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 Spelling Choice Board Tutorial for Teachers

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

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

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

Create a Comic Strip with Spelling Words

Draw a comic with pictures & bubbles. Use this week’s spelling words in the story. Make it fun! Check words are spelled right.

Spelling Bee Skit Performance

A fun act where you pretend to spell tricky words at a contest. Dress up, act nervous or excited, ask for word meanings, use funny sentences, and celebrate when you “win”! 🏆🐝

Spelling Word Treasure Hunt

Find hidden words around class! Each clue leads to a spot with a new word. Write them down & spell correctly to win a prize. It’s like a fun word quest!

Create a Word Search with Spelling Words

Create a puzzle with a grid of letters. Hide your spelling words inside, going up, down, diagonal, or across. Circle them all!

Design a Spelling Word Poster

Create a colorful poster with your 10 spelling words. Write each word in big letters, draw a small picture that represents it, and use it in a sentence. Have fun!

Spelling Word Story Challenge

Write a short tale using this week’s spelling words. Be creative! If a word is tricky, check its meaning in a dictionary. Have fun storytelling!

Spelling Song Composition

Create a catchy tune with your spelling words. Write short lines for each word, rhyme them, and put it to a melody you like. Sing it loud and have fun learning!

Spelling Word Synonym Match-up

Match each spelling word with a word that means the same. If you don’t know a synonym, use a dictionary to find it. Have fun pairing them up!

Spelling Word Pictionary Game

Draw a picture on paper that hints at a spelling word without writing letters or words. Others guess the word. If they’re right, they draw next!

Using a Choice Board to Differentiate Spelling 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 Spelling (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?