digital options for all of these!

Description

This is also a great first grade homework option!

There are 4 different choice boards included for each:

Literacy (reading, fluency & phonics)
Indoor/Outdoor fun

There are 16 boards each as well as an editable one for each type in the digital version!

How I would use this unit:

I made these with flexibility in mind. You can choose to assign however many boards and/or boxes you would like per week and you can choose to re-use boards as you see fit! Students simply pick an activity from the board and complete it. If you would like them to send you a picture of their work at the end of the week, you may choose to do that so there is some accountability. I like the choice board option because busy parents at home can choose the activities that fit their needs and schedule the most!

Cover Up: Digital Math Activities for 1st Grade

Real or Nonsense CVC Word Factory: Interactive Game | Distance Learning

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Using Choice Boards to Boost Student Engagement

Giving students options for how they demonstrate their learning is a good way to ignite their curiosity.

Group of high school students discussing project at school.

How do you make learning effective, engaging, and student driven when students aren’t physically in the classroom? That’s been the question on our minds for quite some time now. One team of education leaders in North Carolina found a solution that drastically changed instruction throughout the state, and it’s something you might already be familiar with.

As teachers and students transitioned to fully remote instruction, the English language arts (ELA) team created choice boards that teachers could copy and adjust to meet the needs of their students. The boards—which could be assigned virtually or printed out in packets—were organized by grade band and filled with standards-aligned activities as well as scaffolds that enabled children to be able to complete the work alone. Check out the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s ELA choice boards here .

Choice boards improved remote learning in our virtual classrooms, increasing student engagement and ownership, and even making our students more eager to dig into their assessments and homework.

Here are some tips to get started with implementing choice boards—whether students are in person, learning remotely, or a mixture of both—as well as some lessons learned along the way.

Assessments

Choice boards add a new dimension to your classroom, offering an alternative to standard assessments and empowering students to choose how they show their mastery of a topic. Additionally, they provide educators with a variety of ways to check for student understanding. If you’ve ever had your eyes glaze over as you regarded the night’s looming stack of 120 freshmen essays to grade, this could be the refreshing twist you’re looking for.

Imagine that you’re working with your middle school English class on analyzing complex characters in The House on Mango Street . You can unpack the standard with your students and create a rubric with them (or we love this idea of success criteria), then brainstorm ideas for activities.

Try incorporating your students into the process and get their input on how they’d like to demonstrate what they’ve learned. For example, students might suggest developing a movie trailer to illustrate their mastery of the standard, drafting a series of diary entries from the main character, or creating a series of podcast episodes. Allowing for student involvement in the creation of the choice boards increases their ownership and follow-through.

A few pointers:

Keep in mind, some learners do prefer traditional assessments, so leave those as an option in the choice board.
You don’t have to start from scratch; there are free choice board templates available online.

Choice boards can be used in place of a homework packet—giving students the autonomy to choose how they practice skills they learned during the school day.

But choice boards can also serve as a way to engage with parents and caregivers. A family homework choice board can encourage education-centered family time at home, while simultaneously informing caregivers about topics and skills their child is learning at school.

What might this look like? Let’s say you are teaching a third-grade class and a parent has asked you for the homework. Share the optional homework choice board—activities might include finding three examples of this week’s syllable type in books from their book bin, reading high-frequency words to a family member, or practicing the high-frequency words on an online app.

Before sending home a homework choice board, allot time to guide your students through the process—practicing it in the classroom first. Think of it as a mini-lesson.
Evaluate limitations or access issues that may arise for some students when working at home. Things to consider include access to technology, access to materials, and time asked of the parents/caregivers in assisting.

Remote Learning

Remote learning days are far from a thing of the past. Whether these days are scheduled ahead of time in the school’s calendar or utilized as an alternative to closing the building for severe weather or recurring outbreaks of Covid, schools can be proactively prepared by creating district or schoolwide choice boards that teachers can easily access.

Ideally, these can be tweaked by teachers themselves easily so that students can complete them over and over again. Educators can switch out the text and activities at their discretion to update them.

Move from fluff to rigor by being intentional with learning outcomes and alignment to state standards. (Find tips at Aligning Curricular Decisions with Student Voice ). Make sure that you aren’t just creating busywork but are truly creating assignments that are standards aligned.
Get a team involved to make the lift lighter. The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction had teams of educators work together to create a universal set of choice boards that could be accessed by teachers statewide—many hands make short work.
We’ve used choice boards not only with K–12 students but with our teachers in training as well. Offering people choice in assignments does equate to a lot more emails to answer from our graduate students. But that’s something we were more than happy to take on.

