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!

3rd Grade Exercise Choice Board Tutorial for Teachers

Build your own Exercise Choice Board for 3rd Grade in minutes! Keep kids engaged & learning using these tactics & templates
To use a choice board in your 3rd Grade Classroom during Exercise you will need to create the Exercisechoices (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 3rd Grade Exercise choice boards to your classroom style!

Here are a few ideas and instructions on choices, classroom management and getting buy-in from your3rd Graders

Ideas & Examples of Great 3rd Grade Exercise Choices

Superhero Stretch Challenge
Stand tall, reach for the sky like Super Stretch Man! Now, swoop down to touch your toes like Lightning Girl. Hold for 10 seconds. You’re now a stretching superhero!
Jungle Gymnastics Adventure
Swing like monkeys, balance on logs, jump over pretend rivers, and crawl under vines in our Jungle Gymnastics! Imagine you’re exploring the wild as you exercise!
Space Hopper Obstacle Course
Bounce on space hoppers over, under, and around cones and mats. Hop fast but be safe! Have fun jumping like a kangaroo in a race with friends.
Pirate Treasure Fitness Quest
Ahoy, mates! Join the Pirate Treasure Fitness Quest. Hop like a frog, walk the plank with lunges, and dig for gold with squats. Find clues, do fun exercises, and discover treasure!
Dinosaur Dance Party
Stomp like a T-Rex, swing your arms like a Brachiosaurus’ neck, and chomp like a Triceratops. Dance to fun music and pretend you’re at a dino party!
Animal Yoga Journey
Animal Yoga Journey is a fun game where we pretend to be animals by doing yoga poses! We’ll stretch like cats, balance like flamingos, and roar like lions, feeling strong and calm!
Rainbow Relay Races
Run to colors! In Rainbow Relay Races, you’ll team up, race to find and touch each color of the rainbow in order, then tag the next friend. Fast, fun, and colorful!
Ninja Balance Beam Quest
Walk like a ninja on a beam, don’t fall off! Pretend the floor is lava. Balance carefully, step by step. If you wobble, freeze, then keep going. Reach the end to win!
Undersea Explorer Swim Moves
Pretend you’re a fish: Glide, wiggle, and kick your legs. Be a jellyfish: Float, wave hands up and down. Explore like a diver: Arms out, slow swim, look around.

Using a Choice Board to Differentiate Exercise in a 3rd 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 3rd Grade Classroom During Exercise (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?