Twelve reading anchor chart ideas for kindergarten through grade 5, with what goes on each chart and the standard it supports where one applies.
Make anchor charts for reading one skill at a time, matched to the comprehension skill your class is working on that week. At Chalkbox, we build free classroom tools and guides for kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) teachers, and the charts below are the ones we suggest for kindergarten through grade 5.
An anchor chart is a large poster built with students during a lesson and kept on the wall as a reference. A reading anchor chart records a strategy, a question stem list, or a model of how a skill looks in a text. Each chart idea below is a Chalkbox teaching suggestion, built live from a book your class has already read.
Build one reading anchor chart for each comprehension skill: asking and answering questions about the text, retelling, characters and setting, central message, theme, and quoting the text. Keep a short strategy chart for decoding unfamiliar words next to whichever skill chart is up.
| Chart | What goes on it | Grade band | Standard it supports |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asking and Answering Questions | Question stems (who, what, where, when, why, how) and the line "My answer comes from the text because ___" | Kindergarten to grade 3 | RL.K.1, RL.3.1, RI.1.1 |
| Retell a Story | Beginning, middle, and end, with one sentence for each | Kindergarten to grade 1 | RL.1.2 |
| Characters, Setting, Events | Three boxes, each holding key details from the story | Grade 1 | RL.1.3 |
| Central Message | A short fable or familiar story, what the character learned, and the evidence that shows it | Grades 1 to 3 | RL.1.2, RL.3.2 |
| Character Traits | A trait word, what the character did, and what that action shows | Choose by need | None listed |
| Making Inferences | Three parts: what the text says, what I know, so I think | Grade 5 | RL.5.1 (drawing inferences) |
| Quote the Text | Quotation marks, a short quote, and a starter such as "The text says ___" | Grade 5 | RL.5.1 |
| Theme | Topic vs theme, details that point to the theme, and how a character responds to a challenge | Grades 4 to 5 | RL.5.2 |
| Main Idea and Details | The full build is on our Main Idea Anchor Chart page | Choose by need | None listed |
| Decoding Strategies | Look at the picture, get your mouth ready for the first sound, chunk the word, reread, and ask "Does it make sense?" | Choose by need | None listed |
| Fix-Up Strategies | Reread, slow down, ask a question, and read on and come back | Choose by need | None listed |
| Literal vs Inferential Questions | "Right there" questions and "think and search" questions, used as classroom teaching labels | Choose by need | None listed |
The standard codes come from the Common Core State Standards for English language arts (ELA).
"Choose by need" marks a chart with no set grade band. Put it up when your class is working on that skill.
Post one skill chart at a time, starting with the skill this week's read-aloud models. Add the next chart when the unit changes.
Every chart here depends on a worked example from a text the class already read.
You build a reading anchor chart live in five steps, during a read-aloud, with students supplying part of the content.
A grade 1 Retell a Story chart built this way starts with the title "How do I retell a story?" and three boxes labeled Beginning, Middle, and End. You read a short story aloud, stop after each part, and write one sentence in each box.
The next day, students retell a different book the class knows. You add their sentences in the second color, so the chart shows your model and the class's own example side by side.
Seven design rules shape a reading comprehension anchor chart.
Eight Common Core reading standards line up with the charts in the table, and each is quoted below exactly as written.
Use the wording of each standard to decide what the chart must hold. RL.3.1 asks students to refer explicitly to the text, and the line "My answer comes from the text because ___" on the questions chart gives them a way to do it. RL.5.1 asks students to quote accurately, so the Quote the Text chart needs quotation marks and a starter such as "The text says ___".
RL.5.2 mentions how characters respond to challenges, and the Theme chart includes how a character responds to a challenge. Charts without a code in the table, such as Decoding Strategies and Fix-Up Strategies, have no standard tied to them here.
Reading anchor charts change by grade band in what they add to the basic layout. These notes are Chalkbox suggestions.
| Grade band | What the chart adds |
|---|---|
| Kindergarten and grade 1 | Picture clues and sentence frames |
| Grades 2 and 3 | Question stems and a text-evidence line |
| Grades 4 and 5 | A "quote and explain" frame and a common-mistake box |
The common-mistake box names one error students make on that skill. On a Theme chart, the box can name retelling the plot when the question asks for a theme, then point back to the details that show the theme.
The grade band in the table is a starting point. If a grade 4 class has not yet worked on central message, start with the Central Message chart and the grades 2 and 3 additions before you build the Theme chart. For charts made for the youngest readers, see Anchor Charts for Kindergarten.
Pair each reading anchor chart with one short read-aloud text, and use that same text for several days, one chart skill per day. Keep the text's title on the chart so students can find the example again. Add student examples on sticky notes as the week goes on.
A sample grade 1 week with one short story, a Chalkbox suggestion rather than research, built only from charts in the table, where each day's chart replaces the last and a photo is kept:
| Day | Chart skill | What students add on sticky notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Asking and Answering Questions | A question that starts with who, what, where, when, why, or how |
| 2 | Retell a Story | One sentence for the beginning, middle, or end |
| 3 | Characters, Setting, Events | A key detail for one of the three boxes |
| 4 | Central Message | What the character learned, and the evidence that shows it |
| 5 | Character Traits | A trait word and what the character did |
Four common mistakes have a direct fix.
For chart types, examples, and classroom setup, read Anchor Charts: Types, Examples, and Classroom Setup. The math companion to this guide is Anchor Charts for Math, and see also the CER Anchor Chart.
For background on the Characters, Setting, Events chart, see Story Elements. Main Idea Examples With Practice Passages has passages to use with the Main Idea and Details chart. For practice after a chart is built, use our Reading Comprehension Worksheets, and to pair a word wall with the Decoding Strategies chart, see Word Wall Words.
Build one chart for each skill your class is working on, use a text the class has already read, and keep a short decoding chart beside it. Pick the row in the table that matches this week's read-aloud, write its title as a question on blank chart paper, and start your anchor charts for reading with that one chart in your next read-aloud.
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Make one chart for each comprehension skill your class is working on. The core set covers asking and answering questions about the text, retelling, characters and setting, central message, theme, and quoting the text. Add a short decoding strategies chart for unfamiliar words, and retire each chart when its unit ends.
Build the anchor charts for reading comprehension that match the skill your read-aloud is modeling. Asking and Answering Questions spans kindergarten to grade 3 and supports RL.K.1, RL.3.1, and RI.1.1. The Theme chart fits grades 4 to 5 and supports RL.5.2, and the Quote the Text chart fits grade 5 and supports RL.5.1.
A decoding strategies chart holds five: look at the picture, get your mouth ready for the first sound, chunk the word, reread, and ask whether it makes sense. A fix-up strategies chart holds four: reread, slow down, ask a question, and read on and come back.
Make it live during a read-aloud in five steps. Pick the skill and write the title as a question. Read a short text aloud and record only the main steps while you think aloud. Have students add the next example from a familiar book in a second color, then post the chart and refer to it in small groups and conferences.
In kindergarten, start with Asking and Answering Questions and Retell a Story, and in grade 1 add Characters, Setting, Events. Central Message fits from grade 1 to grade 3. Kindergarten and grade 1 charts use picture clues and sentence frames, and grades 2 and 3 add question stems and a text-evidence line.