7 Choice Board Examples to Bring Into Your Classroom

Choice boards give students the freedom to decide on learning activities that interest them and they're perfect for learning in-class or at a distance.

In this post we'll explore what choice boards are, how to make a choice board, some example choice boards and more! Let's dive in.

What is a choice board?

Choice boards are graphic organizers that empower your students to take an active role in their learning by choosing the activity or activities that they are going to complete. These boards can be physical or digital and include different activities around a particular subject area for students to complete in a given timeframe. While as the teacher you select all the possible activities, your students are given the choice to pick from the list to decide how they want to continue engaging with the lesson.

How to make a choice board

There is no one right or wrong way to make a choice board and thankfully there are a ton of great examples to help inspire your creativity. That being said, here are a few guiding principles to help get you started:

Determine the purpose of your choice board
Align your choice board with specific learning outcomes
Select activities for your choice board that fit your learning outcomes
Determine your choice board rules including the number of activities to be completed and if there are any must-do activities
Select your choice board layout and style
Put your board together

It’s also important after using a choice board to make time to reflect afterward to see if there are any changes or improvements you want to make for the next time you use a choice board in your classroom.

Choice board examples

There are a lot of ways to set up a choice board for remote learning, depending on how creative you want to be and how much time you have.

Below are 7 choice board examples ranging from short and simple to ultimate creativity.

7 choice board examples for virtual learning

Bitmoji Virtual Classroom

"Most teachers I know use Google Slides to make choice boards. There are lots of fun templates out there", says Carrie Willis, Technology/STEAM Director from Redlands, CA., "plus, it is fun to add bitmojis to the boards!"

Google Slides are a great option for choice board examples when you want to get creative. If you're not familiar with Google Slides, they work just like Powerpoint, but are all online, so you can easily share it with your class. Google Slides allow complete freedom to get creative with your theme and add your own backgrounds, images, and add links to anywhere.

Virtual Makerspace Choice Board

"I like Google Slides because it's directed while also giving students freedom. It's very contained and students can't click out to something else," said Ms. Miller. Read Ms. Miller's tips for creating a virtual makerspace choice board here .

Tic Tac Toe Choice Board

TicTacToe is a great choice board template to use

How to make a choice board with Google Slides

Step 1. outline your ideas.

Get started by mapping your ideas on paper. Think about what theme or learning goals you want your board to center on.

Step 2. Decide what activities you want to include.

Try to include a mix of activities that your kids are familiar with, but also some new items too. You can always change it up later.

Step 3. Sketch it on paper

Think about the way you want to organize information. The way your board is organized helps students find an activity to meet their learning goals quickly. Here are some ideas:

Activity type - robotics, coding, drawing, building
Learning concept - counting, reading, science
Theme - outside, animals, oceans, space, family
"Virtual classroom" with activities are organized like they would be in a real room

Step 4. Make the Choice Board Slide

When you're ready, set up a slide with the same layout that you sketched on paper. Add text boxes to label each of the areas or activities. To add a text box, go to "Insert" then "Text box". I used a table to make my tic-tac-toe board.

Give your students direction by adding images they're used to seeing. They'll know what to expect when they click on the activity if they see the app icon, character, or book cover they already know.

PRO TIP! You can search for images to add to your choice board directly inside Google Slides.

Finally, add links to each of your activities by selecting the images, then clicking the insert link button on the menu.

When you're finished, you can share the link to your slides with your class, or you can save the slide as a PDF and all the links will be clickable.

All About Dinosaurs Seesaw Choice Board

Seesaw is a great place to add your choice board so that you can easily collect student responses and your kids can easily interact with the activities.

This super fun choice board is all about dinosaurs

Seesaw's Community library has tons of choice board examples for you to choose from. The example above focuses on dinosaurs and allows students to decide what part of the dinosaur they want to learn about, as well as what activity they want to do. Then, students are required to label each part of the dinosaur to demonstrate their knowledge, all within the Seesaw activity.

How to embed links in a Seesaw activity

In my tic-tac-toe example from Google Slides, I could export the final design as a PDF, then upload it to Seesaw and all the links would still work for my students to click on. See how here . See more Seesaw choice bard examples that include links here .

Kodable Bingo Seesaw Choice Board

Bingo is another style of choice board that is easy to use with your students. Samantha Selikoff, technology teacher in New Jersey shared her design for Kodable Bingo earlier this summer. Using the Seesaw activity creator, it is easy to create the bingo design for kids to complete on their own.

Step 1. Create the bingo board in Word, Google Docs, or any editing tool you're comfortable with. Perhaps give Google Slides a try!

Step 2 Take a screenshot and add it to your Seesaw activity using the image upload option.

Step 3 Add dauber shapes for students to add to their completed board.

