The Anatomy of an Anchor Chart

I get asked about anchor charts all the time. It seems to be a thing a lot of teachers dread making because they think they aren’t good at it. But anchor charts are an important part of any classroom. They contain key information about the concept you want children to learn. They represent the learning going on in the classroom and they foster independence, so they need to be posted where kids (and yes… anyone who comes into your classroom – GASP) can see them.

These are the three roadblocks I hear most often from teachers:

1. I can’t draw.

2. My handwriting isn’t pretty.

3. I can’t fit everything onto the chart.

Let me throw #2 out right away. Your students’ handwriting isn’t pretty either. It’s ok. And perfection just makes your kids uncomfortable anyway, like they’ll never be as good as you. So let them in on this one flaw of yours. However, if you really feel that strongly about it (and your handwriting is truly impossible to read), my tip for that is to print titles and labels from your computer and glue them onto your chart paper. But seriously, just write with your own hands. It’ll be fine. I promise.

Alright, I know all you OCDers – I’m one too – are annoyed that I started with #2, so let’s go in order now.

About #1, I am not an artist… at all.

Stick Figures: But I can draw stick figures which is all an anchor chart really needs. If you’ve seen samples of my charts in other posts, you’ll see little stick figures and other VERY PLAIN drawings are pretty standard for me. And, if it makes you feel better, I learned this strategy from super smart teachers who were actually paid to write professional books about anchor charts. Check out Smarter Charts by Marjorie Martinelli and Kristine Mraz or The Reading Strategies Book by Jennifer Serravallo. These are my go-to books.

Clip Art: If you need something more complex than a stick figure though, use clip art or images from the Internet. I do this when I need an image that represents a more complicated concept or idea.

Real Artifacts: Sometimes, the best visual for an anchor chart is a real sample of something, such as a piece of student work, a chart from a nonfiction text, an annotated article, or a page from a piece of literature. Use the actual sample, if possible, or make a copy of it and attach it to the chart.

I somehow managed to attach entire books to this chart.

🤷‍♀️😂

Ok, #3…

If you can’t fit everything onto the chart, then you are trying to put WAY too much information on there. I went to a PD session once where the presenter told us to think of anchor charts the way ad agencies think of billboards. A driver has about 3-5 seconds to see the content of a billboard while driving by, so the advertisers know their words and images have to be brief, but memorable. Anchor charts are the same way. Think of the most important thing you want the children to remember and then figure out how to say it with as few words as possible, using images to help convey ideas.

If this makes you uncomfortable, remember that the anchor chart “anchors” the lesson, but you’re still teaching. You’ll be using the chart during your lesson, so you’ll be explaining and facilitating rich discussions to elaborate on the chart… especially if you’re using it for several days. The children will understand and remember the important point from the chart if you take the time to explain it.

Still not sure if “less is more?” Have you ever been to a training where the presenter had Power Point slides that looked like novels? (I know you have.) Don’t do that to your anchor charts. The kids will never use them.

Other Anchor Chart Tips

You can use anchor charts year after year, as long as the content is still up-to-date. Laminate them for durability and label the standard or topic in the bottom corner so you know how you used it.

If you want to “grow” an anchor chart over time, use sticky notes to gradually add content as you teach it. The basic shell of the chart can be used over and over, but this allows you the flexibility to change the text or ideas each time you use it. This is one of my most popular charts on Pinterest. This anchor chart took 3 days to build. Each day I used a different colored sticky note and added the the ideas as a I taught them.

Also, think about using colors intentionally. On this sample, I used black, red, and green with purpose. The black part names the character’s feeling and the red part provides an example from the text. The green part (which was my goal for the students’ thinking) shows a deeper elaboration of that idea. The green color symbolized “GO” … keep that thinking going… dig deeper. (Again, notice how plain my drawings are. Trust me… they look NOTHING like the illustrations in the actual picture book.)

As I think of more, I’ll come back and them to this post, but I hope this little bit helps for now.

Happy teaching!

In the Loop