During COVID-19, tic-tac-toe menus and choice boards are an approach to differentiation that is more helpful than ever. Typically, the teacher creates a 3x3 grid and develops nine activities for students to choose from. Usually the choices address a variety of processes and products, including no-tech, low-tech and high-tech. Students can be directed to choose one of the nine activities or aim for three in a row, as in the game of tic-tac-toe.
Menus can be designed to honor the varying circumstances students find themselves in – limited technology access, outdoor opportunities, home alone or with siblings – as well as their various interests. Choice always increases motivation but can be especially effective when the choices are based on student interests.
Depending on the platform you are using to teach, you might be able to load a tic-tac-toe menu to a collaborative document and have students work in small groups to fill all nine spaces. Better yet, have them create their own tic-tac-toe boards that include different processes and products, and still meet your learning target. Here's a Google Slide template.
Here are a few examples of tic-tac-toe boards that you could tweak to fit your content and students. Even if it isn’t your content area, notice how you can keep the first part of the task and just change the second part. For example, if it reads “Create a rap/poem that informs people about healthy nutritional choices,” you can use the words in red so that you are not starting from scratch. No need to be creative on top of all the herculean tasks you are already preforming!
Accessing Text (options for reading comprehension across content)
https://tinyurl.com/y9y5eqho
Nutrition (specific content example)
https://tinyurl.com/y96p4dy6
A collection of various approaches to choice boards with lots of examples
https://tinyurl.com/y754lwcf
A quick internet search yielded dozens of sites that offer examples. You may find just what you’re looking for, already generously shared by another teacher. Just keep in mind that most were created before remote learning and may require students to have technology or other resources that are unavailable.
Menus can be designed to honor the varying circumstances students find themselves in – limited technology access, outdoor opportunities, home alone or with siblings – as well as their various interests. Choice always increases motivation but can be especially effective when the choices are based on student interests.
Depending on the platform you are using to teach, you might be able to load a tic-tac-toe menu to a collaborative document and have students work in small groups to fill all nine spaces. Better yet, have them create their own tic-tac-toe boards that include different processes and products, and still meet your learning target. Here's a Google Slide template.
Here are a few examples of tic-tac-toe boards that you could tweak to fit your content and students. Even if it isn’t your content area, notice how you can keep the first part of the task and just change the second part. For example, if it reads “Create a rap/poem that informs people about healthy nutritional choices,” you can use the words in red so that you are not starting from scratch. No need to be creative on top of all the herculean tasks you are already preforming!
Accessing Text (options for reading comprehension across content)
https://tinyurl.com/y9y5eqho
Nutrition (specific content example)
https://tinyurl.com/y96p4dy6
A collection of various approaches to choice boards with lots of examples
https://tinyurl.com/y754lwcf
A quick internet search yielded dozens of sites that offer examples. You may find just what you’re looking for, already generously shared by another teacher. Just keep in mind that most were created before remote learning and may require students to have technology or other resources that are unavailable.
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