Change the color and transparency by using the styling tools below the shape. Duplicate the shape 10-15 times.

Symbaloo Choice Board

If you're looking for a simple solution to direct student learning. Symbaloo is a fast and easy way to set up choice boards for remote learning this school year.

The no-frills interface uses a simple grid, but also allows customizations like backgrounds and custom colors. You can add links to all your relevant activities as bookmarks or shortcuts for your class.

It is important to think about how you want to organize the information on your choice board so that it is easy for a student to figure out where to go. Both teachers chose to include sections for each of their classes in the above examples, while also including a section that links to the "approved" activities directly.

Learn more about using Symbaloo for your remote learning choice boards in their instructional video here .

Choice board template

As you can see from the examples above, there are a lot of choices for you to make for your own choice board! Thankfully there are a lot of great choice board templates available online for you to help you get started faster.

Here are a few online resources that provide choice board templates:

Slides Mania offers free Google Slides templates
Teachers Pay Teachers has over 1,600 choice board templates to choose from starting at $1
Elkhart Community Schools has also curated templates for spreadsheets and google docs

Frequently asked questions about choice boards

What are the benefits of using choice boards in the classroom.

Using choice boards in the classroom offers several benefits including:

Increasing student engagement
Promoting differentiated instruction
Improving student motivation
Promoting creativity and problem-solving skills

How many choices should be on a choice board?

The number of choices you give on a choice board should give students the opportunity to feel like they have a choice in their activity without overwhelming them with too many options. This will depend on the type of choice board you are using as well. For example, a tic-tac-toe choice board will have nine choices while a bingo choice board will have 25 options available. When in doubt, use less choices to start and see how students respond before adding in additional options.

How do you implement choice boards in the classroom?

Just like with any classroom activity, choice boards should be implemented by clearly explaining guidelines and expectations for students to follow. This includes the activity options, the timeframe allowed, and any other specific requirements including cleanup or turn in responsibilities. After the activity starts be sure to monitor progress and support any students who need assistance. Finally, once your choice board activity is done give students (and yourself) a chance to reflect on activity.

Choice boards are a great classroom resource for you to empower your students to take an active role in their own learning. Plus, they are so much fun for everyone! If you’re looking for more fun and educational classroom activities try out Kodable’s free educator plan to help your students learn the basics of computer programming. It also makes for a great choice board activity!

Kodable has everything you need to teach kids to code!

In just a few minutes a day, kids can learn all about the fundamentals of Computer Science - and so much more! With lessons ranging from zero to JavaScript, Kodable equips children for a digital future.

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Home » Blog Posts » Literacy Centers » How I Use Choice Boards to Run Literacy Centers

How I Use Choice Boards to Run Literacy Centers

Frustrated by all the work it takes to “group” students for centers? Yeah, I was too! This post shares details on how to use choice boards to run literacy centers for upper elementary classrooms.

A FREE planning guide for literacy centers is included.

*This post contains affiliate links to Amazon for your convenience. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases, which do not cost any extra for you. Please see the full disclosure here. *

This post is a part of a series on helpful content geared toward literacy instruction in upper elementary classrooms. Here are the other posts to checkout once you’ve read all of this post:

Why You Need to Have Literacy Centers in Your Upper Elementary Classroom
4th Grade Literacy Centers
Free Literacy Center Apps
Teaching Strategies for Reading Comprehension in Upper Elementary Classrooms*
Ideas to Help Older Students Who Struggle with Spelling*
Read Alouds for Upper Elementary Students*
10 Best Novel Studies for 4th & 5th Grade Students*
8 Clever Ways to Get Students Writing More*

Posts with * beside their titles have free downloads available!

Why Use Choice Boards for Centers?

When it comes to managing literacy centers in my classroom, I feel like I’ve tried it all!

Fixed Groups
Animal Groups
Color-Coded Groups
Flexible Grouping

But I still struggled to manage my small group rotations and centers with these systems.

With lots of research I found out about choice boards, which are also called learning menus.

I did tons of procedures training with my students and found that this flexible grouping system with choice boards is the BEST system for me!

My students learn to move around the classroom and choose centers independently.

So they are more motivated to stay on task and complete their center work!

Using Choice Boards for my Literacy Centers gives my students ownership of their work and this system makes it SUPER easy for me to differentiate instruction.

Literacy Center Choice Boards also keeps my students from interrupting me about what to do next while I’m working with a small group or with an individual student at my teacher table.

What Are Choice Boards?

As mentioned above, choice boards are sometimes called learning menus.

I have also heard them called:

Learning Tic-Tac-Toe Boards
Activity Boards
Choice Maps
Menu Boards

A choice board is a piece of paper with a board or grid of squares on it that has options for students to choose from.

