Megan Reynolds

Megan Reynolds

I am a teacher & designer. Connecting with students & seeing them enjoy learning is my favorite feeling on earth! I hope you enjoy this article!

4th Grade Art Choice Board Tutorial for Teachers

Build your own Art Choice Board for 4th Grade in minutes! Keep kids engaged & learning using these tactics & templates
To use a choice board in your 4th Grade Classroom during Art you will need to create the Artchoices (there are lots of examples), organize the classroom, and have a goal;

Time-saving, differentiation, and dynamic classroom management are my favorite reasons to use a choice board!

Integrating choices every day you will need to hone in on the best way to apply 4th Grade Art choice boards to your classroom style!

Here are a few ideas and instructions on choices, classroom management and getting buy-in from your4th Graders

Ideas & Examples of Great 4th Grade Art Choices

Create Your Dream Playground
Draw your dream playground with slides, swings, or anything fun! Use colors and shapes to make it exciting. Imagine playing there with friends!
Design Your Ultimate Superhero Cape
Create your dream superhero cape! Draw a cape shape, add cool colors, symbols that show powers, and make it unique. Use glitter or fabric for extra fun!
Draw Your Favorite Animal Cartoon
Draw a cartoon of your fave animal! Make it silly or cute. Use shapes to start: circles for the head, ovals for the body. Add big eyes and a smile! 🎨✨
Craft a Clay Nature Sculpture
Mold clay into your favorite nature shape, like a leaf or animal. Add details with tools. Let it dry, then paint it to bring your sculpture to life!
Sketch a Storybook Cover
Draw your dream fairy tale book cover! Include a big title, a magical picture (like a castle or dragon), and your name as the author. Use bright colors and have fun!
Make a Collage of Your Best Day
Cut out pictures from magazines or print them, showing what your best day looks like. Glue them on paper to make a fun picture collage. Be creative!
Paint a Rock to Tell a Story
Find a smooth rock. Think of a story or your favorite thing. Use paint to bring it to life on the rock. Let it dry. Share your rock story with friends!
Create a Paper Mosaic Masterpiece
Cut colorful paper into small squares. Arrange & glue them on a sheet to form a picture, like a puzzle. It’s like tiling with paper!
Fashion Your Own Paper Mask
Create a cool mask! Draw your mask shape on paper, cut it out, decorate with colors, glitter, or feathers. Punch holes on sides, tie string, and wear it! 🎭✂️🖍

Using a Choice Board to Differentiate Art in a 4th 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 4th Grade Classroom During Art (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?