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Reading Strategies Anchor Charts for Elementary Teachers – 2025

Calling all elementary teachers looking for anchor chart ideas for teaching reading comprehension strategies! This post highlights printable anchor charts for teaching the 15 most popular reading strategies: Ask and answer questions, setting, illustrations, author’s purpose, compare and contrast, cause and effect, character traits, making connections, making inferences, making predictions, point of view, sequencing, summarizing, theme, message and moral, and visualizing. Learn all about them below!

reading strategy anchor charts

15 Reading Strategy Anchor Charts

Check out the 15 reading comprehension strategy anchor charts below!

1. Ask and Answer Questions Anchor Chart

Asking and answering questions is an important reading comprehension strategy for elementary students. Strong readers ask questions before, during, and after reading or listening to a story. It helps them better understand and enjoy stories. Learn how to teach ask and answer questions and scoop up these picture books for teaching asking and answering questions! Lastly, check out the Ask and Answer Questions Reading Unit, which includes a printable anchor chart, reference charts, student activities, parent letters, reading logs with suggested question prompts, teacher notes about the strategy, teaching ideas, mentor text recommendations, and more.

2. Setting of a Story Anchor Chart

Analyzing setting is an important reading comprehension strategy for elementary students. Setting is an important element of a story because it has an effect on the plot, characters, and overall tone. The setting also impacts how characters act, talk, and travel. Being able to identify the setting helps readers better understand and enjoy stories they read and listen to. Learn how to teach setting and scoop up these picture books for teaching the setting of a story! Lastly, check out the Setting Reading Unit, which includes a printable anchor chart, reference charts, student activities, parent letters, reading logs with suggested question prompts, teacher notes about the strategy, teaching ideas, mentor text recommendations, and more.

3. Analyzing Illustrations Anchor Chart

Analyzing illustrations in children’s books is an important reading comprehension strategy for elementary students. When readers analyze illustrations, they are using the pictures to help them collect more information about the setting, plot, characters and more. It helps readers better understand and enjoy stories they read and listen to. Learn how to teach analyzing illustrations and scoop up these picture books for teaching illustrations! Lastly, check out the Analyzing Illustrations Reading Unit, which includes a printable anchor chart, reference charts, student activities, parent letters, reading logs with suggested question prompts, teacher notes about the strategy, teaching ideas, mentor text recommendations, and more.

4. Author’s Purpose Anchor Chart

Author’s purpose is an important reading comprehension strategy for elementary students. Authors usually write books to persuade, inform, or entertain. When readers determine the author’s purpose, they can explain the author’s reason for writing the text and what the author wants readers to know or do after reading. This strategy helps readers better understand and enjoy stories they read and listen to. Learn how to teach author’s purpose and scoop up these picture books for teaching author’s purpose! Lastly, check out the Author’s Purpose Reading Unit, which includes a printable anchor chart, reference charts, student activities, parent letters, reading logs with suggested question prompts, teacher notes about the strategy, teaching ideas, mentor text recommendations, and more.

5. Compare and Contrast Anchor Chart

Compare and contrast is an important reading comprehension strategy for elementary students. When readers compare and contrast elements of a story, they think about how two or more things are alike and different. This process helps readers better understand and enjoy stories they read and listen to. Learn how to teach compare and contrast and scoop up these picture books for teaching comparing and contrasting! Lastly, check out the Compare and Contrast Reading Unit, which includes a printable anchor chart, reference charts, student activities, parent letters, reading logs with suggested question prompts, teacher notes about the strategy, teaching ideas, mentor text recommendations, and more.

6. Cause and Effect Anchor Chart

Cause and effect is an important reading comprehension strategy for elementary students. This strategy helps readers better understand the plot, make predictions, and enjoy stories they read and listen to. Learn how to teach cause and effect and scoop up these picture books for teaching cause and effect! Lastly, check out the Cause and Effect Reading Unit, which includes a printable anchor chart, reference charts, student activities, parent letters, reading logs with suggested question prompts, teacher notes about the strategy, teaching ideas, mentor text recommendations, and more.

7. Character Traits Anchor Chart

Character analysis is an important reading comprehension strategy for elementary students. When readers analyze a character, they identify character traits that describe the character. This process helps readers better understand and enjoy stories they read and listen to. Learn how to teach character traits and scoop up these picture books for teaching character analysis! Lastly, check out the Character Traits Reading Unit, which includes a printable anchor chart, reference charts, student activities, parent letters, reading logs with suggested question prompts, teacher notes about the strategy, teaching ideas, mentor text recommendations, and more.

8. Making Connections Anchor Chart

Making connections is an important reading comprehension strategy for elementary students. When readers make connections, they use what they already know to make sense of a story. It helps readers better understand and enjoy stories they read and listen to by connecting it to their prior knowledge and experiences. Learn how to teach making connections and scoop up these picture books for teaching making connections! Lastly, check out the Making Connections Reading Unit, which includes a printable anchor chart, reference charts, student activities, parent letters, reading logs with suggested question prompts, teacher notes about the strategy, teaching ideas, mentor text recommendations, and more.

