Anchor Charts With Google Drawings

Hello, and welcome to this Tech-Integrated Strategy tutorial. Whether you’re teaching online or in a face-to-face setting, learning in the modern classroom often benefits from the digital mediation of educational activities. 

In this video, you’ll learn how to implement the Anchor Chart instructional strategy using the Google Drawings tech tool.

Anchor Chart is located on the K20 LEARN site under the Instructional Strategies tab. This strategy has students work collaboratively to create a poster on a specific topic.

Google Drawings is a web-based tool within Google Drive that enables users to create digital charts, diagrams, or drawings. This makes it a great option for facilitating collaborative activities when physical materials are not readily available. You can find the Google Drawings card on the K20 LEARN site under the Tech Tools tab. 

In the how-to section, you’ll receive hands-on instructions for how to facilitate an Anchor Chart activity using Google Drawings.

In this how-to video, we will show you how to set up and create an Anchor Chart using Google Drawings.

Step 1

First, open Google Drive and select your account.

Step 2

Enter your password and click “Next.”

Step 3

Then, click “+ New” in the upper-left corner.

Step 4

Click “More.”

Step 5

Click “Google Drawings.”

Step 6

To rename your Anchor Chart, click inside the box labeled “Untitled drawing” in the top-left corner.

Step 7

For this example, we will model science, so type “Evolution” for the title. This could be the topic or focus of your Anchor Chart.

Step 8

Next, click the blue “Share” button in the top-right corner.

Step 9

Then, click inside the box that says “Add people and groups.” 

Step 10

Enter the email addresses of the students and teachers who are collaborating on the project. 

Step 11

When you add a collaborator, make sure you give them access to edit using the dropdown menu on the right. Select “Editor” to ensure that each collaborator has editing privileges. 

Step 12

Click “Send” to share your Google Drawing.

Step 13

Now you are ready to create your Anchor Chart. Start by adding a title. Select the “Text box” icon in the toolbar at the top. 

Step 14

Using your mouse, click and drag the text box to wherever you want your title to be on the Anchor Chart. 

Step 15

Type “Evolution” for the title.

Step 16

Using your mouse, triple-click to select all of the text in your title. 

Step 17

To change the size of the title, click on the “Font size” number in the toolbar at the top. This will display a list of font sizes for you to choose from.

Step 18

Choose the font size you desire. You can also use the + or - symbols in the toolbar at the top to increase or decrease the font size.

Step 19

To change the font, use the “Font” dropdown list in the toolbar at the top.

Step 20

Select the font you would like to use.

Step 21

Now you can add to your Anchor Chart to show your learning. To draw, select the “Line” icon in the toolbar. 

Step 22

From the dropdown list of line options, select “Scribble” to draw freehand. 

Step 23

With the mouse, click and drag to create the image you want.

Step 24

After you draw an image, you can change the size of the lines by selecting the “Line weight” icon in the toolbar.

Step 25

From the dropdown list, select the desired line weight for your drawing.

Step 26

To adjust the color of your drawing, select the “Line color” icon in the toolbar.

Step 27

Select your desired color.

Step 28

You also can add other visual elements, such as shapes. To do so, select the “Shape” icon in the toolbar.

Step 29

Select and create your desired shape.

Step 30

Click and drag the shape to move it wherever you want on the Anchor Chart. 

Step 31

Use the square icons along the border of the shape to stretch or shrink it to your desired size. 

Step 32

With the shape selected, click on the “Fill color” icon in the toolbar.

Step 33

Select your desired color.

You can continue to edit your Anchor Chart with additional text, shapes, drawings, and images. 

When an Anchor Chart is shared with the teacher at the beginning of the project, as demonstrated earlier, this enables the teacher to share the Anchor Charts with the class or print them out once complete.

Step 1

By using Google Drawings to create Anchor Charts, students can demonstrate their learning in creative ways.

Step 2

When using Google Drawings, you have a few options for how to carry out this activity. You may have students work independently to create their own Anchor Charts. Alternatively, you may have students work collaboratively by using the "Share" feature to share one Anchor Chart with a group of students, as shown in the how-to.

Step 3

You may have students access Google Drawings through their own school-assigned Google accounts. Other options include creating this as an assignment in your Google Classroom or simply sharing the link with students by clicking on the “Share” button and then selecting “Copy link.”

Step 4

Any of these options will give you digital access to your students' work. If you’d like, you could also print the Anchor Charts or digitally share the Anchor Charts with the class for a Gallery Walk.

Step 5

In the next video, we will discuss Use Cases to give you some ideas for how to use Anchor Charts with Google Drawings in other content areas.

Using Anchor Charts with Google Drawings is a great way for students to share their knowledge on a topic or idea.

While our discussion has previously focused on a science example, creating Anchor Charts with Google Drawings is an activity that can be implemented in any classroom or content area.

For example, in a math classroom, you could have students create flow charts modeling how to solve different equations.

In an English language arts or social studies classroom, you could have students create Anchor Charts to represent the character traits of historical figures or characters from a story.

These are just a few examples of the many applications for using Anchor Charts with Google Drawings. No matter which grade level or content area you’re teaching, this Tech-Integrated Strategy has a variety of possibilities.

Anchor Chart is an instructional strategy that can be used in the classroom to review information or show what students already know. 

Google Drawings is a free online tool available with a Google account. It works on smartphones, laptops, and tablets.

Google Drawings makes it easy for students to share their ideas and work together digitally, so pairing it with Anchor Charts is a great option for when you want to facilitate an activity that doesn’t require additional materials.

For more information or activity ideas, check out the resources below. You can explore other ways to use Google Drawings or ways to incorporate Anchor Charts in your classroom.