Who doesn’t love to see classroom walls filled with colorful math anchor charts creating a content-rich environment? But anchor charts are far more than just colorful classroom decorations – they’re powerful tools that can transform the way students engage with concepts. From introducing new ideas to reinforcing skills and providing valuable references, anchor charts are a must-have in elementary classrooms.
Are You Team Scented Markers? Or Team Easy Button?
There are two ways to approach building your math anchor chart collection, each with its own benefits and drawbacks.
The first is to create each math anchor chart as you go. Grab a large piece of paper and some colorful markers, gather your students where everyone can see, and sketch notes as you introduce the skill.
- Pros: They are fun to create, and students get to be a part of the process.
- Cons: Large chart paper is expensive, creating as you teach consumes valuable instructional time, and working with markers leaves no room for error. You also need to have a pretty good idea of how you want the chart to look at the end of the lesson, otherwise, it could end up a little chaotic and hard to read.
An alternative is to download a set a pre-made math anchor charts from a trusted teacher-author. Print or project the anchor chart for the class to see and use it as a launching point to introduce and discuss the new topic.
- Pros: Easy to read, saves a ton of time, easy to keep on file for use year after year, and you can easily make multiple copies in different sizes.
- Cons: It allows less opportunity for student input.
Personally, I enjoy both. Some days a pack of fruity-smelling poster markers and chart paper is just what I need to feed the creative part of my brain and get me excited about teaching a skill for the umpteenth time. Other days, I’m grateful for the easy-button convenience of projecting an anchor chart slide that I know already has every detail organized in a visually pleasing way.
Regardless of which team you find yourself on, you’ve either invested time into making your own math anchor charts or you’ve invested money into purchasing them. You deserve to stretch that investment for all its worth.
With that in mind, here are 5 ways to use and repurpose math anchor charts in your classroom to help students learn and review skills.
Use Math Anchor Charts to Introduce a New Concept
No doubt, this is the most common use for math anchor charts. As you introduce a new topic, kickstart the learning process by creating an anchor chart together as a class or displaying a pre-made math anchor chart for your students. This will anchor their learning by helping them understand new vocabulary and remember what they need to do in order to complete a task. For example, while introducing long division, you could create an anchor chart with the steps students need to follow, including content-specific vocabulary like quotient and dividend. You can also include an example or two on the chart so that students have an exemplar to refer back to if they get stuck.
Tip: If you are using pre-made math anchor charts from a PDF you can print them as larger items by choosing the poster setting available on most school printer menus.
Many teachers use math anchor charts to introduce a new concept, then hang them on a wall for a few weeks, adding value to the classroom decor. However, if this is the only way you’re using anchor charts, you’re leaving some low-hanging fruit on the tree. Consider using one or more of the following strategies to repurpose your anchor charts and add student engagement to lessons without spending precious time prepping additional materials.
Learning Station Practice
Take your math anchor charts beyond the realm of decor by integrating them into learning stations. If you want students to practice a skill independently, print your anchor charts as standard 8.5×11 pages and place them at a learning station along with a set of task cards for that particular skill. Then students can review the skill using the anchor chart as they work on applying that same skill while solving the problems on the cards. This will help students to remember what they need to do when working through a particular skill while also building their independent work stamina.
Power Pairing with Interactive Notebooks
Individually, each of these tools is amazing, but once I showed my students how to use math anchor charts and interactive notebooks together, it was like 24 lightbulbs lit at once! After you’ve used an anchor chart to teach a skill, give a smaller version to each student. The perfect way to do this is to set your printer to 2 pages per sheet so that the charts shrink to just the right size to be glued into a spiral notebook or composition book. These notebooks become their go-to reference as they tackle new concepts. On the opposite page, students complete an interactive cut-and-paste or foldable activity for the concept. Yes, it takes a little time, and yes, you will end up with paper scraps on the floor, but it’s worth it. When they’re done, students have concrete evidence that they’ve learned the new concept and put it into practice. They’ve spent enough time on the interactive page to let their brains absorb the new content and process it. There’s something about the cutting, pasting, and coloring that allows the brain to anchor to the new learning in a way that worksheets just can’t.
Caption: Get a closer look at these power-pairings here.
As students add to their notebooks throughout the year, they end up with a personalized portfolio showcasing their progress. It becomes a tangible representation of their skills, growth, and ownership of their education.
Test-Prep and Review Using Math Anchor Charts
Transform review sessions into engaging activities by leveraging your math anchor charts. Leading up to a test, display a digital anchor chart with the projector and use the hiding tools or shapes to strategically cover up keywords or information. If you’re using a chart paper anchor chart, use sticky notes as your cover tool. Lead students through a review by having them work together to fill in the missing words or numbers.
If you find some of your students are struggling with a concept or skill, provide extra practice by having them create their own anchor charts. This will help them better understand the concept as they create their own visual representation of it. And for your artistic students, this just might be the activity they need to make a tricky concept finally click.
Create a Concept Board
Print all the math anchor charts about one topic, such as representing data, in 8.5 x 11 and hang them up on your classroom bulletin board to create a concept wall. This will be especially helpful for those students who need a little extra reminder about how to do something from time-to-time. It will also help them see how skills within that topic are related to one another.
Send Math Anchor Charts Home for Support
Especially when it comes to math, I hear parents voicing that they don’t understand the way a skill is being taught these days. If you have parents who are willing to help their children with math homework, offer them support by sending home copies of the anchor charts. Not only does this give parents the support of a reference tool, but it might also discourage them from sharing the short-cuts and tricks that could derail all the hard work you did deconstructing a skill during the lesson. Sending anchor charts home is a great way to encourage parents to be involved in their child’s learning and for children to get extra practice at home. Downloadable math anchor charts are perfect for this as they can easily be attached to an email or included in a newsletter, but a photo of your paper charts will still get the job done.
Time and energy are precious resources, so save as much as you can by taking one resource and making it work in several different capacities. Try out any of the suggestions above or come up with your own outside-the-box use for anchor charts with a set of done-for you math anchor charts for 3rd or 4th grade math.
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Check out more great idea for your math classroom with these articles:
8 Fun & Hands-On Ways to Introduce Multiplication as Equal Groups
Ace Place Value to 1,000 Lessons with a Digital Learning Path Unit
Standard Units of Measurement for Length: A Helpful Hands-On Lesson Plan for 3rd Graders