Some choice board templates have a grid of 9-squares. My learning menus for 3rd and 4th Grade literacy centers have only 6-squares.

I have learned that too many choices overwhelms my students, so I decreased the number of squares.

With my students, I prefer giving them guided choices, so I shade two of the choice board squares. Then I train my students to complete those squares FIRST.

Having literacy activities on a menu board eliminates the need for any center rotation charts.

Plus, with choice boards, students are more motivated when they have a choice. T hey tend to stay engaged and on-task longer.

How to Launch Literacy Centers with Choice Boards

Before I give students their choice boards with the literacy games and activities that they can choose from, I gather data from assessment on their strengths and weaknesses.

Then I compare their skills to the standards and objectives of our school ELA curriculum, which is aligned to Common Core.

This information is important because it will help guide my instruction, and it will help me choose the right reading stations and literacy materials.

I also DO NOT assume students will understand how to move through our literacy stations independently just because they have a learning menu with options!

It takes several weeks of scaffolded, persistent, and patient training for students to use their choice boards correctly.

Steps for Setting Up Your Literacy Center Choice Boards

Each student gets a paper with six to nine squares depending on their assessment results. You DO NOT have to make a separate choice board for every single student. (MORE details on this below.)
I train my students to complete the two darker shaded boxes first! I f you are familiar with “Must Do & May Do,” this is their MUST DO.
Then they can move on to choose another literacy activity that isn’t shaded on their choice board. MAY DO.
ALL blocks must be completed by the end of the week.
If a student finishes a choice board early, I always have Extension Literacy Activites ready for my 4th graders.
If a student needs more time, they aren’t rushed to finish the center when their group is.

Having these options naturally leads to easy opportunities for differentiation.

Do Choice Boards Fit with Guided Reading?

YES, they do!

I have a small group or an individual student with me while the other students are independently moving around the room with their choice boards.

The BEST part about using choice boards for my literacy centers is that students are not interrupting my guided reading group!

Using this system for managing literacy centers means that students definitely know what to do next when they finish a reading station or activity.

Since they are choosing activities based on a set of pre-determined options that I put on their menu boards, they can complete their center work without me.

How to Manage Your Literacy Centers

Giving students choices does not lead to chaos and disorder if they are given the right procedures training.

In fact, they’ll be more motivated to stay engaged and participate in center work when they are allowed to choose.

Upper elementary students who aren’t used to having choices will especially need lots of scaffolded training.

Don’t let this scare you! I spend the first 4-6 weeks of school carefully guiding my kiddos through my center expectations.

Then I spend time around long holiday breaks reviewing my expectations with students.

My favorite resource for procedures training is Harry Wong’s First Days of School. Not only does it help me establish my literacy center procedures, but it helps me get ALL my classroom routines set-up during those first weeks of school.

F.A.Q’s About Choice Boards and Literacy Centers

How do you make sure there aren’t too many students choosing the same centers?

I create 4 or 5 choice board templates. These templates have certain centers shaded. I train my students to complete the shaded centers first. For example, if I have 20 students total–I may give 4 of them a choice board with Grammar Games shaded first. A different set of 4 students will have the Technology Center shaded first, etc.

This controls the amount of students who are allowed in a literacy center at one time.

What happens when your students are absent and cannot complete all their literacy centers choice board?

Every Friday in my classroom, I have a block of time called “Catch-Up” Time. All my students have red ‘catch-up’ folders with incomplete assignments. Any student who hasn’t completed their choice board options get the chance to complete them during this time.

What types of literacy activities do you put on your students’ choice boards?

Here are just a few options I use:

Technology Center (we have 4 desktop computers in my classroom)
iPad Center (students play literacy games on apps and listen to audiobooks on Kindle Unlimited or Epic )
Word Work and Spelling Games
Reading Games
Non-Fiction Reading Practice Center

Literacy Center Activities

I have full-year sets of literacy center activities for 3rd graders and 4th graders . Click either picture below for more details on them.

You can also get more ideas for literacy centers with this FREE download. Please be sure to enter an email address that allows outside email addresses so that you can also grab the FREE literacy center planning guide.

6 Responses

Hi! I just found your website and am loving all the ideas. I am stuck when it comes to small groups! I love the idea of choice boards though. Do you set up the choice boards based on their needs (one group of students gets this board and another group gets a different board)? How do you keep them from fighting and arguing over centers? If this was something I was going to set up mid-year (or refresh my current setup) how would you suggest launching?

