I recently had the pleasure of working with Danielle Patterson and her third grade class. During our time together, Danielle reconsidered the way she used charts. Below is her story in her own words.
If you are anything like me, the thought of an anchor chart for Reader’s Workshop sent me running to my copy of Smarter Charts or more recently, Pinterest. There, all things bold and beautiful would unfold. I would scroll through endless possibilities and silently thank all those people who already invented the wheel …and like any good teacher, I stole them. I admired my colorful drawings and pithy sayings. NOW, my students would refer and remember each concept or strategy I taught them. How could they not…I got them from Pinterest and they were pretty spectacular. I proudly hung them from my clothesline for all to see. But as time passed, the edges of my spectacular charts turned yellow, long since forgotten by my students. With every blast of the air vent, my now fading charts billowed and waved as if they were mocking me and my efforts. Something had to change. My anchor charts had to go well beyond eye appeal, they had to become learning tools.
Luckily, I had the opportunity to work with Christy this fall and told her of my charting tales of woe. We brainstormed and chatted and brainstormed some more. We discussed units of study and learning blocks, taking the idea of turning a unit of study into one chart. Each block could be represented by a different colored sheet of paper. We wrote notes. We doodled and scribbled. I could use my Elmer’s repositionable glue (it turns any paper into a post-it!) We were a collaboration machine. I was recharged and ready to put our ideas into practice.
The following week, I reported some success with the chart. I liked how I would be creating a chart for each unit of study. I also liked how the cool “post-it” glue would let me take down a block to share with a student who needed additional support, but I still felt like something was missing. As I walked around conferring, students would tell me they were unable to complete the independent practice portion of the mini-lesson for various reasons. For some students, it was the truth, but I felt others were perfecting the art of task avoidance. My students needed to be held accountable for their independent reading time, even if they just started reading a book. So it was back to the conference room, where there was more chatting and sketching and just a little more chatting for good measure. And finally there it was…the birth of the interactive anchor chart!
If you are anything like me, the thought of an anchor chart for Reader’s Workshop sent me running to my copy of Smarter Charts or more recently, Pinterest. There, all things bold and beautiful would unfold. I would scroll through endless possibilities and silently thank all those people who already invented the wheel …and like any good teacher, I stole them. I admired my colorful drawings and pithy sayings. NOW, my students would refer and remember each concept or strategy I taught them. How could they not…I got them from Pinterest and they were pretty spectacular. I proudly hung them from my clothesline for all to see. But as time passed, the edges of my spectacular charts turned yellow, long since forgotten by my students. With every blast of the air vent, my now fading charts billowed and waved as if they were mocking me and my efforts. Something had to change. My anchor charts had to go well beyond eye appeal, they had to become learning tools.
Luckily, I had the opportunity to work with Christy this fall and told her of my charting tales of woe. We brainstormed and chatted and brainstormed some more. We discussed units of study and learning blocks, taking the idea of turning a unit of study into one chart. Each block could be represented by a different colored sheet of paper. We wrote notes. We doodled and scribbled. I could use my Elmer’s repositionable glue (it turns any paper into a post-it!) We were a collaboration machine. I was recharged and ready to put our ideas into practice.
The following week, I reported some success with the chart. I liked how I would be creating a chart for each unit of study. I also liked how the cool “post-it” glue would let me take down a block to share with a student who needed additional support, but I still felt like something was missing. As I walked around conferring, students would tell me they were unable to complete the independent practice portion of the mini-lesson for various reasons. For some students, it was the truth, but I felt others were perfecting the art of task avoidance. My students needed to be held accountable for their independent reading time, even if they just started reading a book. So it was back to the conference room, where there was more chatting and sketching and just a little more chatting for good measure. And finally there it was…the birth of the interactive anchor chart!
What is an interactive anchor chart you ask? It is part of the Reader’s Notebook. Students bring their notebooks to the carpet at the beginning of a new block. I supply the colored post its and they recreate a mini version of the Unit of Study anchor chart. Each post-it contains a block that states the learning objective (from our unit of study). It also has bulleted information and/or drawings. As students are sent off for independent practice, they are instructed to work on the mini-lesson. If they are unable to work on that day’s mini-lesson, they can refer back to their interactive anchor chart to work on a previous skill.
I found this new system allows students time to practice skills previously taught, gives them a feeling of success and keeps them accountable for work each and every time they read during Reader’s Workshop. For example, during the unit on analyzing characters, the mini-lesson that day may focus on character change. Students who have just started reading a new book would not be able to locate when their character changed in the story, but they would be able to identify the main character based on an earlier block covered in the unit.
I can say that I strongly like, if not truly love, the interactive anchor chart. It has made me more thoughtful in my approach to teaching each unit. It has also given my students clear, concise direction to their independent reading. I invite you to give it a try and comment as to how it is working for you.
Thank you Christy for your input and inspiration in making the interactive anchor chart come to fruition. I couldn’t have done it without you!
I found this new system allows students time to practice skills previously taught, gives them a feeling of success and keeps them accountable for work each and every time they read during Reader’s Workshop. For example, during the unit on analyzing characters, the mini-lesson that day may focus on character change. Students who have just started reading a new book would not be able to locate when their character changed in the story, but they would be able to identify the main character based on an earlier block covered in the unit.
I can say that I strongly like, if not truly love, the interactive anchor chart. It has made me more thoughtful in my approach to teaching each unit. It has also given my students clear, concise direction to their independent reading. I invite you to give it a try and comment as to how it is working for you.
Thank you Christy for your input and inspiration in making the interactive anchor chart come to fruition. I couldn’t have done it without you!