Think-Tac-Toe is an excellent strategy that incorporates differentiation and student choice into work products. The think-tac-toe menu board gives students a chance to demonstrate their understanding and learning by relating it to their interests and learning styles. The teacher provides a variety of opportunities to express learning with different tasks in a 3x3 matrix, much like a tic-tac-toe board. Students choose the tasks they would like to complete by choosing a task from each row of the board, each row increasing in skill difficulty. The activities represented on the board should be geared toward multiple types of learning styles and intelligences such as: songs, art, technology, writing, etc. This strategy can be used in any content area with any text.
I am currently using this strategy in Social Studies to aid in our research of North Carolina pirates. Students have chosen a famous NC pirate to research and learn more about how he/she relates to NC history. They have read several different texts and online resources to be able to create work products based on their learning. Students have chosen 3 activities from the 9 on the board that relate to their interests. Tasks include: wanted posters, creation of pirate flags with descriptions, pirate dictionaries of terms, songs, PowerPoints, and acrostic poems. The think-tac-toe choice board has increased student achievement, engagement, and interest in the topic. I have also seen an increase in creativity and imagination due to students taking pride in their choice of tasks to create.
Comments (5)
Yes, this is a great way to differentiate instruction! I have used this for Integrated Studies and my students loved it. I think they like to choose their assignments because they feel ownership of their learning.
Posted by Julie | March 15, 2010 8:01 AM
Posted on March 15, 2010 08:01
Rachel,
I really like this strategy and the opportunity for students to exercise their choices and preferences in their learning. It is always so important for them to feel ownership, but it also forces them to make wise decisions concerning their projects because they can choose something that seems simple yet becomes more complex as they begin to work on it.
Posted by Ashley Funderburk | March 15, 2010 3:50 PM
Posted on March 15, 2010 15:50
My daughter's teacher used this for spelling a few years ago, and she loved it. It was so refreshing after years of 5x each, sentences, abc order, etc. She is very artsy and loved having choiced that suited her style of learning and I didn't have to yell about her getting homework done because she enjoyed doing it. This reminds me of the multi genre project with Dr. Frye but with a little more structure. I agree it is an EXCELLENT resource and I wish more teachers would use it; my kids are 6th and 3rd and only one teacher ever used this strategy with them. I am not sure how well it would work for lower primary but if you teach upper elementary I strongly recommend you give this one a try!
Posted by Lorie Hedrick | March 15, 2010 7:36 PM
Posted on March 15, 2010 19:36
I learned about making a Think-Tac-Toe board when getting my AIG certification and I have created one for my class to use when we read the story, How I Spent My Summer Vactation. It is called a Tic-Tac-Toe board but I like the name Think-Tac-Toe better. Although it takes time to create, I think it is a great strategy to get students to think, to make choices, and be creative. What a wonderful way to differeniate instruction! I hope to find the time to create more boards to use in my classroom.
Posted by Gloria Bowman | March 15, 2010 9:32 PM
Posted on March 15, 2010 21:32
I have also used this strategy for spelling. It gives students options. When they have a voice, they buy in. I like to see how others have applied this strategy to social studies and reading.
Posted by Lucy Cook | March 17, 2010 6:52 PM
Posted on March 17, 2010 18:52