literary essay anchor chart 4th grade

Anchor Charts to Improve Writing Skills

 WHAT ARE ANCHOR CHARTS?

Anchor charts are tools that support learning in the classroom. They can be used to support everything from classroom management strategies to the teaching of writing.

Essentially, they are visual prompts that provide students with information regarding their prior learning on a given topic. These visual prompts are used to provide a scaffold to support the students during guided practice and independent work.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF ANCHOR CHARTS FOR WRITING AND READING?

Anchor charts are becoming increasingly popular in classrooms for some very good reasons. They offer a wealth of benefits for students and teachers alike.

Here are just a few of the great benefits of using anchor charts as writing tools in the classroom.

  Anchor Charts Provide Increased Student Engagement

Anchor charts are an effective way of encouraging student engagement. Not only do they increase student confidence when engaged in a writing task, but they help to keep students on task by offering support in the form of visual prompts that help unstick the stuck! These anchor chart examples below provide students with a great visual point of reference to learn from.

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Anchor Charts Deepen Comprehension

Often, students get involved in the actual production of the anchor charts themselves. When helping to produce the anchor charts, students will have opportunities to reconstruct their learning and thereby deepen their comprehension of the material in the process.

As they construct their charts, students begin to make new connections between the various aspects of their learning as they organize these aspects in a visually comprehensible manner.

 Anchor Charts Supports Independent Work

Learning to write well can be one of the most challenging things a student learns to do at school.

As students learn to navigate the demands of various writing genres , seemingly endless questions arise at word, sentence, and whole text level.

This, in turn, makes heavy demands on the teacher’s time as individual students struggle with the various challenges of a given task.

Fortunately, anchor charts can help alleviate some of that burden by providing a visual resource and reference point that help students to answer many of the more commonly asked questions for themselves. This frees up the teacher from having to repeatedly answer the same questions throughout the course of a lesson, making more time to offer support where it’s most needed.

WHAT DO ANCHOR CHARTS LOOK LIKE?

Anchor charts come in all shapes and sizes and can be commercially bought or produced collaboratively by students and teachers in class.

Commercially bought Anchor Charts are great for permanent displays within the classroom.

Usually well-presented in bold lettering using dynamic colors, professionally-produced charts work well for topics that recur throughout the course of the year and are complex enough to require ongoing reinforcement.

When anchor charts are self-produced, they are usually handwritten in large print and displayed in a prominent position in the classroom for easy reference.

Usually, a co-creation between the student and the teacher, the charts should contain only the essential information regarding the topic.

When deciding what to include on a chart, think about the concepts, strategies, and prior learning that will most help students to work independently when engaged in their work.

HOW ARE ANCHOR CHARTS CREATED IN THE CLASSROOM?

To produce an anchor chart in the classroom requires very little in the way of resources other than some chart paper and some colored markers. Other than these, and defining a clear purpose and focus for your anchor chart, there is no specific preparation required.

However, there are a number of common elements to consider when producing anchor charts for use in the classroom. Some of these include:

●      Paper: Decide whether you are using adhesive paper, lined paper, blank paper, colored paper etc

●      Font-Size: This should be large enough to see from the various working areas of the classroom

●      Collaboration: Is it teacher-produced or a collaboration? What is the level of student involvement?

Where Anchor Charts are to be co-created with students, generally, they will be produced in collaboration with the students as you teach the lesson.

The chart will include the most important content and relevant strategies. In the case of the various writing genres, a list of the main criteria that must be included works well.

The anchor charts can then be used by the students as a checklist to refer to as the writing is produced. They can also serve for a final check when the work has been completed.

Here are some general tips to help ensure you get the most out of Anchor Charts in your classroom:

●      Keep things simple

●      Be sure the writing is well organised and easy to read

●      Use headings and bullet points to help display the main points

●      Use different colors for headings, bullet points etc

●      Use simple pictures, graphs, illustrations etc to help reinforce points

●      Don’t fill with lots of distracting details or graphics

Anchor Charts as Writing Tools – Examples

Anchor charts can be used very effectively to break down many of the more complex aspects of writing.

From punctuation use to the specific criteria for various writing genres, Anchor charts are a fantastic way to visually reinforce student understanding of these diverse processes.

The content of each chart will be dependent on their focus. But, let’s look at the possible content of two examples of Anchor Charts to help serve as models for what might be contained in an anchor chart produced in your classroom.

1.  Point of View Anchor Chart

The Point of View Anchor Chart can be used both to help guide students in identifying the point of view in a text as well as to help in the creation of the student’s own texts. We have an excellent guide on point of view that can be found here.

