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!

2nd Grade Math Choice Board Tutorial for Teachers

Build your own Math Choice Board for 2nd Grade in minutes! Keep kids engaged & learning using these tactics & templates
To use a choice board in your 2nd Grade Classroom during Math you will need to create the Mathchoices (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 2nd Grade Math choice boards to your classroom style!

Here are a few ideas and instructions on choices, classroom management and getting buy-in from your2nd Graders

Ideas & Examples of Great 2nd Grade Math Choices

Count & Draw Your Favorite Snacks
Draw 5 of your yummiest snacks. Count how many you drew. Write the number below each snack. Share with friends! 🍎🍪🧀🍇🥨
Shape Hunt Adventure
Go on a Shape Hunt Adventure! Look around your home or school for circles, squares, triangles, and rectangles. Draw or list each one you find. Have fun exploring!
Math Story Problems with Toys
Solve fun toy stories! Count how many dolls, cars, or blocks you have, add or take some away, and find out how many are left. Use your fingers or draw to help!
Funny Money Math Store
Funny Money Math Store is a fun game where you buy silly toys with pretend money. You add up coins to pay and get change. Let’s play shop!
Time Telling with Cartoons
Watch fun cartoons where characters use clocks! Learn big hands for minutes, small for hours. Practice telling time with them. It’s like a game!
Addition Art with Stickers
Create a fun picture with stickers! Each sticker has a number. Stick them together to add the numbers. When you’re done, see the cool art you made with math!
Fraction Picnic Fun
At our Fraction Picnic Fun, we’ll share yummy snacks! Imagine cutting a pizza into equal parts. Each piece is a fraction. You’ll pick pieces to make whole pizzas and learn fractions! 🍕🥧🍉
Subtraction Safari Quest
Join Subtraction Safari Quest! Help animals by solving subtraction problems. Find the difference between two numbers and guide each animal to safety. Fun math adventure awaits!
Pattern Party with Pasta
Make cool patterns with pasta! Line up different shapes/colors in a row. Repeat it to see the pattern. Have fun creating and sharing your pasta art!

Using a Choice Board to Differentiate Math in a 2nd 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 2nd Grade Classroom During Math (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?