Anchor Charts: Organize your Collection

Anchor Charts on HANGERS! 

Welcome to my rainbow. Here's a pot-of-gold for you! 
Chances are good that you're new here. Glad you found me. Thank you Pinterest. Please pin to your heart's content! 

First off. The images you are about to see are NOT from my classroom. {I don't HAVE a classroom.} As an author/illustrator of picture books -- I make school visits to share my work. I then get 'INVITED-to-visit' classrooms. While I'm on site I take a ton of photos to share with readers here. All in the name of sharing excellence-in-education. Fun! ENJOY!

Let me repeat: This is not my work. Think of me as a 'reporter' documenting what I see on location. Think of me as a reporter documenting what I see, with VERY limited time available to do so. Hope that makes sense. ENJOY! 

Author/Illustrator Anchor Charts to Share and Compare Style and Approach 

Last spring I had an AMAZING day in West Palm Beach, FL with the kinders. 

The charts above were on the K bulletin boards. 

What a thrill to have my own style of work being compared to Mo Willems! 

BIG TIME DELIGHT!!!

LUV LUV LUV seeing myself being 'studied.' 

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Now. On to the idea of "ORGANIZING" your anchor charts!

A year ago I saw this next, INCREDIBLE collection of anchor charts in a SE Indiana elementary. 
Immediately, my reaction was "WOW" followed by "brilliant!"

I didn't think to 'turn over' the anchor charts to see exactly how they were affixed to the hangers. 
Didn't cross my mind at the time. Don't know. Can't tell you. 

BUT. 
Hopefully you get the global idea of how this concept, could simplify your world!!!
I put this photo in my HUGE ORGANIZATIONAL RoundUP earlier. 

Since then, I've kept my eyes peeled to see how others organize their anchor charts. 

Hang-it-UP Organization! 

Get THYSELF some HANGERS!!!

The good news: I have amazing inspiration to share. 
The bad news: I'm not very clever at answering your questions. 

So I can't really give you the details on 'how' 
these specific systems were created.
You'll have to use your Yankee Ingenuity to replicate.

These next beauties were part of my West Palm visit.  

Same basic concept. 

Free-standing garment rack as base.

Both of these systems were right in the middle of the classroom. 

Here's yet another parallel idea. 

This one is also in a kindergarten classroom. 

This time the school is in Wisconsin. 

The theme at the time was apparently colors-words and spelling. 

Now we're going to leave my WI visit and return to IN only this time we're going to visit the amazing classroom of Kristen Poindexter in Indy. Kristen coordinated and hosted my school visit with her entire K-team, right there in her own room! Think LOTS and LOTS of k-kiddos together singing and dancing with me. You probably know her as "Kristen's Kindergarten." 

If you look closely at the examples that follow, you'll see that in some instances Kristen uses 'skirt' hangers, to clamp onto the completed anchor chart. They are then suspended on her clothes bar. This brings to a total of four rooms using the same basic idea. All of the racks were right in the middle of the room for easy access.

You're going to really be impressed with Kristen's next three charts for three dimensional 'shapes.' 

Go ahead. Say it. You know you want to!  

WOW!!!

If you're keeping track. That's two different schools in Indiana, one in Florida and one in Wisconsin that have each had teachers using a freestanding rack of sorts. 

This next little "Gingerbread Man" classic was hanging on a hanger from the bulletin board in Ohio. I glanced around the room, but never saw any evidence of the rest of a collection-on-hangers. There may have been a closet with other examples, all stowed neatly away? This is the only one I spotted. 



So now that I'm on the Anchor Chart notion...... I thought I'd dig around through my files and see what other examples I have to share. [I had never used the blog 'label' for anchor charts until today, so you can't do a nifty simple search. Moving forward, I'll attempt to remember to use the tag when I share additional anchor charts.] 

I've seen any number of classroom examples for student's names. Here are a couple. 

There are teachers making charts for every concept from A to Z!! 

Arctic to Zebra!! 

I had the great good pleasure of listening to Deanna Jump's SDE workshop in Orlando. 
Next month I will be on the agenda with her in VEGAS for "I Teach Kindergarten." 
These next several images are from her presentation. 

You'll need to come hear her on the road to see the gazillion other examples she shares. 
I just wanted to include a handful. 
Here she is sitting in the middle of her work.
If you somehow are not following her blog, its time! 

If you are here in 'real-time,' 
please pop back to the contest I launched on Sunday..... 
where one lucky winner will win a FULL registration for the upcoming event. 
{Worth $569!!) 
You still have two days to get fully invested in the giveaway of all time! 

Now let's move on to a wide variety of charts and posters.
I started with images of welcome and community building. 
On through a few holidays. 
And conclude with some EOY (end-of-year) goodies. 

Next up is an anchor chart that is LITERALLY color coordinated to the classroom decor. 
You owe it to yourself to click back here and see what I mean. 

Click the Picture to Take a Closer Look! 

Kindergarten Poem Written During my Two Day Residency with Mrs. Sherwood in Hilliard, OH

Are you inspired? 
Are you ready to make your charts even better next year?

Let me conclude with one final example. 
We'll wrap up where we started: 
with a focus on my picture books. 

This next one is for my first picture book: 
"You're Wonderful."  

It was on display in Holly Rose's Kinder room in Westerville, OH..... where I have gone to conclude the school year, every spring for the last 10 YEARS!  

The song which became the text of my first book is now available digitally.
It gets used for lots of end-of-the year performances. 
It's equally appropriate to launch your new school year. 



Speaking of Pinterest! 
I have an entire Pinboard dedicated to Anchor charts. 

It has been a collaborative board for quite some time, 
so there are now nearly 1400 pins from over 100 contributors. 

I can now see at Pinterest exactly how many people pin from my blog on a daily basis.
I'm so grateful for each and every one of you that pins..... 
that's how the vast majority of people *discover* me and my work.

-- Debbie -- 

I'm now at 123,928 followers!     

Click this link to go there directly! 

Now at 412 followers!