Looking out for keywords is an effective way to determine the point of view in a piece of writing. Point-of-view keywords are generally centred around the pronouns and the level of insight and perspective we are offered.

Let’s look at some of the more common points of view used, first in a little detail and then at how they might appear on an Anchor Chart.

First Person – a character is telling the story (narrator), and we often gain insight into the characters’ thoughts. Clues that indicate a first person will be the use of pronouns such as I , my , me , mine , we , us etc.

As bullet points, this might look like this:

●      First Person

○      Character narrates the story

○      Narrator is in the story

○      Narrator’s thoughts are revealed

○      Uses pronouns: I , my , me , mine , we , us etc.

Third Person Limited –  the narrator is outside the story and telling the story. In third-person limited, the writer sticks closely to the point of view of a single character, so we are usually only privy to that one character’s thoughts and experiences. The narrator does not know everything about the events that occur in the story. Indications that the third person is being used may be the use of characters’ names and pronouns, such as he , him , his , himself , she, her , hers , herself , it , its , itself , they , them , their , theirs , and themselves .

●      Third Person Limited

○      Narrator is outside the story

○      Narrator tells the story primarily from one character’s POV

○      Only the main character’s thoughts and feelings are revealed

○      Narrator has limited knowledge of events

○      Uses pronouns: he , him , his , himself , she, her , hers , herself , it , its , itself , they , them , their , theirs , and themselves .

Third Person Omniscient – the narrator tells the story and is privy to everything. Not only all the details of every event in the story, but the interior life of each character, such as emotions, opinions, and feelings, whether expressed or not. The usual third-person pronouns are used along with the character names.

●      Third Person Omniscient

○      Narrator tells the story from ‘above.’

○      Narrator knows the thoughts and feelings of every character

○      Narrator knows everything that happens

2. Instructional Writing Anchor Chart

The criteria for writing clear instructions can be very handily displayed as an anchor chart.

When writing a set of instructions, students can refer to the chart to help organize their writing. The same chart will also serve as a checklist for self-assessment at the end.

An instructional writing anchor chart may include information such as:

Instructional Writing:

●      Includes an explanatory title, e.g. ‘How to…’

●      Laid out in bullet points or numbered instructions

●      Uses time connectives to organise, e.g. ‘first’, ‘then’, ‘finally’ etc.

●      Uses imperatives to instruct the reader

●      Use straightforward, functional language

●      Supported by illustrations or diagrams

●      Diagrams and illustrations contain captions

In Conclusion

As we can see, anchor charts can serve as useful writing tools that support the development of student writing skills in the classroom.

When displayed prominently in the classroom, they can help students efficiently bridge the gap between being emergent writers lacking in self-confidence to becoming self-assured, independent writers.

It is important to remember, too, that though anchor charts are great tools that support students, ultimately, the intent is for the students to internalize the knowledge and information they contain. So don’t allow them to become a permanent crutch!

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Just 23 Totally Perfect 4th Grade Anchor Charts

Add these beauties to your repertoire!

Anchor charts are one of the teaching tools that I’ve found to be useful for pretty much any topic that I’m teaching. Whether the anchor chart is teacher-made ahead of time or if it’s made with student input, in the heat of the lesson, anchor charts are a great way to reinforce the concepts we need our students to master.

Here are some of my favorite fourth grade anchor charts:

1. Story plot

Understanding plots will help students comprehend stories and write narratives more successfully. I love the colors and simplicity of this fourth grade anchor chart from  Rockin Resources .

2. Character education

Character ed is a perfect place to incorporate anchor charts. This one, from  What I Have Learned , is about responsibility, but each character trait could have its own unique anchor chart.

3. Word problems

Word problems can be tricky! This CUBES chart from  Teaching With Simplicity  reminds students of strategies to use to solve a variety of word problems.

4. Prepositions

Grammar is a good time for an anchor chart! This one uses mice to help students better understand the meaning of prepositions and comes from  The Teacher Next Door .

5. Sentence structure

Even in fourth grade, students can use a few reminders about writing good sentences. I would slightly edit this version from  Croft’s Classroom  to make it clear that the predicate includes the verb.

6. Story elements

The puzzle pieces on this fourth grade anchor chart help teach about the different elements of a story. It’s a great concept from Teaching with a Mountain View .

7. Speaking and listening skills

This would be a really helpful chart for a discussion about Accountable Talk. I love how it shows both the listener’s and the speaker’s roles! This anchor chart comes from  Owl About Us .

8. Long division

Teaching long division is a rite of passage in fourth grade. This chart’s purpose is to help students remember long division’s sequence. I love how  Caffeine Queen Teacher  uses sticky notes, so the chart may be used over and over as an example!

