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One of the best, most effective tools for the classroom is anchor charts, although you won't find Anchor Charts 101 on most teacher training programs' syllabi. If you're new to teaching, you may have lots of questions about what anchor charts are, what purpose they serve, how to get started, and when to use them. So we've created this primer to help you out! Also included is a huge list of anchor chart roundups to use as a resource. Once you get started, we're pretty sure anchor charts are going to be one of your favorite go-to strategies.

What is an anchor chart?

An anchor chart is a tool used to support instruction (i.e., "anchor" the learning for students). As you teach a lesson, you create a chart, together with your students, that captures the most important content and relevant strategies. Anchor charts build a culture of literacy in the classroom by making thinking-both the teacher's and students'-visible.

How do I create anchor charts?

You really don't need any special materials or artistic skills-just chart paper and a colorful assortment of markers.

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

Typically, you will prepare the framework of your chart ahead of time, giving it a title, including the learning objective, and creating headers for the main points or strategies you want to highlight. It's very important not to create the entire poster ahead of time. They are best used as an interactive tool with students.

As you model a lesson or learning strategy and interact with your students through discussion, you fill in the blank spaces of the anchor chart. For an awesome tutorial, check out this blog and template from third grade teacher Michael Friermood.

After your chart is created, it can be displayed as needed-for a short unit, as a one-time reference tool, as something you continue to add to, or as something that stays up all year-like your classroom procedures or behavior expectations.

Posting the charts keeps relevant and current learning accessible to students, reminds them of prior learning, and enables them to make connections as new learning happens. Students can refer to them and use them as they think about the topic, question ideas, expand ideas, and/or contribute to discussions in class.

A few helpful tips:

Make them colorful and print-rich.

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

Keep them simple and neat.

Use easy-to-read graphics and clear organization. Don't allow distracting, irrelevant details or stray marks, such as arrows or overemphatic use of underlining.

Draw simple pictures to complement the words.

The more ways students can access information about a subject, the better.

Don't overuse them.

While anchor charts are a super-useful tool, don't feel as if you need to create one for every single lesson. Choose carefully so the ones you create have the greatest impact.

Don't be afraid to borrow from others.

Teachers always get their best ideas from other teachers. If your teammate has already tackled a topic, use the same format. Just make sure you create your own version from scratch so your students experience the learning as you go. You'll find tons of examples at the links included below.

How do I use anchor charts in my classroom?

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

Reach maximum engagement.

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

Bring lessons to life.

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

Support independent work.

Anchor charts provide students with a source to reference when working on their own. They support students and also save teachers from having to spend classroom time going over concepts multiple times.

Create a library of reference materials.

To help students keep information straight, you could create charts for each topic. For example, if you're teaching math concepts, you could create a chart for geometric shapes, the difference between perimeter and area, and how to multiply and divide fractions.

Reinforce classroom procedures.

Provide students with a visual to remind them of routines that make your classroom run smoothly. Some examples: how to use centers, how to line up, how to check books out of your classroom library.

Try them in shared writing.

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

Use them as a companion to read-alouds.

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

How can I use anchor charts to introduce new skills?

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All posts by Elizabeth Mulvahill, B.A. Liberal Arts, Certified Teacher

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Anchor Charts 101: Why and How To Use Them

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Teachers are incorporating anchor charts into their teaching in all subject areas. But what exactly are they and what are they good for?

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Anchoring Your Instruction: Using Anchor Charts in Secondary English

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Anchoring Your Instruction: Using Anchor Charts in Secondary English

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Do you ever go on Pinterest (of course you do) and see some of the incredibly adorable anchor charts for the elementary classroom? They are so colorful, and they have little drawings of people and fish, and they rhyme and stuff. Can you imagine hanging something like that up for your middle or high schoolers to use? Me neither.

However...

I do see the value in having informational posters up. I just needed to find some that would vibe with my VERY secondary personality because I knew that, if the kids didn't think I was being genuine, they wouldn't bother to use the information.

Enter the Projector

I don't know about you, but I cannot letter to save my life. I can trace LIKE A CHAMP though, so that's what I started doing. I looked up some anchor charts on Pinterest, put them up on my white board with the projector, and started tracing.

Here are a few that I borrowed from Pinterest:

Now what to do about the topics I didn't find on Pinterest? Some I just lettered by myself. They are NOT cute in comparison.

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Then I had a stroke of genius. I made a sign in PowerPoint and put it up on the projector. That way I got to choose the fonts I wanted, and I could add borders and flourishes I liked.

