Word Wall

Description:  Word Wall provides students with a daily, easily accessible reminder of the importance of developing their vocabulary.  At the same time, it gives the teacher a ready source for ongoing activities with students for extending and practicing their words.  A word Wall may be done in many ways, however, having an organized wall is probably most appropriate.  The steps below may be modified to fit the specific situation.

 

Step-by-Step

  • Select an organizational strategy for your Word Wall.  Possible strategies might include; Content area, Parts of Speech, or Flag Words.
  • Introduce the idea of the Word Wall to the students and have them begin “collecting words” to be included on the wall.
  • When a student adds a word to the wall, discuss it with the class, put it in context, and discuss how it is used.
  • Words can be printed on index cards, sentence strips, or pieces of construction paper. They can be color coded (green = verb), arranged in webs, moved about, used as the teacher sees fit.

 

Extensions

  • Encourage students to refer to the Word Wall when writing.
  • Students can select words from the wall for vocabulary games.
  • Offer small incentives to students (bonus points) for adding a word to the wall.

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson1072/picture_this.pdf