9. Classroom expectations

Anchor charts are great for classroom management purposes. This one from  The Teacher Studio  helps set expectations for writing time.

10. Reading

Reading has so many components! This anchor chart from  Teacher Trap  serves as a great reminder for students about how reading really is thinking.

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11. Math vocabulary

This division anchor chart is a good reference to help increase a student’s math vocabulary. It comes from  The Owl Teacher .

12. Fairy tales

Fourth graders love fairy tales! This anchor chart from  Teaching Fourth with Kelly B.  helps kids identify the elements of a fairy tale and also helps students write original fairy tales.

13. Compare and contrast story elements

The Venn diagrams on this anchor chart illustrate ways to compare and contrast characters, settings, and events! I also like the examples of keywords which may signal either to compare or to contrast. Thanks to  Deb Hanson’s Crafting Connections  for this idea.

14. Reading expectations

This anchor chart from  Head Over Heels for Teaching  would make a great mini-lesson for reading at the beginning of the year. A discussion like this could help all of our students to become real readers!

15. Similes and metaphors

This figurative language anchor chart is so cute but so meaningful! I love the way  Teaching in Paradise  made the illustrations part of the examples for the lesson.

Theme is a challenging concept! I like how this anchor chart from  The Pinspired Teacher  not only defines theme, but provides lots of good examples. The sticky notes have examples of books with the highlighted theme.

17. Ecology

This fourth grade anchor chart is perfect for Earth Day. I love all the pictures and the examples that were included by  A Cupcake for the Teacher .

18. Conflict resolution

Anchor charts work well for social-emotional learning (SEL) and can be incorporated into morning meetings. This chart from  Literacy Loves Company  is great to leave up as a reminder of all of the different ways kids can solve conflicts.

19. Word choice

This anchor chart works well with a writing mini-lesson, such as said is dead . I love the way it offers helpful synonyms for overused words. It comes from  One Stop Teacher Shop .

20. Earth science

How Earth changes, both rapidly and slowly, is the subject of this anchor chart. I really like the simple but effective illustrations included by  Sharpening the Minds .

21. Adverbs

Adverbs can be difficult for kids to grasp. I like how this anchor chart from  Here’s an Idea by Lucy  breaks them down into different types and also gives examples of each.

22. Area and perimeter

Kids frequently forget the difference between area and perimeter. I like how this anchor chart from  Teaching With Simplicity  visually shows them the difference and includes formulas and examples.

23. Liquid measurement

This anchor chart from  Fourth Grade Weebly   is my favorite way to help students memorize units of capacity: cups, pints, quarts, and gallons.

Do you have a favorite anchor chart that wasn’t included? I’m always looking for new ideas and would love to see a picture if you have one!

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4 engaging compare and contrast anchor charts.

Comparing and contrasting are important skills for students to learn. Not only will these skills be pertinent in reading fiction and nonfiction text, but they will help students in science, social studies, math, and the arts. Anchor charts are going to be a huge help when working with compare and contrast. Compare and contrast anchor charts are visual, interactive, and they can help students organize their thoughts.

Introducing the Compare and Contrast Skills

When first introducing the skill, you will want to go over the terminology. It can also be helpful to include the types of questions that students can ask themselves when comparing and contrasting. This simple compare and contrast anchor chart shows what each word means and lists some of the clue words that students can look for in their texts. These are also terms they can learn to use in their descriptions of texts.

Additionally, students should be introduced to the Venn Diagram or Tophat. I would start by comparing and contrasting things that students already know a lot about. It is easy to learn how to use this helpful diagram if they aren’t also searching for information in a text. In the example above, the teacher and students compared two animals, the elephant, and the rhino. With practice, students will learn to list individual descriptors on the outside and shared descriptors in the middle.

Anchor Charts to Compare and Contrast Two Stories

The goal is for students to be able to compare and contrast two texts, in this case, fiction stories. After some introduction, you and your students can begin practice with stories that are familiar. Stories like Cinderella, The Three Little Pigs, and Goldilocks, and the Three Bears are great to start with. Each of these stories has a variety of fractured or adapted versions. It is easy to see the similarities and differences between fractured fairy tales and their “original” story.

The next step is to take a deeper dive into stories by focusing your comparison to each of the story elements. The anchor chart above includes a Venn Diagram and guiding questions for each of the story elements: character, setting and events. This will help students look for similarities and differences in more parts of each story. It will also help students understand how writers deliver similar messages within stories that you may not initially think are alike.

