Question: I'm wondering about the frequency and importance of Choice Time. I need help figuring out how to make this time work better in my classroom.
Answer: Teachers often have questions about the importance of Choice Time ("Why is it important? Aren't they just playing games? Can't it just be a Friday fun thing?") and about how to organize it ( "I know it is important, but how do I organize Choice Time so it is not chaotic?"). These are important questions, because Choice Time is a crucial part of the Investigations Curriculum. However, the fact that it is essential doesn't make it easy!
Why is Choice Time important? What are the goals?
At all grade levels in Investigations, students participate in Choice Time activities. While the mathematical or instructional goals for Choice Time at different grade levels may vary, there are some core purposes and goals for Choice Time at all grade levels.
- Choice Time is an opportunity for students to work on a variety of activities that focus on similar mathematical content.
- During Choice Time students do activities and play games more than once, so that they have repeated experiences with a concept, and have time to practice important skills and refine strategies.
- Students develop independence and learn to take responsibility for their own learning as they choose activities, keep track of their work, use and take care of classroom materials, and work with others.
- Choice Time provides an opportunity for teachers to work with individuals and small groups, and to assess students' learning and understanding.
- Students develop skills that help them work co-operatively with others.
(Adapted from the Teacher Note, About Choice Time, p. 166 in Building Number Sense and from the Teacher Note, Playing a Game More than Once, p. 170 in Building Number Sense.)
Keeping these purposes and goals in mind can be very helpful in guiding your decisions about how to structure Choice Time.
Structuring Choice Time so that it works for you and your students
It is important to structure Choice Time in ways that work for you and your students. Keeping the goals of Choice Time in mind is important, but you may want to think about these as longer-term goals and start by making decisions about what is manageable at this time. Then, as you and your students become more comfortable with Choice Time, you may make different decisions, such as asking students to take on a more independent role. The following questions can help guide the decisions you make about structuring Choice Time:
- How will students know what the choices are? what is expected of them? how much time they have?
- How will students get the materials they need? Will there be "centers"? a central location where students can go to get their materials? containers with one set of materials for each activity?
- Will students decide which activities to do? (And, if yes, how will I support them in making such choices?) Will there need to be limits on the number of students for each activity?
- How will I/students keep track of which choices they have completed and the work they have done?
- What will help students work independently and productively during this time? (Discussing how things went, developing routines for cleaning up, storing work, keeping track of choices, etc.)
If you have already been doing Choice Time, the following questions can help you assess how it is working in your classroom: What has worked for you? What questions do you still have? What aspects of Choice Time in your room would you like to change or think more about?
The Role of the Teacher During Choice Time
Just as the structure of Choice Time may evolve over time, your role during Choice Time will likely change over the course of a year. Focusing on the structure of Choice Time and developing routines at the beginning of the year will enable you to spend more time working with individuals and small groups as the year continues. Here is a diagram that illustrates how your role during Choice Time may change during the year:
Using Choice Time to Support a Range of Learners in Your Classroom
For some students the independence involved in Choice Time can be quite challenging, and so you may need to adapt some of the structures to meet these students' needs. However, using Choice Time can also be a good way to support the range of learners in your classroom. Because students are working on different activities at the same time, you can structure and adapt activities to fit their varying needs. Some of the ways you can address the needs of the range of learners in your classroom include:
- Adapting activities in a way that keeps the focus on the important math ideas of the activity, e.g. making the numbers smaller or larger, using one card or dot cube instead of two.
- Bringing in games from past investigations or units that provide extra practice.
- Assigning students specific activities that you think would be helpful for them to work on.
- Working with a small group of students who are struggling with a particular activity.
- Extending activities for some students by asking them to look for patterns or to decide whether something will always work.
- Thinking about how you want to group students. Do you want them in pairs or small groups? For some activities it may be beneficial to pair students who are thinking similarly about an idea. For others, you may want to pair students with different perspectives or strategies.
While there is no one way to run Choice Time, keeping the goals in mind can help you make decisions about how to structure Choice Time, how to define and refine your role, and how to best meet the range of learners in your classroom.
Arusha Hollister, TERC
2005
With thanks to Beth Perry Brown, Judy Storeyguard and the Unit Workshop teacher leaders in the Boston Public School system.
