A Bright Idea of Reusable Anchor Charts!

I'm joining the Bright Ideas Blog Hop with a Bright Idea for creating Anchor charts you can use year after year!

I love daily five's structure. I like the way you practice routines WITH the students. I like to create the anchor charts WITH them, so they have some buy in to the whole process. BUT - I also want them to look nice. I have been creating the charts for a few years and always struggle to decide if I should make the charts myself, printing them, and go over them with the class before displaying them - or making them with the students even though they don't look the best.

I've always had great results creating them with students so I have stuck with it. However I have been trying to come up with a way that I can create charts I love, look nice, and I don't have to recreate every year. I think I finally figured it out!

I purchased these blank charts to match my classroom decor

  and some full page label paper by 3M

I typed the headings for each chart in a font that I liked and printed it onto this label paper, along with some cute clip art that I wanted to add to the charts.

I cut out the words and the clip art, then placed it on the chart where I wanted it to go.

This allowed me to move them around and get them on the chart just the way I wanted them. Then I peeled the backing off the "stickers" and placed them on the chart.

I wanted to make the T-Chart so I used decorative tape I picked up at the Dollar Tree. I used a pencil and ruler to make a straight line across the chart.

Then put the tape down on the line

I love how these turned out and can't wait to add to them WITH my students...I haven't put the line down the middle yet but I plan to.

I am going to laminate them so that I can write on them with dry erase markers and erase them at the end of the year! Then I will be able to use them over and over again!

For more Bright Ideas, check out the blogs below!