Another great compare and contrast anchor chart is this simple t-chart. I love anchor charts that are interactive and easily recreated. After reading two stories, students can record traits that are unique to each story on a sticky note, placing them under each title. Then, they can record similarities, things that fall under both stories, at the bottom.

Lastly, a major benefit of using compare and contrast anchor charts is that they are great tools that students can easily create on their own. So, if a student is reading a story, they could draw a Venn Diagram or T-chart on a blank sheet of paper. They can easily recall all of the modeling and practice that you did as a class and it will help them master the compare and contrast skill!

Do you want a free compare and contrast activity? Practice this skill with printable paired passages and graphic organizers! This freebie comes with two stories, The Three Little Pigs and Slime or Lime? With three recording pages, students can practice comparing and contrasting independently or with a partner!

Interested in a *free* Compare and Contrast activity?

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Looking for complete Compare and Contrast Units?

If you’re looking for complete Compare and Contrast units, I have those, too! Each unit comes with everything you need to teach RL.9: Lesson plans, graphic organizers, comprehension passages, assessments, and more!

Want to read more about Compare and Contrast?

• Best Books for Compare and Contrast
• How to Teach Compare and Contrast in Fiction Texts
• How to Teach Compare and Contrast in Nonfiction Texts
• Read more about: Anchor Charts , Common Core Aligned , Comprehension , Reading Blog Posts

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Dianna Radcliff

Teaching Upper Elementary & more

The Best Anchor Charts

February 6, 2018 by Dianna Radcliff

The Best Anchor Charts for your ELA classroom all together in one place! You will find outlines to utilize in Reading Literature, Reading Informational, Writing and Language. 

Explained in this blog post is about the purpose of utilizing anchor charts in your daily instruction. Along with tips to organize your charts.

Below is a collection of anchor charts that have been used during instruction in my classroom. The goal of putting this blog post together is to help fellow educators.

The Purpose of Anchor Charts:

To being, anchor charts are a non-negotiable addition for my instruction. These visuals are looked at as a learning tool for my students and myself, ultimately becoming an instructional and learning strategy. Also, charts are a tool that not only supports the instructional goals of a lesson, but support students’ ongoing learning of the lesson.

These outlines are created to capture the content delivered in instruction. Along with building upon strategies and previous standards taught.

Finally, visuals created in lessons need to be accessible to students throughout the school year. They also help to create a visual imprint for students to refer back to when needed.

Anchor Chart Organization Tips:

• Labels – In the top of each anchor chart, label them by standards, category, skill, strategy, etc… This allows students an additional reference point.

• Always make ACADEMIC LANGUAGE stand out to help immerse students in the formal language. For example, use bold letters, capital letters, red markers, underline… Doing so allows you to slip in ACADEMIC LANGUAGE  instruction which benefits students on future assessments. 
• Anchor charts are meant to anchor a lesson, therefore to save time you can always create the outline, but leave open spaces to complete with students during lesson.

• Create images and sections in your anchor chart to organize information. 

Anchor Chart Examples:

Here are the anchor charts I have created in my 5th Grade ELA Classroom:

(Side Note: I use my own ideas, my students ideas and online ideas for these charts. Credit to all the fabulous teachers who have posted images of classroom visuals online, there are so many fabulous teacher-authors to give credit to, along with the shared ideas within my school buildings. Thank you for helping me instructionally and my students.)

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Teaching with Jennifer Findley

Upper Elementary Teaching Blog

Persuasive Writing Anchor Charts for Struggling Writers {Lots of Pictures}

Here are some of my favorite persuasive writing anchor charts that I have used to help my struggling writers write strong, detailed persuasive papers. These charts contain a lot of sentence stems and step by step directions for each paragraph. It may seem a bit formulaic in nature, but once the students feel comfortable, they will branch out and add their own style and unique voice.

Here is a brainstorming poster. A Yes/No chart is one way that I teach students to organize their thoughts before they begin writing. This particular prompt showed a picture of an old, abandoned house and had the students determining if the local children should be allowed to play in the house.

After the students brainstorm several reasons for each side of the argument and they choose a side, we move into writing a clear and strong position statement. Here are some of the stems I offer the students as options.

After the students have a solid position statement, we move into our introductory paragraph (nicknamed Top Bun from a hamburger model). I instruct the students to explain what the situation or problem is then to state their position. Finally, they finish their top bun by listing out their three main reasons in a sentence.

Before writing the body paragraphs (or Juicy Middle), we make a chart together with opinion words and phrases to link reasons and details together.