9. Making Inferences Anchor Chart

Making inferences is an important reading comprehension strategy for elementary students. When readers make inferences, they use details from the text and their personal experiences to draw a conclusion. Readers infer when something is not directly started in the text and, instead, the reader must “read between the lines.” This strategy helps readers better understand and enjoy stories they read and listen to. Learn how to teach making inferences and scoop up these picture books for teaching inferring! Lastly, check out the Making Connections Reading Unit, which includes a printable anchor chart, reference charts, student activities, parent letters, reading logs with suggested question prompts, teacher notes about the strategy, teaching ideas, mentor text recommendations, and more.

10. Making Predictions Anchor Chart

Making predictions is an important reading comprehension strategy for elementary students. Good readers use their prior knowledge and information in the text to make predictions about what is going to happen next in the story. It helps readers better understand and enjoy stories they read and listen to. Learn how to teach making predictions and scoop up these picture books for teaching predicting! Lastly, check out the Making Predictions Reading Unit, which includes a printable anchor chart, reference charts, student activities, parent letters, reading logs with suggested question prompts, teacher notes about the strategy, teaching ideas, mentor text recommendations, and more.

11. Point of View Anchor Chart

Point of view is an important reading comprehension strategy for elementary students. Being able to identify if the story is being told from the first, second, or third person and reflect on how this impacts the story helps readers better understand and enjoy stories they read and listen to. Learn how to teach point of view and scoop up these picture books for teaching point of view! Lastly, check out the Point of View Reading Unit, which includes a printable anchor chart, reference charts, student activities, parent letters, reading logs with suggested question prompts, teacher notes about the strategy, teaching ideas, mentor text recommendations, and more.

12. Sequencing Anchor Chart

Sequencing is an important reading comprehension strategy for elementary students. It helps readers better understand and enjoy stories they read and listen to. Sequencing refers to the ability to recall and remember the facts or events of a story in order. When students are sequencing they are retelling the events from a text in the order that they occurred. This allows them to make sense of the events of a story. Learn how to teach sequencing and scoop up these picture books for teaching sequencing! Lastly, check out the Sequencing Reading Unit, which includes a printable anchor chart, reference charts, student activities, parent letters, reading logs with suggested question prompts, teacher notes about the strategy, teaching ideas, mentor text recommendations, and more.

13. Summarizing Anchor Chart

Summarizing is an important reading comprehension strategy to teach elementary students. It helps readers better understand and enjoy stories they read and listen to. Summarizing is the ability to determine the main idea and key details of what was read and describe them in your own words. When students are summarizing they must consider the main points of a text while ignoring any irrelevant information. Summarizing often requires students to consider the plot, characters, setting, problem, solution, and themes of a text. Learn how to teach summarizing and scoop up these picture books for teaching summarizing! Lastly, check out the Summarizing Reading Unit, which includes a printable anchor chart, reference charts, student activities, parent letters, reading logs with suggested question prompts, teacher notes about the strategy, teaching ideas, mentor text recommendations, and more.

14. Theme, Message and Moral Anchor Chart

Identifying theme, message or moral is an important reading comprehension strategy for elementary students. It helps readers better understand and enjoy stories they read and listen to. When readers identify the theme, message or moral, they are taking what they already know about life and pairing it with the action and events from the story to decide what the author wants them to learn. Readers then consider how that idea can be related to their own life and how it can help them. Learn how to teach theme, message and moral and scoop up these picture books for teaching theme, message and moral! Lastly, check out the Theme, Message and Moral Reading Unit, which includes a printable anchor chart, reference charts, student activities, parent letters, reading logs with suggested question prompts, teacher notes about the strategy, teaching ideas, mentor text recommendations, and more.

15. Visualizing Anchor Chart

Visualizing is an important reading comprehension strategy to teach elementary students. When readers visualize, they create a mental picture in their minds of what is being read by using the information in the text, their background knowledge, and imagination. This helps readers better understand and enjoy stories they read and listen to. Learn how to teach visualizing and scoop up these picture books for teaching visualizing! Lastly, check out the Visualizing Reading Unit, which includes a printable anchor chart, reference charts, student activities, parent letters, reading logs with suggested question prompts, teacher notes about the strategy, teaching ideas, mentor text recommendations, and more.

Get All of the Reading Comprehension Strategy Anchor Charts

Get all 15 reading comprehension strategy anchor charts below!

One Last Thing Before You Go… Grab this Free Reading Resource!

If you want to get more book ideas to read aloud to your elementary students, then grab this reading freebie for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classroom teachers. It includes:

  • seasonal read aloud books lists for teachers
  • printable reading logs to track students’ reading
  • monthly reading challenges to motivate students to read more

It will have you covered for the entire school year, as well as the summer months! Grab this free elementary reading packet now!

printable monthly reading logs

In closing, we hope you found this post about reading strategies anchor charts helpful! If you did, then you might also be interested in these other posts:

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