Structured Choice Strategy

contributed by Jennifer Farrell

Rationale:

According to Rhodes and Shanklin (1993), teachers who provide students with choices in materials, activities, and timelines for finishing assignments increase their chances of communicating genuine purposes for reading and writing to students. Structured Choice is a planning strategy that increases student motivation and engagement. When students have a choice in what they can read, write, or study, they feel a greater sense of control over their learning and are thus more invested in it. When the teacher puts careful thought into the materials chosen to be a part of Structured Choice, this strategy also increases the liklihood that students from a variety of backgrounds will have an opportunity to read texts that affirm their perspectives and experiences, how they read the world.  Providing choices also expands the kinds of questions teachers are willing to answer.  When teachers purposefully choose to move away from materials that present "safe" perspectives and encourage the asking of "safe" questions, they open up the possibility of hearing the hard questions that lead to explorations of issues like race, discrimination, and equity (Jervis, 1996).

Alvermann, D.E., S.E. Phelps, & V.G. Ridgeway (2007). Content area reading and literacy: Succeeding in today's diverse classrooms. Boston, MA: Pearson.

Procedure:

1. As I planned my instruction for first trimester, I knew that the theme for the tri was Self, and I knew that the required text was a novel by a white, male author, featuring a white, male lead character, set in Minnesota in 1949. I decided to include a supplemental reading assignment where students could choose a book from a predetermined list to read and discuss with their peers. 

2. I used texts in the supplemental reading list provided by the district. The texts represented a variety of perspectives and reading levels while still focusing on the theme of Self. The texts I used are listed below:

The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver

Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka

The Days of Rondo by Evelyn Fairbanks

3. Students chose their books after I provided a brief description and all students were required to complete the same assignments for their specific books.

4. To further expand on Structured Choice, I could have offered students a variety of formative and summative assessments and allowed them to choose the three or four they would like to complete to demonstrate their competence and understanding.

**A more specific strategy for incorporating Structured Choice into the classroom is Peer-Led Literature Circles. Please check out Peer Led Literature Circles for more information.

OTHER PROCEDURES

     Structured choice works well with my world studies classes when we begin a new unit that fouses on a new continent.  For each new continent we study, students are required to read a book on the culture of the country.  In collaboration with the school librarian, we choose books from the shelf that focus on the culture of a country within the continent and students can choose any of the books on the shelf.  The books on the shelf are aslo on the accelerated reader list, and students are required to take the online quiz after reading the structured choice book to check for understanding.

     The school librarian comes into each class to do a book talk with students.  She tells them of specific books, which books are historical fiction, which are non-fiction, and so on.  Students are then able to make a more informed choice on the book that they will read.

(Contributed by Joel G)

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I have an idea for a procedure on Structured Choice that could work in a Math or "Career" classroom.  Many students do not ever think they will use "high-level" math in their future career (I was one of those students).  Part of a math or "career" lesson could involve multiple texts, each focusing on a different career that uses "high-level" math.  Structured Choice would be implemented by each student having their choice of Math Career to write about.  The writing component could be varied...it could be a presentation, an essay on the benefits and disadvantages, or a ficitonal story about life in that career.  The important consideration in this example is that students have the choice to decide what career they investigate.  Although some students may dislike any of the choices, I think most students would find one career that they are at least semi-interested in.

Here are some possible Math Careers and the high-level math that is involved.  Texts about these careers would have to be found (most likely online), or they would have to be created (with a significant time investment by the teacher).  The business community could also be asked to provide support and/or career speakers.

1) Civil Engineer (building/designing bridges, etc.)

* High-level math includes physics, geometry

* Estimated average salary: $80,000/year (?)

2) Computer programmer (designing computer software and fixing problems)

* High-level math includes algebra, numeric systems

* Estimated average salary: $70,000/year (?)

3) Architect (designing buildings, etc.)

* High-level math includes physics, geometry, measurement

* Estimated average salary: $120,000/year (?)

4) Accountant (balancing the books of a business)

* High-level math includes statistics, algebra

* Estimated average salary: $80,000/year (?)

* There are many more careers in scientific and educational fields.

** Contributed by Matthew Streit

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One way that I plan to work structured choice into my classroom this fall will be with my historical fiction unit. After we have finished our class text and have analyzed the elements of historical fiction, students will be presented with a list of 10-15 different historical fiction texts to read of which they will select one. The list is long because they cover so many time periods and types of people. Some examples will include selections from the My Name is America series, No Promises in the Wind and others like Surviving Hitler.  Students will then have the opportunity to read and learn about a period in history that is interesting to them. Outside research on the period as well as the historical elements of the story will be expected. This versions of structured choice will be even better if I pair it with another strategy such as critical response protocol or explain-elaborate-defend.

Contributed by Lisa Holton