Hi Angela, Great questions! Yes, I create groups of choice boards based on academic needs. I also keep behavior in mind by keeping unproductive students away from each other. I have plenty of options available, which keeps them from fighting over the centers. I would launch it by modeling your expectations, then starting with a few centers to practice the routine. After a few weeks and some tweaks, your students will love using choice boards. Thanks for stopping by our site for teaching ideas. 🙂

Hi Tanya, Thanks for all this info! Just a few questions to help me: 1. once students do their two shaded centers how do you prevent kids just running to the next center and having all of them talking arguing about who they want to partner with? I picture too many going to one center . Is there a limit of # of students allowed in each center? 2. Are you the one who resets the timer for the next center ? 3. Do you check or collect either the choice board template sheet and the work they did in centers ? I never had time so I always felt I had no idea how they did .

Hi Pina, 1) I do not give all of my students the same choice board options. That keeps them from trying to go to the same centers. 2) I use pre-set timer that is displayed on our Smartboard. It starts over with each slide. 3) I only check the completed choice board and select centers. I do not check every center and I do not grade them.

Hope this helps!

I am eager to try this but I have questions- For the centers that don’t require a finished product- like independent reading, computer or listen to reading, do you use a timer to regulate how much time they are allowed to be there? How long is your literacy block and how many “centers” do your kids typically get to each day? Thanks!

Karen, Great questions! “…do you use a timer to regulate how much time they are allowed to be there?” I keep a general timer for all centers that helps everyone stay on track with the time. So this fixed time applies to everyone. The amount of time changes each school year because it depends on the total literacy block my principal allows.

” How long is your literacy block…” In the 4 years that I’ve used this system, my full literacy block has fallen between 60-95 minutes.

“…how many “centers” do your kids typically get to each day?” Typically they get in 2 each day.

If you have more questions, I have an entire guide book on launching literacy centers that breaks down all these details and more. You can access it here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Launching-Literacy-Centers-Guide-Literacy-Centers-ebook-4453561

Thanks Karen!

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11 Choice Board Templates You Can Use Tomorrow in Your Classroom

February 16, 2022.

Choice Boards are an amazing learner-centered practice you can use to engage your students, provide choice, and easily differentiate instruction.

Rather than start from scratch, we’ve pulled together our favorite choice board templates created by amazing educators.

All you have to do is click the link to access the template, make your own copy, and start customizing. Let’s dive in!

What is a Choice Board?
Getting Started Guide
Template #1: 9 Square Design your Own Digital Choice Board
Template #2: Creative Book Trailers Ideas
Template #3: Geography Fun Choice Board
Template #4: Digital Breakout
Template #5: Digital Menu for Student Creation

Template #6: Choose Your Own Adventure (Slides & Forms)

Template #7: Show What You Know
Template #8: Genius Hour
Template #9: Fortnite Digital Choice Board
Template #10: Design Your Own Choice Board
Template #11: Flexible Choice Board

What is a Choice Board?

A choice board, also known as a learning menu, is a great way to differentiate learning for students and allow them to demonstrate mastery at the end of a unit as well.

Choice boards can be created in various formats, but a simple way to think of them is as a graphic organizer.

Credit: Tom Spall

With digital tools, you can take static, paper format activities and bring them to life.

Choice boards also help to engage students, give them choice in the way they learn, and create a more interactive learning experience.

Choice boards are pretty easy to create and the best part is you can be creative in how and where you build it, so it’s customized to your students’ needs.

Below you’ll find eleven plug and play templates you can use right away in your classroom.

It might seem a bit daunting to start from scratch so all you need to do is make a copy of the template and start customizing.

If you’re new to choice boards, here are a few guides to get you started:

The Ultimate Guide to Choice Boards and Learning Menus
The Complete Beginner’s Guide to Choice Boards

Below you’ll find tons of choice board templates created by amazing educators that you can use across multiple grade bands and content areas. All you have to do is click on the link and you’ll get your very own copy to use in your classroom.

Template #1: 9 Square Design your Own Digital Choice Board – Catlin Tucker

>>> Click here to access the template (this link will prompt you to make your own copy)

This choice board template is created by Catlin Tucker and it follows the classic 9 square model.

This allows students to follow a tic-tac-toe approach where they can complete any three activities in a row on this board.

With this format, you can organize a column by a specific topic, skill, or standard.

The best part about this template is that it gives you the structure to easily design your own choice board, but you can really make it your own.

Elementary 9 Square Template

Kindergarten Tic-Tac-Toe Choice Board – Math and ELA – A.J. Juliani

Template #2: Creative Book Trailers Ideas – #BISDwired team

>>>Click here to access the template

This choice board template was created by the #BISDwired team and it shows you how you can create a choice board that uses several different types of tech tools and platforms to create an engaging experience for all students.

This choice board includes a project-based learning element and focuses on book trailers, but you can use this format for any content area.

