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 Reading Choice Board Tutorial for Teachers

Build your own Reading 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 Reading you will need to create the Readingchoices (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 Reading 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 Reading Choices

Create Your Comic Strip!
Draw a fun story with pictures in boxes! Make characters, write what they say in bubbles, and share your awesome comic with friends! 🖍️🗨️✨
Design a Book Cover
Draw your favorite scene from the book on the front. Write the book’s title at the top and the author’s name at the bottom. Decorate with colors you like!
Read & Perform a Puppet Show
Read a story, then act it out with puppets. Make voices for characters and have fun telling the tale with your puppet friends on a mini stage!
Write a Fairy Tale Diary Entry
Write a diary entry as a fairy tale character. Tell about your day, a magic spell, or a brave quest. Use your imagination and have fun with words!
Draw Your Favorite Scene
Pick a part you loved from a book. Draw a picture of it. Use colors and details to show what happened and how it made you feel. Share your drawing and tell us about your favorite scene!
Illustrate a Vocabulary Word
Draw a picture of a “cozy” cat curled up by a warm fireplace. “Cozy” means comfy and snug.
Craft Your Own Bookmarker
Make a fun bookmark! Get a strip of paper, decorate with stickers or draw. Punch a hole on top, tie a colorful ribbon. Use it to mark your book page!
Record Your Own Storytime
Record Your Own Storytime is when you read a book out loud and use a phone or tablet to record it. You can listen later or share it with friends and family!
Explore a Map: Find the Story Setting!
Look at a map in your book. Find where the story happens. Draw a picture of this place and write 3 clues that show why the story is set there!

Using a Choice Board to Differentiate Reading 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 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?