Next, we move into different details that the students can use to support their reasons. This is a chart that I print for the students to glue in their interactive notebooks. Click here to download this printable. At this point, I tell my students about the Power of 3: 3 reasons with 3 supporting details for each reason. Using the charts to guide them, they write their body paragraphs (using transition words and phrases and varying details).

If you want the prompt pages that go along with this download, click here to subscribe to my newsletter to have access to my freebie library. The prompt is an an older newsletter freebie that is now available in my exclusive freebie library for email subscribers only.

Finally, we discuss the concluding paragraph (Bottom Bun).  This is where I tell my students to mention the “nod to the other side” or counter argument and prove it incorrect. Then they restate their main point and end their essay. I also offer a few suggestions with ways to end the paper.

These anchor charts and scaffolds have worked wonders with my struggling writers in the past. Do you have any charts or scaffolds that help your students write persuasively?

Share the Knowledge!

Reader interactions, 13 comments.

November 22, 2015 at 10:13 pm

November 23, 2015 at 7:18 pm

You are very welcome, Collette!

February 12, 2016 at 12:41 am

Hi Jennifer I just subscribed to your blog and pages but cant find where to download the persuasive writing prompts from last year

February 13, 2016 at 9:30 am

Hi Elizabeth, you can access it by signing up for my newsletter at the link below. Once you sign up, the first email you get will have directions for accessing the freebie library where you can find the prompt. it is a Halloween Persuasive Writing prompt but can be used at any point of the year.

http://teachingtoinspire.us9.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=3277466fc24e8e08f8d489936&id=939cf54793

February 13, 2016 at 8:26 pm

Ok. Thanks. I got that but was interested in the poster type help which I first saw on Pinterest. Is that available to print.

February 15, 2016 at 11:21 am

Oh I am sorry. I was confused by what you were asking for and still am a little. Are you referring to this poster? https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8DtIUhMGc9qMG1nalRmNWhMaWs/view

February 15, 2016 at 2:29 pm

Oh dear. Going round in circles. I think you call them anchor charts. Or brainstorming charts. There are 5 I believe , relating to the hamburger bun poster. Yes/no, statement etc. they’re above on this page. Handwritten on large sheets.

February 15, 2016 at 3:54 pm

Okay, I understand now. Unfortunately, I don’t the anchor charts available in a printable form. You are free to print the pictures from the blog for reference or retype them for your own use. Glad we were able to finally get on the same page. 😀

December 7, 2016 at 9:01 am

Hello, Jennifer. I’m a Third Grade teacher and am loving your blog. Thank you for reaching out and supporting us. I am looking for better ways to teach Information Reading and Writing, specially Text Structures. Do you have any tips?

October 25, 2017 at 6:46 pm

I’ve tried 3 times now, with 2 different email addresses to sign up for you freebie newsletter and it is not working. I am not receiving an email. Is the freebie library not an option anymore? Or has it changed in some way?

Thanks, Jessica

May 12, 2020 at 9:04 am

Hi Jennifer! I just subscribed to your blog and started following your TPT account! I am loving the amazing resources I am finding here! I am currently teaching 6th grade math at a middle school, but am changing schools after this year because of changes I don’t agree with (Who knows what education will look like with the pandemic though.). Anyway, I have accepted a position at an elementary school and will teach 5th grade. Even though I have K-6 licensing, I have have always taught departmentalized in my short career. I say all that to say THANK YOU for this blog! It is already easing my fears as I look through many of your posts. I am already starting to work through how I might teach the core subjects and what items I want to purchase through TPT.

October 25, 2020 at 6:49 pm

HI, I had a question about your abandoned house writing slide. I am new to teaching fifth grade and writing and was wondering if it is asking students to write five paragraphs or just three.

September 25, 2021 at 2:07 pm

This was super awesome! I just did a quick write on persuasive writing to see where my students are at…CLEARLY, they need these anchor charts. THANK YOU!

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I’m Jennifer Findley: a teacher, mother, and avid reader. I believe that with the right resources, mindset, and strategies, all students can achieve at high levels and learn to love learning. My goal is to provide resources and strategies to inspire you and help make this belief a reality for your students.

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Opinion Writing Anchor Charts for Upper Elementary

January 16, 2021 by Cristy

Teaching new writers how to gather evidence and plan for text-based writing can be challenging. Transitioning them over to actually writing the essay where they must weave those ideas into a well developed and organized essay is just as big of a task. Below, are some ways you can use opinion writing anchor charts to give 4th and 5th grade students tangible examples of how to make their writing focused, well-supported, and engaging.

1. Opinion Writing Hooks

Once students have a plan of action for their writing, introducing a writing “hook” is a natural place to begin when starting instruction of actually writing the essay.

