The 16 Week Challenge - Week 15

 

Week 13: Dec. 2 - Co-Constructing Anchor Charts

There's a difference between a poster and an anchor chart.

Posters are visuals, posted in a classroom or in slides, that are usually premade by the teacher. 

Anchor charts, on the other hand, are public records of thinking and, by definition, are co-created with students. So, while the teacher may create the outline or headings, the chart is made from student thinking and is meant to anchor that thinking so that they can refer back to it later.

This means that true anchor charts need to be on paper, displayed, and be clearly created from student thinking and work - not in slides or pre-created by us.

So, for your challenge this week, here are three quick tasks:

1. Begin by reading (or rereading) EL's 8 High-Leverage Instructional Practices, and read the row for anchor charts.
2. Watch this video from a middle school EL classroom about anchor charts. What did you learn that might change how you approach them in your classroom?
3. Watch this video about why anchor charts are used so frequently in EL. What did you learn about how to use anchor charts, after you co-create them with students?

Completed that? Fantastic! You just completed your Week 15 Teaching Challenge. If you're working for that small prize, you can log your success here, and be sure to check back next week - Dec. 9 - for our very last week.

Here's to simply teaching well,