Anchor Charts
Let's! Talk! Anchor Charts!
Right behind graphic organizers, Anchor Charts are my next favorite resource in my Spanish classroom. They seem intimidating at first but I'm going to break them down so they are accessible.
First, I want to say that they can be (are) easy. And, they actually should help you focus your lessons to create even more comprehensible input for your kids. Let's tackle this topic by answering commonly asked questions.
Here are a few examples from my Spanish 1 classroom:
How many words do I add per day?
You are only going to add 1-2 terms per day to your anchor chart. A maximum of 2. If you have 2 anchor charts going (more on that later) I would only add 1 term per chart per day.
How do I create the anchor chart?
First, you need a title of some sort. The title ideas above are "Say more!" and "Make it real!" The "Say more!" anchor chart includes lots of connector words that help students make more complex sentences.
I used the "Make it real!" anchor chart at the beginning of the year and used weather terms so that when students wrote their stories, they were descriptive.
If you are using Tina Hargaden's Stepping Stones, she lays out specific titles for each anchor chart per cycle and phase along with ideas for what to put on each chart that can help focus your ideas.
Why would I do this?
I do this because it helps me focus the stories I tell in class and it helps me be creative within the comprehensible confines of 5-8 words. I try my best to use a combination of our anchor chart terms together with lots of cognates to tell a story and I have seen a lot of success with student comprehension.
How do I use it?
I like to add the new term(s) right at the beginning of class as I am norming and preparing them for class that day. I say something along the lines of "This is our new term for the day. The word is quiere. Quiere means 'Wants' in English. Repeat after me..." Every time I go to use that word in a story, before I say it, I silently walk over to the anchor chart and point to the word . Then I say it in Spanish. Sometimes I will say "¿Cómo se dice "quiere" en inglés?" and have the whole class tell me what it means.
How do I do it?
You need to pick an easily accessible spot in your room. A place all the kids can see and a place you can easily walk to. Our whiteboards are precious space but I took up a large area to the far right and put a border around it to really emphasize it. Our main anchor chart stays there and kids always know where to look when I say "Check the anchor chart".
Do I need to have one anchor chart per class?
Ideally, yes. I started doing that at the beginning of the year but it turned out to be too much for me. I ended up making it to one anchor chart for all of my Spanish 1 classes and they really didn't seem to notice or care. Tina talks about how writing the terms out out in front of the students helps their acquisition buuuuuuuut I didn't notice to much of a change in comprehension after I just moved to one anchor chart. It just made my life easier and so I went for it.
How do I do multiple anchor charts?
Keep the main anchor chart in your dedicated spot. Don't alter that spot! It is important for kids to have that consistency and know where to find their terms. If you are using a second anchor chart, pick a second distinct spot where the kids can look. My second spot is on a wall on the right side of my room. It is still easy for me to access and all students can easily see it.
What if my kids still don't have it memorized?
The goal here is to support acquisition, not to have them memorize these terms. Even if you have used the term "wants" in the target language every day for the past 3 weeks, you might ask "How do we say wants in our TL?" and you will have 1-4 kids either say the wrong thing or have no idea. Just add it to your new anchor chart! Don't shame them or say something like "Seriously?!" It will just make those 4 kids feel worse. I am saying this from experience and darker moments of my teaching. Just say "Oh it's okay if you don't remember. Let's add it to the anchor chart." Don't take it personally if they don't know! Just keep on supporting their acquisition and they will get it eventually.
Should I do this?
Yes! It helps you focus your storytelling/input and it helps the kids really focus on only those key terms that they will find the most useful when they want to produce original thoughts through writing or speaking.
Tips and Tricks
Right behind graphic organizers, Anchor Charts are my next favorite resource in my Spanish classroom. They seem intimidating at first but I'm going to break them down so they are accessible.
First, I want to say that they can be (are) easy. And, they actually should help you focus your lessons to create even more comprehensible input for your kids. Let's tackle this topic by answering commonly asked questions.
Here are a few examples from my Spanish 1 classroom:
How many words do I add per day?
You are only going to add 1-2 terms per day to your anchor chart. A maximum of 2. If you have 2 anchor charts going (more on that later) I would only add 1 term per chart per day.
How do I create the anchor chart?
First, you need a title of some sort. The title ideas above are "Say more!" and "Make it real!" The "Say more!" anchor chart includes lots of connector words that help students make more complex sentences.
I used the "Make it real!" anchor chart at the beginning of the year and used weather terms so that when students wrote their stories, they were descriptive.
If you are using Tina Hargaden's Stepping Stones, she lays out specific titles for each anchor chart per cycle and phase along with ideas for what to put on each chart that can help focus your ideas.
Why would I do this?
I do this because it helps me focus the stories I tell in class and it helps me be creative within the comprehensible confines of 5-8 words. I try my best to use a combination of our anchor chart terms together with lots of cognates to tell a story and I have seen a lot of success with student comprehension.
How do I use it?
I like to add the new term(s) right at the beginning of class as I am norming and preparing them for class that day. I say something along the lines of "This is our new term for the day. The word is quiere. Quiere means 'Wants' in English. Repeat after me..." Every time I go to use that word in a story, before I say it, I silently walk over to the anchor chart and point to the word . Then I say it in Spanish. Sometimes I will say "¿Cómo se dice "quiere" en inglés?" and have the whole class tell me what it means.
How do I do it?
You need to pick an easily accessible spot in your room. A place all the kids can see and a place you can easily walk to. Our whiteboards are precious space but I took up a large area to the far right and put a border around it to really emphasize it. Our main anchor chart stays there and kids always know where to look when I say "Check the anchor chart".
Do I need to have one anchor chart per class?
Ideally, yes. I started doing that at the beginning of the year but it turned out to be too much for me. I ended up making it to one anchor chart for all of my Spanish 1 classes and they really didn't seem to notice or care. Tina talks about how writing the terms out out in front of the students helps their acquisition buuuuuuuut I didn't notice to much of a change in comprehension after I just moved to one anchor chart. It just made my life easier and so I went for it.
How do I do multiple anchor charts?
Keep the main anchor chart in your dedicated spot. Don't alter that spot! It is important for kids to have that consistency and know where to find their terms. If you are using a second anchor chart, pick a second distinct spot where the kids can look. My second spot is on a wall on the right side of my room. It is still easy for me to access and all students can easily see it.
What if my kids still don't have it memorized?
The goal here is to support acquisition, not to have them memorize these terms. Even if you have used the term "wants" in the target language every day for the past 3 weeks, you might ask "How do we say wants in our TL?" and you will have 1-4 kids either say the wrong thing or have no idea. Just add it to your new anchor chart! Don't shame them or say something like "Seriously?!" It will just make those 4 kids feel worse. I am saying this from experience and darker moments of my teaching. Just say "Oh it's okay if you don't remember. Let's add it to the anchor chart." Don't take it personally if they don't know! Just keep on supporting their acquisition and they will get it eventually.
Should I do this?
Yes! It helps you focus your storytelling/input and it helps the kids really focus on only those key terms that they will find the most useful when they want to produce original thoughts through writing or speaking.
Tips and Tricks
- Use 2 different colors (One for Spanish and one for English) Here are my faves
- Add a little drawing to make it more comprehensible
- You can even erase the English eventually and only leave the drawing
- Use as neat of handwriting as you can (trying to avoid cursive as it confuses some students. Yes, I'm serious!)
- Do not overload your anchor chart. Once you've hit 5-8 terms, start a new one
- Repeat previous terms on new anchor charts if needed.
Comments
Post a Comment