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This is definitely my go to process now when I run across a topic that needs a bit more reinforcement but not necessarily a whole page of notes for their folders.

Students Comment

The students started commenting that they liked having something quick to look at to remind them of some of the skills they needed while working. I hang all the anchor charts from a magnetic curtain rod using binder rings. That way it's easy to flip to the chart we need for the day and hang it back up. Also, when I rearrange my classroom, it's simple to move the charts to another location.

Those are my anchor chart secrets! If you have any genius ideas, please share them in the comments. I'd love to hear them!

I've been a secondary English teacher for 19 years. This is a way for me to document the rest of my teaching career. View all posts by johnstonselagems

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Anchoring Your Instruction: Using Anchor Charts in Secondary English -

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Do you ever go on Pinterest (of course you do) and see some of the incredibly adorable anchor charts for the elementary classroom? They are so colorful, and they have little drawings of people and fish, and they rhyme and stuff. Can you imagine hanging something like that up for your middle or high schoolers...

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Using Anchor Charts in Middle and High School

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Using Anchor Charts in Middle and High School

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For the longest time, I thought anchor charts were for elementary classrooms. I'd see photos floating around on social media, but I never gave them a second thought in terms of application in a middle or high school classroom. I know I wasn't alone, as it's somewhat rare for secondary teachers to talk about using them.

More recently, I've come to realize that anchor charts are absolutely appropriate - and beneficial - for a secondary classroom. Let's explore why we should and how we could be using them.

THE BENEFITS OF ANCHOR CHARTS

Most teachers incorporate mini (or maxi) lessons on a regular basis. As students learn new information, anchor charts are a way to help them ground their learning. Because of the way we create them (more on that later), they help students to synthesize their thinking about an important topic or skill.

Generally, we use anchor charts for information students will need to come back to throughout the year. Often, anchor charts are used with essential standard concepts and related strategies.

With reading, for example, you might create anchor charts for signposts, reading strategies, or text structure. Perhaps you want students to remember sentence types, transitions, or word choice concepts with writing and grammar. You can also create anchor charts for classroom procedures and reading and writing workshop expectations, among a plethora of other options.

Creating anchor charts provides a content-rich classroom decoration piece which serves as a bridge between introductory lessons and practice opportunities. When students use them as a reference, they are reminded of prior learning and can more easily make connections with new information.

Students who appreciate scaffolding, ELL students, and anyone who is learning a brand new concept can benefit from anchor charts.

Bottom line: Anchor charts make learning visible.

TIPS FOR USING ANCHOR CHARTS

The benefits of using anchor charts are clear, but actually implementing them can be more of a gray area. When I first began exploring them, I had a lot of questions. Perhaps you do, too. I'm happy to share my learning.

WHEN TO CREATE THEM

Ideally, anchor charts should be created with students. They need to contribute to the synthesis of information. As you teach your lesson, you can pause and add important information, like definitions, questions students should ask, strategies, and images or symbols.

However, secondary classrooms are fast-paced. Our building only has 44 minute class periods. With tight schedules like these, it's difficult to stick to idealism. It's best to create anchor charts with students, but we have to prioritize.

If you're crunched for time, it's understandable to create the anchor chart...or an outline for one...in advance. However, I'd suggest still providing opportunities for students to think about what should be included. Otherwise, they're really more of a poster.

For example, instead of pausing throughout the lesson to add to an anchor chart, which does take time, ask students to create their own version - inspired by yours - afterward. This opportunity allows them to do some critical thinking without extending the mini lesson.

However, I wouldn't recommend that creating anchor charts in advance be the norm.

MULTIPLE CLASS DILEMMA

In our building, teachers have six sections of the same grade level class. That's a lot of expensive paper! Plus, what will you do with six very similar anchor charts?

To problem solve, you might design the reference tool on the white board. At the end of each period, take a picture of that class's creation. Then, combine the best, most memorable elements from each class into one reference chart at the end of the day. This approach is helpful because you can use it to review with students and discuss ideas from other class periods.

Another option is to have students create mini anchor charts that they can keep in their folders, binders, or notebooks. This activity can be spun in many ways. For instance, students can work with groups to encourage critical thinking and discussion.

REUSING THEM FROM YEAR TO YEAR

After all the effort it takes to create them, it can be difficult to fathom only using them during one school year. Anchor charts generally aren't "reused" year to year. However, they can carry over in a couple ways.

