Literacy anchor charts are a great interactive way to engage students while teaching Reading and Writing in the K-2 classroom! Literacy is such a broad term as it encompasses so many facets of both Reading and Writing. These Anchor Charts help narrow the learning focus in these broad areas of education. Anchor charts are a fantastic way to make ‘thinking visible’ to students. See my previous post for Tips and Tricks on creating effective anchor charts.

Letter? Word? Sentence?

In the early stages of reading children learn that letters are grouped together to make words and groups of words make sentences. Below is a great interactive anchor chart that students can help create throughout this learning process. This literacy anchor chart can be created in several ways. First, you can use the trusty old Sticky Notes and have students first give examples of letters and allow them to stick them to the chart. Next, have students write words (they can ‘write the room’ to find words). Last, you may have them locate examples of sentences in the room as well.

Sight Word Sentence Literacy Anchor Charts

Another huge aspect of early literacy is sight words. After learning the difference between letters, words, and sentences, young learners begin to memorize sight words. Sight words make up the bulk of what we read so it is imperative that young learners commit these words to memory. This literacy anchor chart is a great interactive way to help students commit these sight words to memory.

This literacy anchor chart too can be utilized in many ways. First, use words you are focusing currently on in your instruction. Be sure to use some familiar words as well! You can also tie the chart into a book you have read to the students recently too. Next, read over all the words on the anchor chart. Then fill have students help fill in the blanks with words that relate to the topic. Make sure to have students help reread the complete sentence once the blank has been filled in. You can also have volunteers com up and point to the words for students to read chorally with them to encouraging one to one correspondence. So many literacy skills can be taught with this simple anchor chart for Reading!

To get more use out of your sight word literacy anchor chart you can block out words on every other line. Then have children take turns writing and reading responses as they stick them onto the chart. If you can laminate the chart after initial creation you can always just use dry erase markers to fill in the blanks. When your students are ready you can even allow them to write directly on the laminated chart. If you cannot get the chart laminated, just use your trusty sticky notes!

For more Kindergarten Literacy Anchor Charts check out Mrs. Richardson’s Class Website. Typically in Kindergarten, we begin with labeling pictures. Mrs. Richardson has a great example of an interactive anchor chart that is fantastic for this activity!

Story Map Anchor Charts for the Elementary Classroom

Story map literacy anchor charts are great for teaching both Reading and Writing! These charts are amazing for truly making thinking visible in the elementary classroom! They are almost a must for teaching early reading comprehension skills, and are fantastic for writing story summaries! These anchor charts help students isolate key details from stories and creating summaries from those key details.

I again love to use my trusty sticky notes for these charts. This way every student has the opportunity to respond to all parts of the ‘map’. For organizational purposes have students either write their name on the back of the sticky note or their initials. I highly recommend laminating these charts immediately for reuse. Just remember to leave the title space blank so that you can reuse the chart!

Blooming in Kinder”garden” has another great variation of the Story Map Anchor Chart, you can check in out here.

Anchor Chart for Teaching Vocabulary

This literacy anchor chart too can be assembled ahead of time. The engagement will follow as you fill in the chart by adding a new vocabulary word. Below you will find an image of the chart in use. I typically go over the word and definition initially with the students. There are printable templates that resemble this vocabulary anchor chart as well. Once students get some practice with this anchor chart you can begin using the printable version for them to complete at their seats for more challenging vocabulary words.

Literacy Anchor Charts for Teaching Grammar

I like to call these anchor charts ‘column charts’. These anchor charts are great for teaching Spelling and Grammar. Their simplicity makes them easy to create but the focused interactive practice is priceless! For these literacy anchor charts, the key is to provide practice on specific skills such as spelling patterns, suffixes, prefixes, and root words, the list is quite endless!

This anchor chart focuses on the -ing and -ed suffixes. I just write root words on sticky notes and stick them on the right. Students then use their sticky notes to add the suffixes to the words and hang them on the anchor chart. Again remember to have students put their name or initials on the back of the sticky notes, or just in the corner small. Depending on the size of your class, you may not have the entire class respond each time. Instead, with their sticky notes ready, assign particular students a word and suffix. You can even just hand them the word on a sticky note and as they finish they can place them on the chart in the correct spot across the row.

This chart would be great for a center activity as well. You could have the root words posted. Students would then add the word with the suffixes in the last two rows. You could pull down the sticky notes at the end of a rotation after a quick check! Viola! It’s ready for the next group!

The Animated Teacher uses a similar type of anchor chart for r-controlled vowels you can check it out here, along with many more examples of more useful literacy anchor charts.

Don’t forget to check out our posts about Math Anchor Charts.