Template #3: Geography Fun Choice Board – Shannon Miller

>>> Click here to access the template

This one is for all of the elementary geography teachers! Shannon Miller has created a great choice board with BrainPop videos, games, maps, and more that students can interact with to learn about geography.

You can make a copy at the link above and use it right away in your classroom or switch it up and add in your own resources and activities for students to complete.

Template #4: Digital Breakout – Lauren Hawkins

>>> Click here to access the directions on how to create this .

You can also use a choice board to create a breakout activity for your students where they work together or on their own to solve tasks and problems to move to the next step and complete the activity.

This is a fun way to engage your students and increase collaboration!

Lauren has put together an amazing resource with all of the directions, templates, and how-to videos at the link listed above.

Template #5: Digital Menu for Student Creation – Tom Spall

This choice board combines multiple tech tools and platforms to provide choice with different activities that range from low tech – to high tech options.

This also allows students to build upon skills like communication and creativity, as well as develop new tech skills.

***For the Google Slides Templates make sure you present the slides for the links to work

The Secret Villiage – Created by Nathan Gildart
Math Sample #1 (Friends Theme) – Created by Nathan Gildart
Math Sample #2 – Created by Nathan Gildart
The Lost Baby Tiger Template – Slyvia Duckworth
Left Home Alone – Created by Nathan Gildart
The Online Adventures of Mousy and Mickey – Created by Nathan Gildart
Choose Your Own Adventure Template – Created by Nathan Gildar

A choose your own adventure choice board is a great way to give yourself a break from presenting or delivering a lesson.

With this choice board, you can give students voice and choice in how they learn and they can go at their own pace to complete the lesson asynchronously.

We’ve linked some of our favorite choice board templates above for you to get started with.

Template #7: Show What You Know – Lisa Highfill

>>> Click here to access the templates

This type of choice board is pretty self-explanatory, but the templates linked above allow students to express themselves and choose to demonstrate their learning in the way that works best for them.

This choice board format also provides students the opportunity to use different types of technology to build new skills or refine current ones.

Template #8: Genius Hour – Christine Perkins

Genius hour is an amazing learner centered strategy that allows students to focus on projects of their choosing for one hour each week.

Genius hour is always a hit with students and it can help them identify hidden skills, develop their skills and find topics they’re passionate about.

Sometimes these boards can take longer to create so this is why we’ve pulled together a template you can use right away or copy and customize for your classroom.

Template #9: Fortnite Digital Choice Board – Tom Spall

This is a fun template that students get really excited about!

They can create a project in the format of their choosing and this template also fosters collaboration.

You can use this template for any unit, project, or content area by customizing the options students can choose from. You can make a copy of this template and add in projects or activities that are aligned to your rubric.

Template #10: Design Your Own Choice Board – Nick LaFave

This is a simple choice board template you can follow and all you have to do is add in images and text.

The template linked above will prompt you to make your own copy and you can customize it to fit your needs.

Template #11: Flexible Choice Board – Knikole Taylor

An amazing educator, Knikole Taylor has designed this template to help you quickly and easily create a choice board for any subject area.

You can use this template time and time again. The link above will prompt you to make a copy.

So…What Do You Think Of These Choice Board Templates?

Now we want to hear from you.

Leave a comment and share your favorite choice board template that isn’t in this post or which template you’re going to use first!

Looking for more resources?

20+ Insanely Actionable Teacher Resources You Can Use Today
Free Blended Learning Workshops
How a Technology Integration Specialist Used the Pandemic as a Way to Invite Change

[…] 11 Choice Board Templates You Can Use Tomorrow in Your Classroom […]

I love the Genius Hour template, but it says I don’t have access. Is it possible the owner could change share settings?

Hi Hannah, Thank you for reaching out! The owner has changed the share settings and unfortunately we haven’t had any luck in getting the settings changed. I’m so sorry! I will reach out to our training team and see if they have other resources like this.

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Math Choice Boards

Math choice boards are a carefully selected collection of math experiences which are differentiated and designed to support student engagement and agency. They are effective in the physical classroom as well as in distance learning as asynchronous assignments.

Characteristics of Choice Boards:

Support student choice

The teacher chooses the tasks, categories, the amount assigned, and the timeframe

The student chooses which tasks to do and why, who to work with, and how to express the learning

Engage students in rich math tasks

Are differentiated to meet every student’s needs

Are designed to support students in setting goals and making purposeful choices in service of their goals

With a choice board, not all students will be doing the same tasks but instead will make choices based on learning goals which are guided by the teacher.