First, you'll begin to notice patterns. After you get comfortable with creating an anchor chart for a given topic, you'll know what works and what doesn't. You'll have an idea of what must be included because it resonates with students. In other words, by creating and recreating each year, the process will go more smoothly each time.

Also, take photos! When you have anchor charts you love, take photos of them so that you can share them with students as additional references. Sure, if you have room to store them, it doesn't hurt. But, pulling them out of a closet and using them over and over again undercuts some of the most important learning benefits for students.

MAKING THEM APPEAL TO OLDER STUDENTS

Do anchor charts appeal to older students? Honestly, involving middle and high school students in the process of creating them is an effective way to increase engagement. When they are involved in their learning, the lesson naturally appeals more to them.

Some anchor charts are clearly designed for younger students. Paying attention to color palettes, depth of skills and strategies, and illustrations can help make anchor charts appear more "secondary" style.

If you include people, make them look older! If you include objects, choose things that are relatable to teens whenever possible. And, use examples that are relevant to tweens and teens.

Consider allowing students to add specific elements to the anchor chart during the lesson to magnify ownership.

PRIORITIZING WHICH CHARTS TO CREATE

While anchor charts are beneficial teaching tools, it's important not to overuse them. If you create an anchor chart for every lesson, where would you put them all? Here are some helpful questions to guide your decisions:

Is this topic/skill related to an essential or power standard for my class?

Is this topic/skill something that students tend to struggle with each year?

Will we be coming back to this topic or skill regularly throughout the year?

Am I going to want students to connect new learning to this topic or skill?

Will this anchor chart help my classroom to run more smoothly?

MATERIALS FOR CREATION

When creating anchor charts, teachers have different preferences. One thing to consider is how you want to hang them. Will you attach them with binder clips to string? Will you stick them to the wall? I prefer large Post-It easel pads*, but a lot of teachers use chart paper.

Either way, my favorite markers to use are these and these. I like to have different tip sizes to work with.

BUT I'M NOT ARTSY

Whether you have Pinterest-worthy anchor charts hanging in your classroom or not is of no consequence. You don't have to have pretty handwriting or amazing illustration skills to create meaningful reference points with your students.

Look! Here is an example of a "non-pretty" anchor chart I made with a co-worker as we were introducing writing workshop expectations.

Students can read these anchor charts. They contain valuable information the class refer back to throughout the year, and it will help the room run more smoothly.

If you happen to have handwriting that is illegible, that would be a problem. In this case, you could have a student scribe the anchor chart for you as you teach the lesson.

What thoughts do you have about creating anchor charts? They're not just for elementary classrooms. Share any questions or tips you have to offer in the comments below.

+ The materials linked in this post are Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase from them, I will receive a small profit at no expense to you.

RELATED READING

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Using Anchor Charts in Middle and High School: Why and How - Reading and Writing Haven

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Interested in using anchor charts with older students? Read about benefits, best practices, and materials to make the experience a success.

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Anchor charts are a great tool for helping students remember routines and apply the strategies you've taught in class. Whether they're helping students activate their schema, recording learning, or outlining strategies that students can use on their own, these visual resources are a must-have for elementary & middle school classrooms.

Today I want to share a few of my favorite anchor charts that I've seen for helping students master reading skills & recall strategies.

Anchor Charts to Help Students Break Down & Organize Their Thinking

Note-taking Anchor Charts

When I worked with older students, I always had trouble with students wanting to highlight EVERYTHING when they were taking notes from a non-fiction text. I love the first anchor chart from Terra Shiffer because it helps solve that problem. The second anchor chart, from Mrs. O Reads Books, is another great option.

I think it's great because it outlines WHAT they should be looking for when reading, but it also gives them a way to code the most important information that will make it easy to refer back to. I can't wait to try this one the next time I'm working on notating non-fiction.

It can be easy to forget that annotating text and taking notes is a new skill and requires some serious higher-level synthesis. Students need to be taught how to do this and they need the visual reminders to be able to implement it independently. This anchor chart from Mrs. O Reads Books is a perfect classroom reference.

Responding to Literature - Citing the Text

So many students know what they want to say but struggle to get the ideas out on paper. Sentence stems can be a huge help for struggling readers and writers. They're also a great scaffold for your students who are learning English. Here are two examples of what this can look like in the classroom:

Even if your students don't need sentence stems, you may consider outlining the steps needed for a high-quality response like this one. It offers a great way for students to check to make sure they have a complete answer before turning it in.