Start off by explaining that a “hook” captures the reader’s interest and makes them want to continue to read. It should relate to and tightly tie into the topic that will be discussed.

Introduce the four most commonly used (and easiest to use) hooks.

• Interesting Fact

2. Introductory Paragraph

Now that students know how they will start their essay, they are ready to complete their introductory paragraph. For this quick lesson, tell students to start with their hook. Then, specify that writers need to include words from the prompt. This helps the reader know what the paper will be about and also helps the writer stay focused as they write. They can also include a preview to their answers in this paragraph.

3. Introduce the Components of Body Paragraphs

Body paragraphs are the heart of the essay. This is where the writer needs to provide the reasons they agree or disagree with the prompt. They also need to support their reasons with text evidence and elaborations.   

Many teachers are familiar with the acronym R.A.C.E. as a form of responding to a question. I like to use the acronym T.R.A.C.E. because it reminds the writer to use transitions within the essay and within the paragraphs.

During this step of instruction, it is beneficial to break down the acronym for your students. Introduce what each letter stands for. Explain that this is not a specific formula, but a guide that shows what should be included throughout the paragraph.

As you explain each letter, have students create an anchor chart and color code the text . Later in the writing process, this will help them identify what they are doing well and what they may need to add more of in their paragraphs.

4. Writing the Body Paragraphs

Now that you’ve discussed the components of a body paragraph and have taught students how to color code each letter, it’s time to model the writing.

Write the first body paragraph along with your students. It is best to write it on the board where they can all see it. Have students copy the sentences as you write them. Think aloud as you write. This will help students understand why you are including and excluding certain information.

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes and cross words or phrases out. Have students copy a few of these errors too. This will allow them to see that they can change their mind or fix errors.

Once you have completed the paragraph, color code the text. This will allow students to visually see the components of a body paragraph.

5. Introduce Types of Elaborations

Once students have seen you model a body paragraph, focus on the elaboration within the paragraph.

Introduce the four types of elaborations most frequently used within text-based writing.

• Definition: tells the meaning of an unfamiliar word
• Anecdote: a short story inserted into the text
• Example: provides specific cases, samples, or instances
• Scenario: a description of a possible event 

Provide Students with Opportunities to Practice

Although this is not a specific step in teaching writing, it is included because it is important to give students multiple opportunities to practice.

Depending on your students, you may want to focus on certain areas of a text-based writing lesson when you offer opportunities to practice. Do not feel the need to have students complete an entire prompt each time they write, especially at the start of the school year. 

Starting off with an overview, then moving on to certain parts before moving on to a complete essay can be a great way to scaffold this process for students. Offering students the opportunity to refer back to their opinion writing anchor charts as they write is also a key component to helping them become proficient writers.

Looking for More Support with Opinion Writing Anchor Charts?

Hopefully, these tips have helped you organize your beginning opinion writing lessons. 

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9 Compare And Contrast Anchor Charts with Resources

Pitting two things against each other sounds like a strange thing to do in class. When students compare and contrast two texts, that is essentially what they are doing. You can use anchor charts as a visual aid or reference to help students learn to look at two texts critically to find differences and similarities.

In this post, I discuss what should go into a compare and contrast anchor chart and give you some examples of useful charts. There are resources you can access from TeachSimple. Others are ideas you can adapt to your classroom.

Table of Contents

The elements of a good compare and contrast anchor chart, resources on compare and contrast, final thoughts on compare and contrast anchor charts.

A good compare and contrast anchor chart should make it absolutely clear what the two ideas mean. This can be something like: ‘compare’ means to look for similarities and ‘contrast’ is to look for what is different.

Any good anchor chart must be set out efficiently and use elements like font, color and shape to organize the content. With a subject like compare and contrast, this is especially important, as the students will be learning to work with two texts separately and then together. The anchor chart can use columns to separate the texts . A different color for each text is also useful, so is using different colors for differences and similarities. Essentially, a good compare and contrast anchor chart should be highly visual.

The chart must make provision for being able to work with specific texts. There are some different approaches you can use to achieve this. The chart could have a blank space at the bottom, where you can fill in information about different texts. Another effective way of doing this is to have two columns on the chart, labelled ‘similarities’ and ‘differences’. The students could fill in the two columns from specific texts. You can also have a grid that features the texts and similarities and differences.

One element that a number of compare and contrast anchor charts features is that of two circles that intersect. Each circle represents a text. The students would fill in the points about each text in the relevant circle. These are the differences between the texts. The intersection between the two circles is the space to fill in the similarities between them.

