A strength on mine as an educator is the ways in which I differentiate my instruction. The “normal” classroom has an range of ready levels in multiple aspects of their education. One way that I differentiate my instruction to meet that varying needs of my students is by using anchor activities.
Anchor activities are additional assignments and projects provided at the end of a lesson for students who complete assigned work early. These activities are designed to provide all students with productive choices after completing required class work.
Anchor activities also help differentiate instruction by:
- Expanding on existing an assignment(e.g. add details to existing work)
- Providing challenging activities for students who have mastered the assigned task
- Reviewing for students who need additional practice
- Extension activities more specific to individual learning styles
The following document has elementary anchor activity ideas. Many of the ideas can be used in multiple content areas.
Lauren Nixon 