what are anchor charts

Anchor charts are a teaching tool used to support instruction and "anchor" learning for students. They are created during instruction to visually capture important information from the lesson, such as procedures, processes, strategies, or concepts. Anchor charts build a culture of literacy in the classroom by making thinking visible for both the teacher and students. They are temporary by nature and can be affixed in students learning logs. Anchor charts are co-created within the context of a lesson or over a series of lessons, and the teacher acts as a scribe, capturing the students actual words. There are three common types of anchor charts: procedural, process, and strategy. Anchor charts provide students with a source to reference when working on their own, and they support students while saving teachers from having to spend classroom time going over concepts multiple times. While anchor charts are a super-useful tool, teachers do not need to create one for every single lesson, and they should choose carefully so the ones they create have the greatest impact.