Anchor charts are powerful instructional tools! Teachers love writing anchor charts because they can really enhance the writing experience for students by providing reminders and a supportive framework during instruction. They are colorful, engaging and always ready to save the day for struggling students! These visual aids often turn the daunting writing process into an exciting adventure for students. Keep reading for some free writing anchor charts!
The Power of Writing Anchor Charts
Writing anchor charts serve as visual aids that support students in understanding and applying writing strategies. Not just for decoration, anchor charts are dynamic tools that actively engage students when you are busy helping other students.
Writing anchor charts are time saving superheroes for teachers! They serve as constant roadmaps for students through their writing journey. When students have access to these carefully created anchor charts, they can navigate their writing assignments more independently.
Imagine students being able to jog their memory about revising strategies or how to write a conclusion paragraph without having to wait on a teacher’s guidance. Writing anchor charts promote autonomy and independence but also frees up your precious instructional time.
With these writing anchor charts, you can confidently assign writing tasks to your class knowing that these visual aids are there to reinforce concepts you’ve taught.
As your students become more confident writers by using these anchor charts to guide them, you’ll find yourself with more time to provide feedback, address specific needs and engage in more meaningful conversations during writing time. These writing anchor charts ultimately make teaching writing in upper elementary more efficient and less stressful for you and your students.
Different Ways to Display Your Anchor Charts
These anchor charts are versatile and adaptable to different learning environments.
Create a Writing Strategies Bulletin Board
First, you’ll need to identify the writing strategies you need to display. What writing strategy are you currently teaching? Is there a writing skill or strategy that needs strengthening in your class?
Keep your writing bulletin board posted in a spot that’s easy for all students to see. Allow your students to get up from their seats during independent writing time to access the writing anchor charts.
Make it interactive! Add sticky notes with examples. Students can create their own examples or find them in books they’re reading. This fosters a sense of ownership and collaboration.
Rotate the writing anchor charts as your students’ writing skills evolve. Over time, your students will master some writing strategies or writing skills. Remove those anchor charts to make room for new topics being studied. This will help your writing bulletin board stay relevant and up to date for students to locate the information they need during writing time.
Whole Group Teaching with Digital Writing Anchor Charts
Take advantage of technology by using the digital anchor charts in this resource! Project these on your interactive whiteboard for whole group instruction. This allows you to annotate, highlight, and discuss these writing strategies as a whole class!
Encourage your students to contribute ideas and discuss these writing strategies with a partner or with the whole group. This helps students actively participate in your writing lesson and the chances of them remembering the information goes up dramatically.
These digital versions of the writing anchor charts provide flexibility so you and your students can access them anytime or anywhere! Whether at home or in the library, this promotes continuous learning and reinforcement of your writing lessons and adds accountability for students. More about digital writing activities here.
Interactive Notebook Sized Writing Anchor Charts
These smaller writing anchor charts provide the same support with easier access for students for independent writing projects.
Students can take notes or add examples to help internalize the writing strategy.
Encourge students to revisit their writing anchor charts from previous lessons for reference. This helps free up your time to help students that need more one on one support from the teacher.
What Writing Anchor Charts are Included In This Resource
General Writing Anchor Charts
? What Gets A Capital
? Editing with Cups (2 versions)
? Revise with Arms
? Edit/Revise, Arms/Cups Combined
? Writing Partners Expectations
? Writing Workshop Expectations
? Punctuation (period, exclamation point, question mark, quotation marks, comma, apostrophe)
? Dialogue
? Quotation Marks Rules
? Said is Dead
? Hamburger Paragraph (2 versions)
? Writing Process
? Stretch A Sentence
? Writing Checklist (2 versions)
? When To Change Paragraphs
? Strong Verbs
? Revising with Strong Verbs
? Adding Details (Elaborating with Sensory Details)
Narrative Writing Anchor Charts
? What is Narrative Writing
? Strong Leads for Narrative Writing
? Sequencing Transitions For Narrative Writing
? Conclusion Paragraphs For Narrative Writing
? Writing Checklist For Narrative Writing
? Structure of Narrative Writing Graphic Organizer Color
? Structure of Narrative Writing Graphic Organizer Black & White
Opinion Writing Anchor Charts
? What is Opinion Writing
? Facts vs Opinions
? Opinion Writing Hooks
? Sequencing Transitions For Opinion Writing
? Conclusion Paragraphs For Opinion Writing
? Writing Checklist For Opinion Writing
? Structure of Opinion Writing Graphic Organizer Color
? Structure of Opinion Writing Graphic Organizer Black & White
Informational Writing Anchor Charts
? What is Informational Writing
? Informational Writing Hooks
? Sequencing Transitions For Informational Writing
? Conclusion Paragraphs For Informational Writing
? Writing Checklist For Informational Writing
? Structure of Informational Writing Graphic Organizer Color
? Structure of Informational Writing Graphic Organizer Black & White
The academic language used in these writing anchor charts is consistent across each one to avoid confusion. Learning writing strategies can be confusing enough even for our high achieving students.
Writing anchor charts are not just classroom decorations but powerful teaching tools that empower students in their writing. Grab your set of free writing anchor charts here!
