ABSTRACT
Instructional menus can be used in different ways in the secondary classroom. There are many ways to use menus in the classroom. One way that is often overlooked is using menus to review or build background knowledge or access prior knowledge before a unit begins. Using menus for enrichment and supplementary activities is the most common way of implementing menus in the classroom. When using menus for enrichment or supplemental activities, the teacher should introduce the menu and the choice activities at the beginning of a unit-before any instruction has taken place. The benefit of using menus with mini-lessons is the teacher gets to avoid the one-size-fits-all independent practice portion of the lesson. Students are often interested in the product they have chosen, so this may not be a critical issue, but it is still one worth mentioning as teachers consider how they would like to use various menus in their classroom.
