Strategy: Making Anchor Charts Meaningful

Anchor charts are a big deal these days and I love them.  They were an effective way to leave "tracks of our thinking" (Stepanie Harvey) when I was in the classroom and I continue to see teachers use them effectively in the classrooms that I visit and support.

There's just one thing that worries me.  For all the love I have for Pinterest, it seems that sometimes it causes our focus to be on the CUTENESS of the chart rather than its value as a reference for students.  I LIKE cute.  I like chevron stripes, fun fonts, and lots of color BUT those aren't the attributes of an effective anchor chart!

When I am doing a campus visit, I walk into every classroom and look at the walls.  I see a lot of chart paper on the walls but the charts that cause me to take a second look are the ones like these from a recent visit to a school district in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

A few things things stand out to me in the charts above:

• The charts were obviously created WITH the students.  
• The basic information on the charts is DIGESTIBLE and can be captured with a quick glance.  They pack a big punch but do not overwhelm!  Anchor charts represent MINI-lessons.  If there is too much information for my grown-up eyes and brain, there is definitely too much information for an elementary student.
• The teachers were INTENTIONAL about using nonlinguistic representations that would create meaning for the students LONG AFTER the original lesson was over.  Think Vygotsky's mediators!

As you prepare your instruction for this week, consider whether your anchor charts will merit a second glance by your students, especially your second language learners.  DON'T worry about the artistic quality of your drawings but DO explain your thinking behind them as you draw them.  If you are at a loss about how to convey a particularly abstract concept, ask your students for suggestions that would connect to their background knowledge.

Consider this quote from the chapter titled "Nonlinguistic Representations" in Classroom Instruction that Works with English Language Learners by Jane D. Hill and Kathleen M. Flynn.

Knowledge is stored in two ways:  linguistically and nonlingustically.  Teachers mainly present new knowledge linguistically in the classroom, as they often ask students to listen to or read new information.  Think of knowledge presented linguistically as actual sentences stored in long-term memory.  Knowledge that is presented nonlinguistically is stored in the form of mental pictures or physical sensations such as sight, sound, smell, touch, taste, and movement.  Using both linguistic and nonlinguistic methods of learning helps students recall and think about information.  Because ELLs cannot rely solely on linguistic ability to learn ad retain knowledge in a new language, nonlinguistic methods of learning are particularly important for them.

Have a great start to your semana and feel free to send me pictures of your nonlinguistic representations (bloomingbilinguals at gmail.com)!