Lesson 4: Learning Menus

Learning Menus What Are They:

Learning Menus outline a variety of instructional options targeted toward important learning goals. Students select and complete the assignment options that most appeal to them.

How They Work:

The teacher articulates learning goals and creates a "menu" of tasks which can consist of (appetizers, side dishes, entrees, and desserts based on identified learning goals and individual student levels. Learning menus can take place over a unit and also serve as a summative performance assessment with rubrics that contain criteria for every learning goal.

Here are some tips for designing learning menus:

• Decide on a purpose for using the learning menu
• Craft your learning goals for the menu in terms of what you want students to understand and know
• Design your appetizers as an engaging hook for the menu
• Create your entree by developing core tasks that you want all students to complete
• Design desserts that you know students will be motivated to complete
• For every course the teacher should tailor choices to different readiness levels

Here is a video for you to watch about learning menus.

Differentiating with Learning Menus [1]

Here is an example of a learning menu.

References

Differentiating with Learning Menus. (n.d.). Retrieved December 14, 2016, from https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/differentiating-instruction-strategy

Doubet, K., & Hockett, J. (2015). Differentiation in Middle & High School - Strategies to Engage All Learners. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.