Anchor Activities

Brought to you by Charlotte Daugherty and Trisha Brown

MEANINGFUL work for students that can be completed independently (or in small groups)

Why are they useful?

• a student may have finished early
• transitions or stations
• allow time for you to work with a certain group of students
• provide reflection opportunities
• can be a teaching tool, especially for the kids who need help on basic skills

Work best when:

• Directions are clear
• Students are held accountable in some way
• Students are given some options

I know all that... Why are we here?

• to show you ways to utilize your Xtendas for anchor activities
• (while giving information to the Xtendaless as well)

Website of our Anchor Activities: http://york.conroeisd.net/library/anchor

A list of resources used to create this list is available on the webpage.

Sites we looked at during the meeting:

• FreeRice – http://www.freerice.com
• FunBrain – http://www.funbrain.com
• StudyBlue – http://www.studyblue.com
• Anything else you'd like to explore :)

Ways to hold students accountable:

Note: These are only suggestions. You know your kids...

• Use a Tic-Tac-Toe board to choose which Anchor Activities a student will do.  Example to the right (and linked on webpage)
• Learning journals
• Learning contracts – Example on website
• Random checks

Tips to manage online anchor activities:

• Monitor the students
• Only one person per computer
• Post acceptable websites. Don't let them deviate.
• Don't let them listen to music, even with headphones. You never know what else they may be doing.
• Limit the time each student can spend on the computer: 5-10 minutes maximum.
• Offer credit for a certain number of Anchor Activities completed, possibly to replace the lowest daily or quiz grade,
• Monitor the students.