Why should I use Elements of Music anchor chart posters in my music classroom?
Whether you are teaching 500+ elementary students a few times a week or directing a middle school choir every school day, anchor charts are a great way to support and reinforce student learning.
What exactly is an anchor chart? An anchor chart is a visual support for students that “anchors” their learning with important information from previous or current lessons that they are able to easily reference. This can be pre-made, such as the charts I have in my Teachers Pay Teacher store, or something that you create with your students as part of an interactive lesson.
Not everything you hang on the wall is considered an anchor chart. An anchor chart is connected to student learning and not just for classroom decor.
Word Wall? Vocabulary anchor chart ✅. A beautiful poster with an inspirational quote? Lovely, but no 🚫.
Elementary music teachers work so hard to teach “all the things” in music and never have enough time to go as deep as they like. Seeing students for 25 minutes twice a week (if you’re lucky) only adds up to about 40 hours a school year and that’s not taking into account missed classes for field trips, parent teacher conferences, etc. Having anchor charts in place allows the teacher to move on in the curriculum and have the important information on the wall, at the ready, to refer back to going forward. 🎼
As a middle- or high school ensemble director your band and choirs consist of students who come from different schools and are not only arriving at individual readiness levels, but also different musical pedagogies. Every year that I taught band or choir at the secondary level, I had students who either had not had music in school at all or who had not been in a music class for some time and after distance learning for a few years, there was a lot of reteaching of basic musical concepts. Anchor charts can help even those students who struggle to be a part of the classroom conversation as they can look to the anchor charts for the information that may not yet be at immediate recall.
My first products in my TPT store, Learning with Lowrimore, are basic Elements of Music anchor chart posters that have black and white borders and define the element and provide a visual representation of it as well. These would primarily be for the elementary or middle school classroom. Each set has one page for each element. I will be adding to my store full sets for each element that go more into detail in the future.
By keeping them in black and white designs, these can be printed on white or colored paper. I have laminated an example of each (see image above). I love my Swingline Laminator and have used it countless times in my educator career. As a music teacher my room has never been close to the staff room and laminating right at my desk to prolong the life of my resources was a life saver.
Check out my product listings and let me know what you think!
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