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!

5th Grade Exercise Choice Board Tutorial for Teachers

Build your own Exercise Choice Board for 5th Grade in minutes! Keep kids engaged & learning using these tactics & templates

Common Core Standards: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.4, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.5, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.6

To use a choice board in your 5th 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 5th Grade Exercise choice boards to your classroom style!

Here are a few ideas and instructions on choices, classroom management and getting buy-in from your5th Graders

Ideas & Examples of Great 5th Grade Exercise Choices

Create Your Own Dance Routine

Pick your favorite song, then mix fun moves like claps, spins, & jumps to the beat. Add a cool pose for the end. Practice & show friends!

Nature Yoga Poses Challenge

Try the Nature Yoga Challenge! Be a tree (Tree Pose), a frog (Frog Pose), and a butterfly (Butterfly Pose). Hold each for 3 breaths. Have fun stretching like animals! 🌳🐸🦋

Superhero Fitness Challenge

Jump like Hulk, sprint like Flash, balance like Spider-Man, and lift “weights” (books) like Thor! Do each for 1 min, rest, repeat 3x. Be your own hero!

Space Explorer Stretch Quest

Embark on a cosmic adventure! Pretend you’re an astronaut reaching for stars. Stretch tall, touch toes, lunge like landing on moons, and spin like planets. Have fun exploring space with your body! 🚀🌟

Jungle Gymnastics Adventure

Climb, swing, and balance across the jungle gym, pretending you’re exploring a wild forest. Watch out for “lava” on the ground! Use monkey bars, slides, and ropes like vines.

Pirate Treasure Fitness Hunt

Ahoy, mateys! Join the Pirate Treasure Fitness Hunt! Follow the map’s clues, do fun exercises like jumping jacks and squats to unlock the next step, and find the hidden treasure!

Animal Movement Mimicry Game

Pretend to be animals! Hop like a frog, slither like a snake, or stomp like an elephant. Copy their moves, have fun, and get moving! Can you act out each one?

Circus Skills Balance Challenge

Walk a “tightrope” (tape line on floor), balance a book on your head, and juggle soft balls or scarves. Try not to drop anything!

Olympic Athlete Obstacle Course

Race through hurdles, zigzag cones, jump in hoops, crawl under a rope, and sprint to the finish line. Imagine you’re an Olympian winning gold!

Using a Choice Board to Differentiate Exercise in a 5th 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 5th 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?