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 Science Choice Board Tutorial for Teachers

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

Common Core Standards: 5-ESS1-2, 5-ESS2-1, 5-PS3-1

To use a choice board in your 5th Grade Classroom during Science you will need to create the Sciencechoices (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 Science 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 Science Choices

Create a Comic Strip: Photosynthesis Adventure

Create a comic where a superhero plant transforms sunlight, water, and CO2 into oxygen and glucose (sugar) with its chloroplast pals! Use speech bubbles to explain the steps.

Solar System Scale Model: Craft with Paper & String

Make a mini Solar System! Cut out paper circles for planets, color them, and hang with string in order from the sun. Space them to show how far they really are!

Edible Rock Cycle: Create Candy Rocks

Make candy rocks to learn the rock cycle! Melt Starbursts (magma), press them (sedimentary), then heat & cool (metamorphic). Yummy geology!

Weather Diary: Track & Draw Local Climate

Keep a weather diary for a week! Each day, write down the temperature, if it’s sunny or rainy, and draw a picture of the sky. Have fun being a weather detective!

Plant Detective: Explore & Sketch Local Flora

Become a Plant Detective! Go outside, find different plants, and draw them in a notebook. Note their shapes, colors, and any flowers or leaves. Share your finds in class!

Recycle Inventor: Design a Gadget from Trash

Create a cool gadget using old stuff like plastic bottles or cardboard. Think of a fun tool or toy, plan it, and build it with glue or tape. Be creative and help Earth!

Shadow Play: Daytime Sun Movement

Shadow Play: Mark where your shadow falls every hour on sunny days to see how Earth’s rotation changes your shadow’s position. It’s like a sun clock!

Animal Habitat Diorama: Shoebox Ecosystem

Create a mini-world in a shoebox showing where an animal lives. Fill it with plants, water, and soil to match their real home. Use clay or toys for the animal!

Magnetic Field Maze: Create with Iron Filings & Magnets

Make a maze on paper, sprinkle iron filings, and use a magnet underneath to guide them through the paths. Watch the filings move like magic!

Using a Choice Board to Differentiate Science 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 Science (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?