Dear Mr. Henshaw Choice Board and Rubric

Choice boards are a great way to reach many interests and abilities in diverse classrooms. Whether needing to differentiate higher or lower, the variety of assignment options allows for student choice at their appropriate response level, and allows teachers to see what students truly grasp from the texts they are reading.

Dear Mr. Henshaw, written by Beverly Cleary, is a novel appropriate for 2nd through 4th grades. The choice board includes nine activities and multiple rubrics for teacher choice in grading. The tasks are as follows:

• read and research an author

• design a lunchbox trap (science integration)

• respond to questions from an author's perspective

• collage building (theme)

• character map creation (character + plot)

• letter writing

• compare and contrasting (new vocabulary included)

• map skills (map included, social studies integration)

• paragraph writing

Each activity included either has a direction sheet with specific instructions or an actual worksheet to guide them through the tasks they fill out. The expectation is set for students to complete three activities in a tic-tac-toe format, but can be utilized in different ways in each classroom.

Rubrics are included that allow for open response (and more information included from students), as well as teacher choice in how to assess student knowledge.

Tags: choice boards, reading, writing, social studies, map skills, differentiated learning, student choice, rubrics, cross curricular

File Types: PDF

Number of Pages: 17