Differentiation Made Easy with Math Menus
I’m on a mission to make differentiation simpler for teachers everywhere! So far I have shared with you two different tips for differentiation that do not require you to plan separate lessons and activities for each group of learners. Instead, I want to encourage you to shift your thinking about differentiation to finding ways to simply change the instructions or change the content of one assignment and as many different ways as you need to to meet the needs of your students.
In case you missed it, tip one was about changing the numbers students work with on an assignment. You can read about that tip here. Tip two was all about changing the expectations we give our students on an assignment to differentiate. Read that tip here.
Today I have a final way that you can differentiate in your math block that only requires you to prep one thing, one time. Math menus!
Math menus are such a great way to differentiate, because they provide students multiple options at once. You’re building in choice without overwhelming students. Here are some ideas on how to use math menus in your classroom:
How to Use Math Menus
1.) Give all students the same math menu to use during centers or independent work for a week (or longer), but differentiate how many tasks they have to complete. Maybe in the course of two weeks, your lowest achieving group needs to complete three activities while your highest achieving group needs to complete eight. You can set different parameters for different groups but use the same menu.
2.) Give everyone the same math menu for a month, and let them simply work on the tasks at their own pace. These could be used as one center rotation in your classroom. Each time your students visit they either pick up where they left off with one of the tasks, or choose a new one. Simply letting them work at their own pace with no expectations for completing the entire board naturally differentiates the assignment.
3.) Use math menus as early finish your work for high achieving students. One of the toughest things about differentiation is that sometimes our highest achieving students have mastered a standard and no matter how we tweak the numbers or change the assignment, they are still complete with their work before everyone else. Math menus are a great way to keep them engaged in the skills, without giving them busy work.
Where to Find Math Menus
If you’d like math menus grouped by skill, I have a whole section of my shop dedicated to math menus for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade students! You can purchase the standard set that you’re currently working on, or pull older skills that you’d like students to review from earlier in the year!