So many of my students don’t understand how to compare and contrast effectively. It’s a natural step from analyzing a text (or other source) and picking out similarities and differences should not be difficult. I’ve selected some resources that will give you ideas to help your students develop this skill.

Compare and Contrast Anchor Chart

This anchor chart is useful when you are teaching your students to compare and contrast two things. It is aimed at grades 1 – 3. There are four charts in the set that you can display in your classroom. I suggest beginning by working on the charts themselves with the students, so they can be guided to fill them in. This will make sure that they are involved, and invested, in the activities. You can also use the exercises and examples on the charts for ideas for worksheets for the students.

Authors Claim Anchor Chart

This resource consists of four anchor charts which allow the students to understand how authors give reasons to support their points. They are aimed at grades 1 – 4. The key to the process is for students to find keywords that relate to the claims the author makes. They apply this to two texts, to be able to compare them and also find the contrasts between them. The language in the charts may be a little sophisticated for the lower grades, but you can adapt it and keep the same ideas. This is a valuable resource for beginning the process of analysis, which could be adapted for higher grades as well.

Compare and Contrast Diagram

This is a great basic resource for students to use when they are working on comparing and contrasting two texts, or two versions of the same text. The circles with the intersection is the perfect graphic representation of differences and similarities. The chart gives cue words to direct the students in their analysis. It is aimed at grades 2 – 4. By adjusting the topic and the signal words, it can be used to teach any student in any grade the techniques of comparing and contrasting.

Compare & Contrast by Elementary Nest

When you look for an anchor chart that will introduce compare and contrast skills, this is a good starting point. The main attraction is its simplicity. The table with two columns brings together the very basics of the process of contrasting and comparing. This is a starting point for younger grades, a revision for middle grades, and the basis of independent work for higher grades.

Compare and Contrast Story elements anchor chart

This resource presents the Compare and Contrast Story Elements. It is quite a busy chart, but the layout and the use of colors and fonts does organize the content quite well. It is the sort of chart you would build up with your students and then display as a reference in the class.

Comparing Characters Graphic Organizer

Students may be asked to compare and contrast whole texts, or elements of a text at times. This chart on Comparing Characters is very simple, but an excellent starting point for a focused look at two features of a text. You can adapt it to just about any element of two texts or subjects. I suggest working on filling in the first chart, so that it becomes a true anchor for the students’ individual work on other texts.

Comparing and Contrasting Stories by Grade School Giggles

This is a truly interactive and fun activity to teach Comparing and Contrasting. The anchor chart itself is a bright and adaptable base. What really appeals to me, though, is the way you can use sticky notes, or pieces of paper and even the texts themselves in the circles. The two plastic hoops are a lovely touch. The students have to engage with the chart and the activity for it to work. I know this is aimed at lower grades, but just love the idea of higher grades getting ‘down and dirty’ with texts to compare and contrast them.

Compare & Contrast Non Fiction Text Structures by Raise the bar reading

Your students will be tasked to work with different types of texts. This resource is about how to Compare and Contrast non-fiction texts and is a more formal approach to what can be a methodical and precise process. The basic chart will work well as a template for activities with different texts. The bottom half of the chart can be left blank for different texts to be filled in.

Most students understand the idea of looking for ‘what is the same and what is different’ between two things. They aren’t always able to articulate this as ‘compare and contrast’. Using anchor charts can help them to understand the basic concepts and to apply them more effectively.

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Jane B has been in education for 37 years, teaching at all levels of school and at university, with extensive experience in developing educational resources.

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EL Education Curriculum

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• ELA G4:M4:U2:L9

Writing a Literary Essay: Analyzing a Model

In this lesson, daily learning targets, ongoing assessment.

• Technology and Multimedia

Supporting English Language Learners

Universal design for learning, closing & assessments, you are here:.

• ELA Grade 4
• ELA G4:M4:U2

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These are the CCS Standards addressed in this lesson:

• RL.4.1: Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
• RL.4.2: Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text.
• W.4.1: Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.
• W.4.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
• W.4.5: With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing.
• I can use the Painted Essay(r) structure to analyze a model. (W.4.2, W.4.5)
• I can write a focus statement for my literary essay. (RL.4.1, RL.4.2, W.4.2)
• Painted Essay(r) template (W.4.2)
• Exit Ticket: Focus Statement (RL.4.1, RL.4.2, W.4.2, W.4.5)
• Painting an Essay Plan from Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 9 to familiarize yourself with the color-coding and the purpose of each choice of color.
• Informative Writing Checklist and Model Literary Essay: "Do Something Meaningful" (for teacher reference) to familiarize yourself with what will be required of students for the rest of the unit (see supporting materials).
• Post: Learning targets and applicable anchor charts (see materials list).

