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 Reading Choice Board Tutorial for Teachers

Build your own Reading 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 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 8th Grade Reading 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 Reading Choices

Create a Comic Strip Summary
Create a short comic strip that summarizes a book or story you’ve read. Use drawings and speech bubbles to show the main events and characters. Have fun with it!
Character Diary Entries
Write diary entries as if you’re a character from a book. Share their thoughts and feelings about events in the story. Imagine their daily life and secrets. Have fun exploring their world!
Podcast Book Review
Listen to a book-themed podcast, write a summary and your thoughts. Include what you learned and whether you’d recommend it. Keep it fun and honest!
News Report Retelling
Read a news article, then write a summary with the main points: who, what, where, when, why, and how. Keep it clear and brief, like a mini-story.
Vocabulary Visuals Collage
Create a collage with pictures and words that represent your vocab terms. Find images or draw, then write the word and its definition. Make it colorful and fun!
Flash Fiction Challenge
Create a short story in 100 words! Include a beginning, middle, end, and a twist. Be creative and concise. Share your mini-tale with the class!
"Create Your Own Myth" Challenge
Craft a myth explaining a natural phenomenon or a cultural practice. Invent gods, heroes, and a moral lesson. Keep it creative and fun!
"Debate the Motives" Activity
Pick a character from our book. Write if their actions are good or bad, and why. Use examples from the text to support your argument. Be ready to share!
Scene Reenactment Scriptwriting
Write a short play based on a book scene. Include dialogue, actions, and stage directions. Be creative and have fun acting it out!

Using a Choice Board to Differentiate Reading 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 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?