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 Vocabulary Choice Board Tutorial for Teachers

Build your own Vocabulary 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 Vocabulary you will need to create the Vocabularychoices (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 Vocabulary 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 Vocabulary Choices

Draw a Word Comic Strip
Draw a comic strip with pictures showing a word’s meaning. Use bubbles for talking and add fun details to tell a story about the word. Enjoy drawing!
Create a Word Treasure Map
Draw a map with a path. Write a new word at every stop. Find the word’s meaning to move on. Reach the treasure by learning all words!
Make a Word Puppet Show
Create a puppet show with your favorite stuffed animals or dolls. Each puppet says a new word you’ve learned and acts it out. Have fun showing and telling!
Word Bingo Game
Word Bingo is a fun game! Get a card with words. When you hear a word, cover it with a chip. Cover 5 in a row to shout “Bingo!” and win. Play with friends!
Word Detective Mission
Your mission: Be a Word Detective! Find 5 new words in your favorite book. Write them down, draw a picture of what they mean, and tell us how they are used! 🕵️‍♂️📚✏️
Word Synonym Garden
A “Word Synonym Garden” is a picture of a garden where you write a word on a flower and similar-meaning words (synonyms) on the leaves around it!
Word Rainbow Writing
Rainbow writing is when you write a word with different colors on top of each other to make it look like a rainbow. It’s fun and helps you remember how to spell!
Storybook Vocabulary Parade
Dress up as a word from a book you like. Show your costume and tell us the word, what it means, and where it’s from. It’s like a fun word party!
Word Scavenger Hunt
Find words in the room on labels, books, or signs. Write them down and draw a small picture for each. Share with the class!

Using a Choice Board to Differentiate Vocabulary 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 Vocabulary (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?