Prepping for THE TEST ~ Anchor Chart Raffle

Have you been counting down to testing day?

It is 10 calendar days or 6 school days (including today) until the big test! It is nerve racking for everyone as this is the first year that 35% of the teacher's review is based upon how our little angels do on THE TEST!

In addition to all of the prepping and review we are doing, we are stripping our walls of all of the materials we have covered it in over the course of the year. On the big day (well week) nothing can be there to aid our students.

If you are anything like my cooperating teachers, your walls are covered in anchor charts. Floor to ceiling, every available inch has been utilized. We refer to the things on the walls constantly!

So what does one do with all of those anchor charts? I was wondering the same thing! It seems such a waste to throw away all of our hard work!

Introducing the anchor chart raffle review!

Love LoVe LOVE this idea! Here is how it works... 

Step 1 - Remove Anchor Chart from wall

Step 2 - Every student in the class signs the back of it

Step 3 - Ask review questions about topic of anchor chart

Students raise hands when they know the answer. 

First person to raise their hand and answer correctly.... 

gets to take home the chart. 

Step 4 - Ask 3-4 more questions increasing in difficulty. 

Step 5 - Repeat with a different Anchor Chart. 

My students go batty over this! They love that they autograph the posters and I have received photos of bedrooms covered in anchor posters. My kiddos really do go home and hang up the posters on their walls! They talk to their parents about it and share how they are the expert on this topic. 

Do you see why I love it? 

A few tips... if you are raffling off multiple posters a day, pick a different "winner" each time. There are some students who process slower so if the first hand that went up got it wrong and a slow processor FINALLY raises their hand, call on them next so as they can win too. 

Make sure everyone gets at least one poster. We never raffle off more than 4 a day. This keeps the momentum going. PLUS we do not raffle them off in any order. It is completely random. This means that many of my students go home at night and are practicing on their own so that they can win the next day. 

When you do review, throw in a few questions from the anchor charts previously raffled off. This is a FUN review time for my students. We have even had competitions by table to see who can win the right to autograph the front side. 

Have I told you about how I use experts in the classroom? I need to go and look. One of my personal rules is that my experts on a topic cannot win their own anchor chart poster. This means that they have to become experts in other areas too!

What do you do with Anchor Charts at the end of the year?