Handing over control and choice to students, learning alongside them, and not knowing ahead of time what direction an activity might take can be scary for educators, tutors, and other adults alike. The role of teacher as director and sage has been in existence for so long and many of us grew up with teachers filling this role. It’s hard to shake that expectation.
But offering students the opportunity to learn alongside you as an adult, and offering them choice within that learning empowers them. Yes, there are times that adults need to be the ultimate deciders, so this is not suggesting you give up authority and control to your students. Instead, consider the ways below that knowledge and learning opportunities can be built with, rather than for, students through offering children choice.
Here are a few suggestions for tangible ways to offer children choice in their learning while still practicing their literacy skills.
#1. Stuff We Want to Know About
Brainstorm a list of “stuff” they want to know about and they are interested in: an activity, an event, a law, a skill, anything. Use this list to direct your reading, writing, learning, or conversation activities with students.
#2. Think Alouds
Model your thinking and your learning for students as you read alongside them. As you read, pause, asking questions and making comments and connections to things you already know or other topics you have learned about.
This article (linked below) reminded me of mini-choices we can offer children of all ages: not do we want to read or not, and not do you want to write or not. But instead: which book do you want to read, which of three topics do they want to write about, and what order they want to do these activities in? Do you want me to read first or do you want to? Mini-choices like these can encourage buy-in from students and offer them more voice and choice in their learning.
#4. Students as Expert
A longtime tutor recently offered the idea of having time for your student to be the ‘expert.’ They get to choose a topic they know about, ranging from fishing to bugs, from movies to skateboarding. Then they get to be the expert, taking a few minutes to teach you their knowledge. We are excited to try this out with his students this school year, and encourage you to consider trying it as well!
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