Instructional Routines & Practices Instructional Routines & Practices

Anchor Charts

Anchor charts are good visual aids to remind students of protocols, behaviors or key points. They can be prepared ahead of time or co-created with students.

 

Anchor charts:

  • are most effective when they are clear, legible, and concise.
  • are hard to use when crowded with information, especially when in the midst of work.
  • for early readers should contain drawings and minimal text.

Anchor charts can be used to display:

  • Steps in a Process
  • Rules or Behavior Norms
  • Vocabulary terms
  • Key Information
  • Models

Anchor charts are only useful when teachers actively use them as a classroom resource. Ways to use anchor charts include:

  • When students need helpask them if there is a note or step in the anchor chart that can help them
  • When students are writing or engaging in discussionask them if there is a term of information in an anchor chart that they should use
  • When students forget a processask them what the anchor chart suggests
  • When students need feedback or to develop their self-regulationask them to compare their work to the anchor chart model

For more support on using Reading Thinking Steps anchor chart see Ways to Use the Reading Thinking Steps.