Grade Level Choice Boards, Menus, and Playlists

Kindergarten choice board: addition within 10, 1st grade menu: addition within 20, 2nd grade: addition and subtraction, 3rd grade menu: fractions, 4th & 5th grade menu: fractions, 4th & 5th grade choice board: fractions, 5th grade: decimals (with connections to fractions & percents), 6th - 8th grade choice board: ratios, rates, & proportional reasoning, 8th - 12th grade menu: functions.

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1st Grade Language Arts and Writing Choice Boards

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Summer Writing Practice Choice Board for Elementary Grades

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Back to School Prep

Summer is about relaxing and letting go of the stress from the previous year. However, many teachers are also thinking about the upcoming school year. Honestly, getting ahead often means a smoother start to the beginning. This typically involves preparing everything for Open House, developing new lessons filled with engagement, and planning assessments for baseline data. There is just so much to handle with back-to-school prep. Luckily, the two checklist items below will help teachers enjoy summer while preparing for a fantastic year.

Back to School Night/Open House

Truly, this is one of the most important events of the year. It allows parents to meet the person who will spend most of the day with their loved ones. Most importantly, it allows students to see their new classroom and put their minds at ease about the upcoming year. Therefore, teachers often feel a ton of pressure to create the perfect experience.

Luckily, the First Week of First Grade will help ensure that the start of the year progresses flawlessly! This includes needed documents for parents, such as a welcome letter, transportation form, and parent survey. Then, there are printables for the first four days of school. All the included activities focus on basic skills to avoid overwhelming students. This also creates the perfect opportunity to get to know the new class family. There are even teacher resources, such as attention grabbers and morning songs! This back-to-school prep will help ensure students, parents, and teachers have an enjoyable start to a fantastic year.

Everything you need for the first week of first grade.

Homework Plans

Honestly, making decisions over homework is stressful. For instance, teachers often wonder how much homework should be assigned. Additionally, there is always concern about how teachers can support students who do not have adults to help at home. Thankfully, the Editable Homework Choice Boards create a way to give homework in a fun, exciting way. By using choice boards, students have the opportunity to pick what they are working on. This means they may choose something they can do independently if their parents are busy. Then, they can complete the items they need help with when their parents are free.

There are monthly and weekly menus to fit each classroom! Each weekly homework menu has 9 reading, math, and writing tasks. Then, students select the 4 tasks they want to complete each week. Each monthly menu has 5 reading tasks, 5 math tasks, 5 writing tasks, and 5 science or social studies tasks. Then, students select at least 15 squares to complete throughout the month. Best of all, students are reviewing essential first-grade skills while enjoying the ability to pick!

Honestly, back-to-school prep can be exhausting and overwhelming. There is so much to handle to ensure students have an incredible year. To help reduce anxiety, create a helpful checklist. Working on one item at a time will make a list less daunting. Thankfully, the First Week of First Grade resource and Editable Homework Choice Boards will help check items off the list!

If you do not want to miss any of the upcoming lessons, join my email list to be notified of all the interactive lessons coming up! By joining the email list, you will also receive freebies for blog exclusive subscribers!

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Even with school choice, some Black families find options lacking decades after Brown v. Board

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Since first grade, Julian Morris, 16, has changed schools six times, swinging between predominantly white and predominantly Black classrooms. None has met all his needs, his mother said.

At predominantly white schools, he was challenged academically but felt less included. At predominately Black schools, he felt more supported as a Black student, but his mother, Denita Dorsey, said they didn’t have the same resources and academic opportunities.

Seventy years after the Supreme Court ruled separating children in schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional, Dorsey said the options available to her family in Michigan are disappointing.

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“Segregation is abolished, sure, but our schools are still deeply divided along racial and socioeconomic lines,” Dorsey said. “It makes you think: It’s been 70 years but was it worth it?”

The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling and desegregation orders were only the first steps toward the elusive goal of equitable education. For some Black families, school choice has been critical in finding the best available option. And that has not meant necessarily the school with the most racial diversity.

Integration alone is not what Black families have pushed for over the decades, said Bernita Bradley of the National Parents Union, an education advocacy group.

“We wanted integration with accountability and that’s not what we received,” she said. “That’s why choice needs to exist but we still need high-quality options.”

Dorsey made what she called a “contentious decision” in 2022, choosing Saginaw High School in Michigan, which is predominantly Black, over Julian’s predominantly white charter school.

“I was challenged, and I had arguments with family. But Julian is now getting more support from his teachers and administration than he ever did at his previous schools,” she said.

The Brown decision is seen as a key impetus to kicking off the modern school choice movement. As many white families began turning to private schools as a way to avoid the court mandate, state lawmakers — primarily in Southern states — began launching school voucher programs.