Anchor Charts to Support Reading Strategies & Skills

While mini-lessons are great for introducing important reading skills and strategies. However, many students need more than one exposure to really master the content. Visuals, like anchor charts, can be a great way to help keep these fresh in your students' minds.

I, personally, love interactive anchor charts for reading because it allows me to reuse the same chart across multiple lessons instead of having to create something new again and again. I also find that students are more engaged when the anchor chart offers some hands-on opportunities for engagement.

Retelling Anchor Chart

I love anchor charts that give a visual but also provide a strategy that students can take beyond the walls of the classroom. This retelling anchor chart from The Teacher with the Owl Tattoo is perfect for that! Eventually, students will internalize these retell steps and will be able to move toward using only their hands or not needing any cueing system at all.

Main Idea

Main idea is a challenging skill for elementary students. I love that the first anchor chart, from The Animated Teacher, is interactive so you can use it again and again because I always have to teach multiple mini-lessons on this skill. The second anchor chart, from Jessica Tobin over at The Elementary Nest, is another great option.

Sometimes it is nice to have an anchor chart that models graphic organizers students might see on assessments or those that they may want to create to help them record their thinking. This interactive anchor chart captures that option perfectly! I really love this one.

Anchor Charts for Summarizing

There are a couple of different popular formats for summarizing. While many classrooms are moving toward the SWBST method, I prefer the three-sentence format because it more closely aligns with what kids see on state testing and it can work for fiction & nonfiction texts.

Cause & Effect Anchor Charts

There tend to be fewer interactive cause & effect anchor charts. However, I do love the idea of making a book-specific version during a mini-lesson. I think some of the other charts might be better for introducing the concept and posting to help students recall the skill. No matter which style you pick, these will all make a great classroom visual.

Point of View

If you're looking for great anchor charts for point of view, look no further than The Elementary Nest. Both of my favorites were created by Jessica Tobin, the author of the site. I love the visual the first provides, but I am a sucker for interactive anchor charts so I love the second option for giving students the opportunity to get hands-on with the chart during reading.

Character Analysis - Character Traits & Change Across Time

I love teaching character traits and analysis. This is one skill that requires an anchor chart, especially if you're looking at change across time. Here are a few of my favorite anchor charts for this skill.

After my students get the hang of the skill, I love finding ways to incorporate longer texts, like the novel Charlotte's Web, so that students really have to dive into the text to look for causal factors. In fact, I even created some free resources to help with these lessons. Y ou can read more and grab the free character development resources here.

Inferring & Drawing Conclusions

Both inferring and drawing conclusions are SO hard for students to master, and I've found anchor charts are an absolute must-have to remind them of the process & give interactive practice.

Here are a few cool anchor charts I found on Pinterest that I want to try the next time I introduce these skills with students.

Theme

Identifying the theme can be a challenge for many students because it requires synthesizing an entire story down to it's the most basic idea. These two anchor charts are perfect for helping students remember what theme is and categorize the books they've been reading according to common themes in literature.

Author's Purpose

Identifying the author's purpose is taught in many different ways. While some teachers use the P-I-E acronym, other strategies are also gaining traction as students are being asked to think more critically about what the author is trying to convey through their writing.

Need more ELA anchor chart inspiration?

Want to see more amazing language arts anchor charts? Click here to see my Language Arts Anchor Chart board on Pinterest.

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30 Reading Anchor Charts Your Students Will Actually Use

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Anchor charts are a great tool for helping students remember routines and apply the strategies you've taught in class. Whether they're helping students activate their schema, recording learning, or outlining strategies that students can use on their own, these visual resources are a must-have for elementary & middle school classrooms. Today I want to share a few of my favorite anchor charts that I've seen for helping students master reading skills & recall strategies.

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How to Make Your Anchor Charts Interactive

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How to Make Your Anchor Charts Interactive

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As you walk through the halls of a school and peek into each classroom, one thing will remain the same, anchor charts. Anchor charts are the most common tool that teachers use to bring their lessons to life. Learn to make your anchor charts more interactive by using:

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How to Make Your Anchor Charts More Interactive - Chalkboard Chatterbox

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Anchor charts are a staple in every classroom, no matter what grade that you teach. It's time to take your anchor charts to the next level! Learn how you can make your anchor charts more interactive for your students by using digital anchor charts for Google Slides.

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My Working, Growing Anchor Charts (Math)

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My Working, Growing Anchor Charts (Math)

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Anchor Charts in the World Language Classroom? Mais Oui!

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Anchor Charts in the World Language Classroom? Mais Oui!

