Anchor Charts 101: Why and How To Use Them

Source: Anchor Charts 101: Why and How To Use Them

One of the best and most effective teaching tools is anchor charts, although you won’t find anchor charts 101 in the syllabuses of most teacher education programs. If you’re new to teaching, you may have many questions about what anchor charts are, what their purpose is, how to get started, and when to use them. So we created this guide to help you! Also included is a huge list of anchor chart summaries to use as a resource. Once you get started, we’re pretty sure anchor charts will become one of your go-to strategies of choice.

What is an anchor chart?

Source: Michelle Krzmarzick

An anchor chart is a tool used to support instruction (that is, to “anchor” learning for students). As you teach a lesson, you and your students create a chart that captures key content and relevant strategies. Anchor charts build a culture of literacy in the classroom by making thinking—both teacher and student—visible.

How do I create anchor charts?

You really don’t need any special materials or artistic skills – just chart paper and a colorful selection of markers.

It’s easy to incorporate anchor charts into your lesson plans. All it takes is a clear goal and some pre-planning.

Typically, you prepare the framework of your diagram in advance, give it a title, including the learning objective, and create headings for the key points or strategies you want to emphasize. It is very important not to create the entire poster in advance. They are best used as an interactive tool.

As you model a lesson or learning strategy and interact with your students through discussions, fill in the blanks in the anchor table. You can find a great tutorial on this blog and in the template by Michael Friermood, third grade teacher.

Source: The Thinker Builder

After your chart is created, it can be viewed as needed—for a brief lesson, as a one-time reference tool, as something you add continuously, or as something that stays with you throughout the year—like your teaching practices or behavioral expectations.

Publishing the charts keeps relevant and current learning accessible to students, reminding them of previous learning and allowing them to make connections as new learning occurs. Students can refer to and use them when reflecting on the topic, challenging ideas, expanding on ideas, and/or contributing to class discussions.

A few helpful tips:

Make them colorful and punchy.

Use different colors and bullet points to help students differentiate between strategies and access information quickly.

Keep them simple and neat.

Use easy-to-read graphics and clear organization. Don’t allow distracting, irrelevant details or stray marks like arrows or overemphasized underlining.

Draw simple pictures to complete the words.

The more ways students have to access information on a topic, the better.

Source: teacher trap

Not overuse She.

While anchor charts are an extremely useful tool, you don’t feel like you need to create one for every single lesson. Choose carefully so the ones you create make the most impact.

Don’t be afraid to borrow from others.

Teachers always get the best ideas from other teachers. If your teammate has already worked on a topic, use the same format. Just make sure to create your own version from scratch so your students experience learning as they learn. See the links below for tons of examples.

How do I use anchor charts in my classroom?

Now that you know the how, you might be wondering when and why. Here are a few ways you can get the most bang for your buck.

Achieve maximum engagement.

When students are involved in the process of creating learning tools, they are more likely to understand and remember more of what they learn. Anchor charts trigger connections with the first lesson.

Bring the lessons to life.

If you’re studying a topic that lends itself particularly well to visual aid, create an anchor table! If you are studying plants, draw a giant flower and label all the parts as you teach about it.

Source: 2nd grade reflections

Support independent work.

Anchor charts provide students with a source of reference when working alone. They support the students and save the teachers from having to work through concepts multiple times during the lesson.

Build a library of reference materials.

To help students keep information organized, you could create charts for each topic. For example, if you are teaching math concepts, you could create a chart for geometric shapes, the difference between perimeter and area, and multiplying and dividing fractions.

reinforce teaching methods.

Provide students with an image to remind them of routines that keep your classroom running smoothly. Some examples: how to use centers, how to queue, how to borrow books from the class library.

Source: The Primary Buzz

Try them out as you write together.

Model how to write an introduction, the parts of a letter and the correct use of grammar such as quotation marks, commas, etc.

Use them as a read aloud companion.

Create an anchor chart as you stop to make observations, ask questions, note story elements, or make predictions.

How can I use them to introduce new skills?

Anchor charts are great for laying the groundwork for a new lesson and providing an overview of concepts. They make it easy to break down complex concepts into bite-sized chunks. If you are teaching the US government, create a diagram of the three branches along with the primary responsibilities of each to simplify the concept.

The charts are also great for helping students keep track of vocabulary. For each table, add a vocabulary box for easy reference for students.

Source: True Life I’m a teacher

Helpful links and resources:

Now that you understand the basics of Anchor Chart 101, it’s time to get inspired! Here are links to some of the latest compilation articles on WeAreTeachers:

There are also over 1,000 examples on our WeAreTeachers Pinterest boards. Search for subject areas on subjects ranging from math and science to literacy and classroom management OR by grade level.

Do you anchor as much as we do? Come and share your best tips in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook.

Plus 10 great ideas for organizing and storing anchor charts

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