UDL and Differentiation: Strategies and Approaches to (Re-)Try in 2026!

Tried and True: Choice Topic, Choice Product Menu, And Remember Bloom's

For my Honors and On-Level Dystopian Literature and Film classes, I created this tic-tac-toe student topic and product choice menu, which also serves as their final for the course. 

What I Created:

The first layer of student choice was selecting their research focus area. Students selected topics ranging from collective memory to astrobiology. Their inspirational sources were Richard Powers' Bewilderment and the documentary Mission: JOY Finding in Troubled Times. Student topics were directly tied to or tangentially inspired by these works. 

What My Students Did:

Students' primary mission: Select a curiosity topic to delve into over the next three weeks, because learning cultivates joy, and dystopian lit and film made me rather sad! In short, their finals required the opposite of an apathetic future, and I have zero regrets about that serving as a semester-long senior course final. The second layer of student choice was their products. While some

students completed artistic creations, others focused on the various modes of writing that best showed their learning. Their products astounded at every turn, and their curiosity continued to grow, spreading to the rest of us. By the time students presented their three products and curiosity journey to the collective group, all of us were engaged and enthusiastic to listen and learn from our resident "expert".

How My Students Were Assessed:

Over the years, I have tweaked the product choices and refined the rubric. For example, the rubrics have evolved from having one rubric per product (can you say insane?) to having one rubric for all products. This single-point rubric is not only more manageable for me as an educator but also more transparent and manageable for my students. In fact, my "accidentally" laying out the rubric as a checklist has helped my students meet expectations and standards, regardless of level. I say "accidentally" because I did not have any real reason to use the checkboxes, except that I personally love the list. Now, I use this easy layout feature intentionally. This sample is from my honors class several years ago, but I have also made revisions and adaptations for my on-level course. The checklist led to a natural reflection from students after each element of their tic-tac-toe was created. Their learning continued as they added further resources to their study, diving deeper into their topic, and sometimes their research led to a shift in their focus. Truly, they followed their curiosity and brought their classmates and me along for the ride.

What Will I Change Next Time?

I will intentionally structure the tic-tac-toe levels so the skills increase in complexity and rigor, not just length and quantity. In revising this choice menu this year, I noticed that I "confused" rigor with quantity, complexity with length. This is a trap many educators fall into for various reasons, including time constraints, additional items to prepare, and assessments to grade. I can't recall what my hindrance was, but I know a brief reference to Bloom's Taxonomy helps my students stretch their skills. Verbs matter, and intentionally developing the products with that focus pushes them where they need to be.

I revised the products in terms of level of complexity and rigor this year; however, I am not yet satisfied with my menu, and the layout itself is part of the challenge. The next time I create or revise a choice menu, I will have the point quantities in the left column and the modes in the top row. Doing this will be clearer to me visually and support my goal of increasing the actual task rigor in correlation to the point value. This will be useful in every class I teach because, at least once or twice a year, my students will have a menu of tasks or assessments to choose from.

What Did I Learn?

1. Student Choice of Topic Matters
2. Student Choice of Product Matters
3. Intentional Layering of Curriculum Complexity Matters
4. Remember Bloom's 

Although student choice cannot be built into every task or assessment, it is a reasonable way for educators to differentiate instruction to meet students' needs and/or engage their interest. This assessment meets Universal Design for Learning's three principles to some degree. 

Applying CAST's UDL Guidelines does not need to be overwhelming, as elements of this assignment were. For example, by immediately deciding that 50 of my students could, in essence, choose any curiosity topic, I set not only myself but also our fabulous librarian up for a lot of mind-shifting and resource support during individual student conferences. This was a choice we all made together: me, my students, and my talented colleague.

At another time of year or without our librarian's support, I could also limit student products to further manage the process. That said, for my students and me, this process works because it is a final for a course. By this time, I know my students, and my students know me, so communication and trust are fostered, which makes this assignment and its many components work. Knock on wood because two variations of this assignment are happening right now!