Tech and Multimedia

• Continue to use the technology tools recommended throughout Modules 1-3 to create anchor charts to share with families; to record students as they participate in discussions and protocols to review with students later and to share with families; and for students to listen to and annotate text, record ideas on note-catchers, and word-process writing.

Supports guided in part by CA ELD Standards 4.I.B.6, 4.1.C.10, 4.1.C.11, 4.1.C.12, 4.II.A.1, 4.II.A.2

Important points in the lesson itself                               

• The basic design of this lesson supports ELLs by following a similar routine of reading a chapter of The Hope Chest in triads and identifying new themes as in Lessons 1-7; providing opportunities to unpack an example of the work they complete during the remainder of the unit; and returning to the familiarity of the Painted Essay(r) structure and the color-coding system used in Modules 1-3.
• ELLs may find it challenging to keep pace with the class as they read a chapter of The Hope Chest , analyze a model literary essay, and choose a theme to focus their own literary essays on all in one lesson. Additionally, they may find it challenging to follow the layout of the introduction paragraph, because it deviates from the layout of the model broadside introduction, which did not include points 1 and 2. Remind students that the goal of analyzing the model literary essay is to determine the gist of each paragraph, assuring them that they will focus on each paragraph in greater depth in future lessons.

Levels of Support

For lighter support:

• During Closing and Assessment, challenge students to use varying linking words and phrases to provide examples and evidence of the theme they are choosing to write their essays on. (Example: "I am choosing the theme _______ because ______. For instance, ________. Additionally, ______.")

For heavier support:

• Consider reading aloud Chapter 16 to students before the lesson, and inviting students to practice reading aloud a section of the chapter that they can then be responsible for reading in their triads in Opening A.
• Consider enlarging Model Literary Essay: "Do Something Meaningful" and color-coding each part, corresponding with the colors that students will later use to paint each component of the essay: red, yellow, blue, and green. As students share the gist of each paragraph during Work Time, record it in the margins of the enlarged model literary essay. Display the enlarged model literary essay throughout the unit, providing students with a concrete example of a literary essay for reference.
• Prepare the Painted Essay(r) template from Module 1 to display during Opening B, and the model broadside from Module 3 to display during Work Time A.
• Multiple Means of Representation (MMR): Continue to support active information processing skills as students integrate new information with prior knowledge. Provide options for comprehension by linking to and activating relevant prior knowledge.
• Multiple Means of Action and Expression (MMAE): This lesson offers several opportunities for students to engage in a discussion with partners. Continue to facilitate communication by providing sentence frames to help them organize their thoughts.
• Multiple Means of Engagement (MME): Continue to encourage self-regulatory skills by helping students anticipate and manage frustration by modeling what to do if they need help from their partners. (Example: "I can remember when I'm sharing that if I forget my idea or need help, I can ask my partner to help me. My partner could help me by giving me prompts that will help me share my thinking.") Consider offering sentence frames to strategically selected peer models. Recall that offering these supports for engagement promotes a safe learning space for all students.

Key:  Lesson-Specific Vocabulary (L); Text-Specific Vocabulary (T); Vocabulary Used in Writing (W)

• structure, analyze, focus statement (L)
• The Hope Chest (from Unit 1, Lesson 1; one per student)
• Working to Become Ethical People anchor chart (begun in Module 1)
• Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart (begun in Module 1)
• Vocabulary logs (from Module 1; one per student)
• Theme anchor charts (begun in Unit 1, Lesson 6; added to during Opening A; see supporting materials)
• Theme Anchor Charts: Chapter 16 (example, for teacher reference)
• Model Literary Essay: "Do Something Meaningful" (one per student and one to display)
• Model Literary Essay: "Do Something Meaningful" (example, for teacher reference)
• Colored pencils (red, yellow, blue, green; one of each per student)
• Painted Essay(r) template (from Module 1; one per student)
• Painting an Essay lesson plan (from Module 1; for teacher reference)
• Informative Writing Checklist (one per student and one to display; see Assessment Overview and Resources)
• Exit Ticket: Focus Statement (one per student)

Each unit in the 3-5 Language Arts Curriculum has two standards-based assessments built in, one mid-unit assessment and one end of unit assessment. The module concludes with a performance task at the end of Unit 3 to synthesize their understanding of what they accomplished through supported, standards-based writing.

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Literary Analysis Essay Anchor Charts

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This product includes 2 anchor charts that will support writers with writing their literary analysis essay. The anchor charts break down the components of an essay as well as a paragraph.

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