DIFFERENTIATING INSTRUCTION WITH

MENUS

A choice for learning

THERE ARE 5 DIFFERENT MENUS

Tic-Tac-Toe Menu

List Menu

20-50-80 Menu

Baseball Menu

Game Show Menu

20-50-80 MENU

Time for this menu to be completed is one week

Works best with in-depth study of one topic

No Free Choice because point values need to be

assigned based on Bloom’s Revised taxonomy

With this menu students will complete one activity

at a higher level of thinking in order to reach their

point goal

FREE CHOICE

With most menus, the students are allowed to submit

a free choice for their teacher’s consideration

Proposal forms must be submitted before students

begin working on their free-choice products

Once approved, the forms easily can be stapled to

the students’ menu sheets and the teacher can refer to

the agreement for the graded features of the product

LIST MENU

Time period for this menu to be completed is two weeks

This menu can be used for more than one topic

Requires advanced planning ~teacher must have all materials

ready at the beginning of the unit for the students to be able to

choose any activity on the list

Students have complete control over their grades by doing the

required work; those still learning can choose lower level point

value projects to reinforce the basics before jumping into the higher

level activities

TIC-TAC-TOE MENU

Time needed to complete is usually one to three

weeks

Eight predetermined choices and one free choice

for students

All choices are created at the same level of Bloom’s

Revised taxonomy and carry the same weight for

grading

Only covers one to three topics

Friendly design is easy for students to understand

BASEBALL MENU

Time needed to complete is usually four to five weeks

Twenty predetermined choices, given values as singles,

doubles, triples, or home runs based on Bloom’s Revised

taxonomy

Singles represent remember and understand, double- apply

and analyze, triples-evaluate, home runs-create

This menu is best for one topic with many objectives for in-

depth study

GAME SHOW MENU

Time to complete this type of menu is four to six weeks

Most complex menu, covers multiple topics or objectives with at

least three predetermined choices and a free student choice for

each objective, choices are assigned based on the levels of Bloom’s

Revised taxonomy

It has the flexibility to allow for individualized contracts for

different learning levels with in the classroom

Students and parents must understand the guidelines for

completing the menu

MENUS C AN BE IMPLEMENT ED IN A VARIETY OF WAY S

Enrichment and Supplemental Activities

Standard Activities

Mini-Lessons

GUIDELINES FOR PRODUCTS

Different types of products are included in the featured

menus, as well as guidelines and expectations for all products

$1 Contract- is part of the product criteria- this limits the

amount of money a child can spend, and creates an equal

amount of resources for all students- encourages creativity

Products are listed and chosen to meet different learning

styles- visual, kinesthetic, or auditory - explanation of the

criteria for all products

RUBRICS FOR MENUS

All –Purpose Rubric

Student –Taught Lessons

Oral Presentation Rubrics

Student Feedback Rubric