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Students in my 6-8 junior high building study either French or Spanish as a core academic class. Over the course of those three years, they become more confident in their abilities in both speaking and listening in the target language, and the language teachers in my building are working hard at boosting that confidence in reading and writing as well.

Last year, the eighth grade world language teachers approached me about doing some work with them in the areas of reading and writing. One of the first things the French teacher wanted to work on was getting her 8 th grade students to write more interesting and complex sentences than "The girl has a baguette" in response to photo prompts. Over the course of our conversation, we figured out that the students didn't always have the full vocabulary to write to a prompt at the beginning of a unit. They wanted to write more; they just didn't have the knowledge to be able to do it.

I realized that the learners in these 8 th grade classrooms were in many ways like the early literacy learners in grade 2 or so. Though they could read and write fluently in English, they were still learning the vocabulary and structure of their second language. My thoughts immediately went to the book Smarter Charts by Marjorie Martinelli and Kristine Mraz. One of the things I love about this book is that Marjorie and Kristine explain the different kinds of charts you might find in a classroom and when and why you might use each type. As a teacher of older children, I also appreciated the "how to draw a chart" page. As we pored over the examples of different charts, the two 8 th grade teachers realized that anchor charts could provide great opportunity to share literacy strategies with their students in the target language. In addition, the students were familiar with anchor charts and how to use them from their language arts classes. I hoped seeing charts in both places would help students transfer knowledge from their LA classes to their language classes.

As a parting gift, I gave the teachers a large tablet of chart paper and a box of Mr. Sketch markers to get them started. When I checked in a few weeks later, I was thrilled to see anchor charts written in French and Spanish for routines, unfamiliar vocabulary, and grammar and sentence structure (such as where adjectives go in relation to the nouns they modify). Of course, these teachers could have found commercially prepared posters for much of this content, but by co-constructing charts with their students, they could target the exact content and strategy they needed as well as provide an engaging and useful lesson for the students. Both teachers reported that due to this scaffolding, their students were writing more in French and Spanish, and that their writing was much more interesting. Even better, as students gained confidence and more knowledge, the early charts were retired and new ones with more sophisticated content created.

There are a couple of lessons that can be learned from my experience with these two teachers. First, don't limit your willingness to explore a professional resource just because it's labeled as a K-2 book or a 6-8 or any other grade book. Creative teachers often find ways to take ideas from just about any professional resource and make the ideas work for their students. If I had discounted Smarter Charts because of the K-2 label, I would not have been inspired to rethink my own charts and I wouldn't have had the resource the world language teachers needed.

Second, as teachers we need to take risks and step outside our comfort zones. I had no idea if I would be able to think of ways to get students reading and writing more in the target languages. Certainly my three years of high school French over twenty-five years ago were not going to help me. By boiling down the question to its essence, I could see the need was to support these emerging readers and writers. For the teachers themselves, they needed to be open to new ideas from someone who was not an expert in their subject, someone who could approach a question from a new perspective and a new set of eyes.

Carol Dweck refers to this open-mindedness as a "growth mindset." It is this kind of mindset that we need to model for and nurture in our students. When we approach our work from this perspective and share our new learning with our students, they will see that even as adults we continue to grow and change in our thinking and abilities. They then are more likely to develop a love of learning and resilience that will continue with them into their adult lives.

As I begin my second year as literacy coach in my building, I'm excited to continue my work with these two teachers (and maybe even the sixth and seventh grade world language teachers as well). There are so many opportunities to continue to explore different ways of incorporating authentic reading and writing into these classes; we truly have just touched the tip of the iceberg.

Maybe I'll even learn more than just the five words of Spanish I picked up on a trip to Costa Rica.

Adieu and adios!
Mindi Rench became a junior high literacy coach after teaching seventh grade LA for eighteen years. She lives in Northbrook, Illinois, just outside of Chicago. When she doesn't have her nose buried in a book, she drives the mom taxi and is writing a book (either a YA romance or a middle grade adventure) in her head. She hopes someday to write it for real. She blogs at Making It Work in the Middle and tweets at @mindi_r.

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Anchor Charts in the World Language Classroom? Mais Oui!

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Students in my 6-8 junior high building study either French or Spanish as a core academic class. Over the course of those three years, they become more confident in their abilities in both speaking and listening in the target language, and the language teachers in my building are working hard at boosting that confidence in reading and writing as well.

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Anchor Charts Aren't Just for Elementary

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Anchor Charts Aren't Just for Elementary