On today’s episode, I’m continuing to discuss the topic of innovative and interactive activities from my last episode, focusing specifically on Playlists, Pathboards, also known as Pathways, and Choice Boards, also known as Learning Menus. These three strategies are so similar, I felt lumping them together in a separate episode would be better time well spent. So let’s jump in!
The terms Playlists, Pathboards, and Choice Boards are used almost interchangeably to describe instructional activities that provide students with a menu of options to guide their learning. But there are differences between each of them too.
As I was preparing for this episode, I wanted to provide a more structured definition of these terms and stumbled upon an interesting article about a newly opened school, Rogers Lane Elementary School, whose staff saw a challenge to their instructional practice if they didn’t prioritize clearly defining these terms. I encourage you to read the article which will be linked in the episode notes. I have chosen to mostly use their definitions of each tool, with a couple of additions.
A choice board is a teacher-created tool that allows students to make self-selected choices to learn new content, practice objectives, or show mastery of a standard. This strategy is used more for differentiating learning. A playlist, on the other hand, is a tool based on standards and can be driven by pre-assessment data. Tasks have a purpose through independent and/or group activities in a sequential order. According to author and keynote speaker Catlin Tucker, activities tend to be more extensive and personalized possibly to focus more on different skills that an individual student may need or to help move students through a unit of study or a complex task.
And finally, pathboards or pathways are a tool that is a structural support based on standards or again pre-assessment data that allows student voice and choice in tasks that lead to mastery.
Now, that we know the overall description of each of these instructional strategies, let’s take a look at some examples and how to create them.
I’m starting with choice boards or what you may know better as a learning menu. The look and design of choice boards can be very versatile, as well as the structure. Some require students to complete multiple tasks while others may only require students to complete one.
Looking back, I probably first encountered a learning menu; something that looked similar to one of these two designs, where students choose one activity from each category like choosing food from a menu.
It wouldn’t be until much later that I would see a choice board like this Tic-Tac-Toe board, which would require students to complete 3 activities in a row, column, or diagonal line to “win” Tic-Tac-Toe. The design, meaning the theme or story, or colors that you use aren’t really that important. They certainly add engagement for students, but it’s the structure you really want to pay attention to.
If you’re using the more recognized Tic-Tac-Toe design, organize your board so that each column focuses on a particular skill or standard. When you’re considering activities, consider what students will produce, how they will engage with the information, what kinds of activities appeal to their interests, and how you will assess the different activities. I suggest creating a rubric and show students how each choice will be graded.
Here’s a linear relations choice board template I found buried deep in my Google Drive. I’m not sure I remember where it came from, but I like that it includes both digital and non-digital tasks to complete, doing things from answering practice problems to applying in Desmos, and creating a summary sheet. This is not a completed choice board however. You would have to create these activities and add your own links in, but the hard work of figuring out which activities to create is already done for you.
Another example, again found deep in my Google Drive is based on the novel Freak the Mighty, a book our district sixth graders read. On this board, students can select tasks from the different columns, which equal a certain number of points. All the tasks in column 1 are worth 1 point, column 2 worth 2 points and so on. Students have to earn 4 points. So they can select 4 tasks from column 1 or 1 task from column 4 or a combination of tasks from any of the columns until they reach 4. Each task has students creating a number of products, from listing facts to rewriting the story from a different character’s point of view.
If you’d like to learn more about creating choice boards, check out Shake Up Learning’s Teacher Guide to Digital Choice Boards. The link will be in the episode notes.
Let’s look at Playlists next. I think of this as being similar to a YouTube playlist, where you have videos listed on a document that can be used for introducing a topic or as a review resource. But it goes much deeper than that. A playlist is usually determined by the main objective of a unit or standard and then broken down into activities or tasks based on pre-assessment data. There will be some common activities that all students complete, or this is where the differentiation comes in, may have different assignments from their peers that have been developed to meet their specific learning needs.
Here are some items you can include on a playlist:
- Videos or podcasts that hook students and get them interested in your topic.
- Articles to read, comment, and take notes on.
- Images or icons that will help students remember the topic.
- Formative assessments using the quiz feature in Google Forms or an app such as Quizziz or Quizlet.
- Space for reflection, something such as explain the 3 most important facts you’ve learned by completing the playlist. This could be done using Flipgrid or an exit ticket.
Here’s a great example of a math playlist. Students pick a starting point based on a pre-assessment and then complete the tasks in order within that topic. Some tasks have them creating a product, such as making a chart that shows their favorite multiplication strategies, while others are linked to practice problems, instructional videos, and games.
Finally, we come to pathboards or pathways that are a personalized learning structure driven by the standards a student is mastering. Students have choice in the assignments they complete and work at their own pace. The pathway a student completes may be selected based on their achievement on a pre-assessment, or potentially on their interests. Pathways will share some core assignments and activities, but students may also complete assignments that differ from their peers.
When designing a pathboard or pathway, just like with the other strategies, start with your overall learning goals, and then add activities that work with different learning styles. This strategy, out of any of the others, can lean more heavily towards gamification and the use of a questline structure which presents as a series of pathways. You will often see Questlines in video games where players unlock parts of a map as they achieve goals or master levels or may end up on side quests. Start with limited choices which then branch with more choices, but make sure these are scaffolded so you don’t overwhelm students.
I REALLY like this pathboard example I found on Twitter by John Taylor. He created this pathboard using Google Drawings and then linked to different tasks, which include watching a video, completing an activity to apply the information learned in the video, two checkpoints, a quiz, and a short conference with the teacher as quick formative assessments. It also includes a place to jump ahead if you’ve mastered certain tasks. What’s even better is that this is designed to be used in virtual breakout rooms, allowing for both group and individual pacing.
All of the resources mentioned in today’s episode will be available in the episode notes on Wakelet.
Have you used Playlists, Pathboard, or Choice Boards in your instruction? What has been your experience? Please share examples in the comments below!
Ms Priester EDU 