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!

Kindergarden Reading Choice Board Tutorial for Teachers

Build your own Reading Choice Board for Kindergarden in minutes! Keep kids engaged & learning using these tactics & templates

Common Core Standards: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.2.A, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.2, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.K.5

To use a choice board in your Kindergarden 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 Kindergarden Reading choice boards to your classroom style!

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

Ideas & Examples of Great Kindergarden Reading Choices

Make a Story Sandwich

Pick a storybook. Imagine it’s a yummy sandwich. The top bread is the start, where we meet characters. The fillings are the middle, with fun events. The bottom bread is the end, where it wraps up. Enjoy your story sandwich!

Rhyme Time Match-Up

Find cards with pictures that sound the same at the end. Cat and hat rhyme! Match them together. It’s like a fun sound game with friends!

Alphabet Treasure Hunt

Find letters in class! Look at books, walls, toys. When you see A-Z, draw or write them down. Happy hunting!

Picture Book Picnic

Bring your favorite book, a blanket, and a snack! We’ll sit on the grass, read stories, and have fun munching together. It’s like a storytime adventure outside!

Silly Sentence Creator

Make funny sentences! Pick a color, an animal, and a thing. Mix them up to tell a wacky story. Like “The blue cat flies a kite!” It’s fun and easy!

Draw & Tell a Tale

Draw a picture of a story in your head, then tell us about it using your own words. It’s like showing us a dream and then explaining it!

Puppet Story Theater

Puppet Story Theater is like playtime! You pick a puppet, make it talk, and tell a fun story with friends. It’s show-and-tell with cute puppet actors!

Colorful Word Collage

Make a fun picture with words! Pick colorful papers, cut out letters, and glue them to make words you know, like “cat” or “sun.” It’s like a word puzzle!

Sound It Out Game

Listen to sounds, match them to letters, and say the word. Like “c-a-t” makes “cat”! Find pictures that match the word. It’s a fun puzzle with sounds!

Using a Choice Board to Differentiate Reading in a Kindergarden 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 Kindergarden 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?