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!

8th Grade Exercise Choice Board Tutorial for Teachers

Build your own Exercise Choice Board for 8th Grade in minutes! Keep kids engaged & learning using these tactics & templates
To use a choice board in your 8th 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 8th Grade Exercise choice boards to your classroom style!

Here are a few ideas and instructions on choices, classroom management and getting buy-in from your8th Graders

Ideas & Examples of Great 8th Grade Exercise Choices

Create a Comic Strip Workout
Draw a comic strip with 6 panels, each showing a different exercise (e.g., push-ups, squats, jumping jacks). Do the workout by performing the exercise in each panel for 30 seconds. Repeat 3x!
Fitness Scavenger Hunt Challenge
Find & do hidden exercises around school! Clues lead to spots where you’ll do push-ups, squats, jumps & more. Fun way to move & explore. Stay safe & have a buddy!
Dance-Off: Create Your Own Routine
Craft your dance routine with 8 moves to your fave song! Mix styles—hip-hop, pop, whatever! Practice, then perform for friends. Have fun, be creative!
Yoga Pose Sequence Design
Create a flow: Start with Mountain Pose, breathe. Move to Tree Pose for balance. Try Warrior II for strength, then touch toes in Forward Bend. Finish with Child’s Pose to relax. Breathe deeply throughout.
Mindful Movement Meditation
Mindful Movement Meditation: Quietly focus on breathing, slowly stretch and move your body with each breath. Notice how you feel, relax, and let stress go with each motion. Enjoy the calm.
Cardio Karaoke: Sing & Sweat Session
Cardio Karaoke is a fun workout where you sing your favorite songs while doing exercises like jumping jacks or jogging in place. It boosts your heart rate and mood! 🎤🏃‍♂️💦
Nature Hike Bingo: Find & Perform
Nature Hike Bingo: Explore outdoors & find items on bingo card. Spot an item, do a fun exercise! Example: See a bird? Do 10 jumping jacks! Enjoy nature & get fit!
Shadow Sports: Mimic Pro Moves
Shadow Sports: Mimic Pro Moves is like playing follow-the-leader with your favorite athletes! Watch a pro’s move, pause the video, and copy it exactly. It’s fun and boosts your skills!
Parkour Basics: Design a Safe Obstacle Course
Learn to move like a ninja! Create a fun course with cushions, boxes, and safe gaps to jump over. Always land on your feet and roll to stay safe!

Using a Choice Board to Differentiate Exercise in a 8th 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 8th 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?