In Prince Edward County in Virginia, which closed all its public schools in 1959 for five years to evade integration, state and local officials gave white families tuition grants and tax credits to attend private schools. No similar options were provided to Black families. The move inspired other states to adopt similar schemes before they were deemed illegal by the Supreme Court.

The arguments for school choice evolved over time.

Some thinkers in the 1960s such as Milton Friedman argued that giving families money to spend on education how they saw fit would revolutionize education, incentivizing schools to improve or be left behind. At the same time, civil rights leaders stressed that choice could equalize education for lower-income families, which overwhelmingly include Black and Hispanic students.

Today, some of the loudest advocates for vouchers no longer approach it as a way to push for social justice, said Claire Smrekar, a professor of education and public policy at Vanderbilt University. Rather, the focus is on parents’ rights and lifting restrictions that may prevent wealthier families from using the programs at schools of their choice.

“This expansion is really extraordinary when you think about it,” Smrekar said. “There are no social justice arguments here for families trapped in poverty and zoned for low-performing schools. The new argument is that everyone should enjoy this subsidy.”

Meantime, conservative attacks on how topics related to race and racism are taught in schools have only added to the appeal of alternatives for some Black families. Some schools dedicate themselves to affirming students’ Black heritage, claiming the mantle of freedom schools that started during the Civil Rights Movement in response to the inferior education Black Americans were receiving in the South.

“All parents want is a safe and caring environment where their child is going to go and they are going to be a partner in my child’s pathway to success,” Bradley said.

Black families also turned to homeschooling in large numbers during the pandemic, driven in part by a desire to shield their children from racism in classrooms and to better meet the individual academic needs of their children.

American schools are more racially diverse today compared to the era of Brown v. Board, but schools have been re-segregating, with lasting academic consequences. Schools where students of color compose more than 90% of the student body are five times more likely to be located in low-income areas, where students have worse educational outcomes.

According to research from Stanford University’s Educational Opportunity Project, the recent increase in segregation appears to be partially driven by school choice. In school districts where charter schools expanded most rapidly in the last two decades, segregation grew the most.

In Michigan, Julian said he thought his mother was “tripping or just going off the rails” to pull him out of a higher-ranked school.

“It wasn’t until I arrived at Saginaw High that I took a second look back and realized that what was said to me and things that happened at the school were not OK,” Julian said. “I was different there because I am Black. But now at Saginaw, it feels more welcoming and I feel included and supported. I feel the difference.”

Janel Jones, a mother of two children in Atlanta, said she has seen the benefits of choice, having sent her 13-year-old daughter and 17-year-old son to seven different schools combined. But just giving parents an option is not enough, she said.

“School choice is not choice if it is not equitable. At the end of the day, liberation directly affects our economic outcome, and as parents we have to make sure these educational systems are challenging academically but also meet their needs as members of society,” Jones said.

It is not as simple as sending children to an all-Black school, she said.

“Your child is protected, but also coddled. You have not learned how to understand and deal with microaggressions you are guaranteed to face when you get your first job. That’s the educational part we as Black parents also have to teach our kids and that’s not going to change any time soon,” she said.

AP journalists Sharon Lurye in New Orleans and Jeff Amy in Atlanta contributed to this report.

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Even With School Choice, Some Black Families Still Find Options Lacking 70 Years After Brown v. Board

Denita Dorsey poses with her son Julian Morris, 16, in Saginaw, Mich., Thursday, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Since first grade, Julian Morris, 16, has changed schools six times, swinging between predominantly white and predominantly Black classrooms. None has met all his needs, his mother said.

Seventy years after the Supreme Court ruled separating children in schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional, Dorsey said the options available to her family in Michigan are disappointing.

“Segregation is abolished, sure, but our schools are still deeply divided along racial and socioeconomic lines,” Dorsey said. “It makes you think: It’s been 70 years but was it worth it?”

Integration alone is not what Black families have pushed for over the decades, said Bernita Bradley of the National Parents Union, an education advocacy group.

“We wanted integration with accountability and that’s not what we received,” she said. “That’s why choice needs to exist but we still need high-quality options.”

Dorsey made what she called a “contentious decision” in 2022, choosing Saginaw High School in Michigan, which is predominantly Black, over Julian’s predominantly white charter school.

“I was challenged, and I had arguments with family. But Julian is now getting more support from his teachers and administration than he ever did at his previous schools,” she said.

The arguments for school choice evolved over time.

“All parents want is a safe and caring environment where their child is going to go and they are going to be a partner in my child’s pathway to success,” Bradley said.

In Michigan, Julian said he thought his mother was “tripping or just going off the rails” to pull him out of a higher-ranked school.

It is not as simple as sending children to an all-Black school, she said.

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