strategies for story elements anchor charts

#Strategies for story elements anchor charts how to#

If students are reading a text that has a strong presence of character, they can efficiently scan the anchor charts focusing on character and find one that will fit their need. This heading allows students to quickly reference which chart might help them according to their current pattern of thought. The focus is a basic story element of fiction, such as character, setting, plot, or theme. The top of each chart displays the story element suggested for that journal entry. The challenge should be to effectively engage in applying the desired strategies. The challenge for students shouldn’t be in sorting through various graphic sources plastered on the classroom walls. This would allow students to easily navigate the charts as well as influence organization of their own thoughts.

Chart DesignĬonsistency was the objective when designing my anchor charts. If my anchor charts were going to be effective, they had to be aesthetically pleasing, attainable in concept, have a practical application, and produce journal entries that could be a tool for assessing student learning. I came up with four A’s that I would apply to anchor chart design. They remain on the wall, and without consistent review, become forgettable. The problem I had always seen in anchor chart design is that the charts eventually become wallpaper in a classroom. To accomplish this I began to brainstorm ideas on what would motivate me if I was sitting at that flip-top desk.Īnchor charts for me had always been a useful tool as an activator, wrap-up, and anything in between.

#Strategies for story elements anchor charts how to#

The goal was set, and now I had to figure out how to push students’ thinking beyond previous expectations. This increased excitement would optimistically translate into students increasing effort, creativity, and depth in their recorded thoughts. I began thinking about how to elicit more excitement from my students when recording their thinking while reading. I tried to sort out if the entry came from a text penned by Sachar or Korman, and whether it took place at a juvenile detention camp in Texas or a deserted island somewhere in the Pacific. I would refer to this nondescript entry during conferring time. The second issue was that there was no evidence that students could relate to the text. The first issue was that students were not displaying the ability to be reflective about basic story elements. This pattern of vague generic responses was a problem in reading workshop. This sentence, followed by a date, was a typical entry recorded by my students in their reader response journals. “There’s a bunch of kids stuck there together.” October 9