Hi, I’m Amanda, and I’m so excited to share the Salsa Scale with you. In my Grade 4 classroom, I often have students working anywhere from Kindergarten and Grade 1 level all the way up to Grade 8 concepts all in one room at the same time. I needed something that could:
- Adapt to this huge range of readiness
- Feel age appropriate and equitable for all students
- Preserve rigor while allowing choice
- Make challenge visible without labeling students
That’s how the Salsa Scale was born
Why Spice Levels
Instead of labeling tasks as low, medium, and high, we use heat levels.
No Heat
Tangy
Mild
Medium
Spicy
Fiery
Ghost Pepper
We all like different levels of heat on our tacos. One is not better than another. It is about preference and readiness. Using heat instead of ability labels shifts the conversation from judgment to choice. Students are not low or advanced. They are choosing Tangy today or Spicy tomorrow.
All heat levels are displayed side by side on the table with Medium always in the middle. Students see the full range and pick where to start. This is Challenge by Choice in action inspired by the work of Peter Liljedahl in Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics.
In practice this allows students to work at their own level while exploring the same big idea. No Heat builds confidence. Tangy encourages explanation. Mild strengthens organized thinking. Medium represents grade level reasoning. Spicy challenges analysis. Fiery integrates multiple concepts. Ghost Pepper pushes transfer and innovation.
The Grade 4 Salsa Scale
In my classroom each heat level is tied to number complexity, reasoning, and independence.
| Heat Level | Grade Range | DOK Level | Bloom’s Verbs | BC Proficiency | Math Digits | Multiplication Facts | Multi Digit Multiplication and Division |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🫑 No Heat | Grade 1 to 2 | DOK 1 | Recall, Identify, Name, Match | Emerging | 1 digit | 1 to 5 by 1, 2 or 5 | Single digit |
| 🍋 Tangy | Grade 3 | DOK 1 to 2 | Describe, Select, Retell, Illustrate | Developing | 2 digit | 0 to 6 by 1, 2, 3 or 5 | 2 digits less than 13 |
| 🌶 Mild | Grade 4 Simplified | DOK 2 | Summarize, Sequence, Organize, Classify | Developing plus | 3 digit | 0 to 10 by 1 to 6 | 2 digits less than 50 by 1 digit |
| 🌶🌶 Medium | Grade 4 On Level | DOK 2 to 3 | Explain, Interpret, Compare, Infer | Proficient | 4 digit | 0 to 10 by 0 to 10 | 2 digit 0 to 99 or 3 digit 0 to 999 by 1 digit |
| 🌶🌶🌶 Spicy | Grade 4 plus Challenge | DOK 3 | Justify, Analyze, Critique, Revise | Proficient | 5 digit | 0 to 12 by 0 to 12 | 3 digit 0 to 999 or 4 digit 0 to 9999 by 1 digit |
| 🔥 Fiery | Grade 5 | DOK 3 to 4 | Evaluate, Support, Integrate, Design | Proficient plus | 6 digits up to 2 decimal places | 0 to 12 by 0 to 12 | 2 digit 0 to 99 or 3 digit 0 to 999 by 2 digits |
| 👻 Ghost Pepper | Grade 6 to 7 | DOK 4 | Create, Synthesize, Construct, Transfer, Innovate | Extending | 7 digits up to 3 decimal places | 0 to 12 by 0 to 12 | 2 digit 0 to 99 or 3 digit 0 to 999 by 2 digits or up to 2 decimal places by 1 digit whole number |
The Generalized Salsa Scale
Over time I realized the principles of the Salsa Scale could work across an entire K to 8 continuum and across any mathematical concept. The power of the scale is not the digits. It is the progression of thinking.
🫑 No Heat
- Entry and Access
- DOK 1
- Emerging
- Concrete materials encouraged
- High structure and modeling
- Recall and recognition
- Single step thinking
- Strong scaffolding
Student thinking sounds like
I can get started.
Tangy
- Supported Understanding
- DOK 1 to 2
- Developing
- Visual representations
- Guided explanation
- One clear strategy
- Predictable structure
Student thinking sounds like
I can explain what I did.
Mild
- Organized Strategy
- DOK 2
- Developing plus
- Multi step but structured
- Students sequence and organize thinking
- Increasing complexity
- Light variability
Student thinking sounds like
I can organize my thinking.
Medium
- Strategic Reasoning
- DOK 2 to 3
- Proficient
- Multiple possible strategies
- Explanation and comparison required
- Moderate abstraction
- Reduced scaffolding
- Anchor level placed in the middle
Student thinking sounds like
I can explain why this works.
Spicy
- Analysis and Justification
- DOK 3
- Proficient
- Non routine elements
- Error analysis
- Justification required
- Strategic flexibility
- Increased independence
Student thinking sounds like
I can defend my reasoning.
Fiery
- Integration and Application
- DOK 3 to 4
- Proficient plus
- Integrates multiple concepts
- Evaluates efficiency
- Greater abstraction
- Transfer within familiar contexts
Student thinking sounds like
I can connect ideas.
Ghost Pepper
- Transfer and Innovation
- DOK 4
- Extending
- Open ended structure
- Students design models or methods
- High abstraction
- Generalization across contexts
- Sustained reasoning
Student thinking sounds like
I can extend this idea.
Why This Works
The Salsa Scale is the heart of our daily practice because it
- Removes fixed ability labels
- Preserves dignity and equity
- Encourages Challenge by Choice
- Supports Universal Design for Learning
- Builds metacognition and agency
- Maintains high expectations for all learners
Everyone engages with the same big idea. The heat simply adjusts the stretch.
And when students say
I think I am ready to turn up the heat
That is when you know it is working.