Word walls are large printable displays of words that feature high frequency words which are normally located on classroom walls, hence the name. This is vocabulary that we use very commonly used in both spoken and written language. We would highly recommend that you consider posting the words above your general instruction area. The goal to displaying these is to have them visible in the background as much as possible. Many teachers swear that word walls are very effective for helping focus and tackle new vocabulary words and new sounds. Print these out for great quick vocabulary and spelling reminders in your classroom. Perfect for our prereaders and younger students. If you scroll down the page you find grade leveled word walls as well as those based on a theme.
Printable Word Walls
Directly below you will see grade leveled word walls. If you scroll further down the page, you will find general word walls.
Family Related Words
All the terms are related to close family things. Depending on students home situation, these may be completely new vocabulary terms to them. This set includes the terms: family, sister, parent, cousin, mother, kid, father, and could.
Extended Household
These are common things that extend just beyond close family. The terms include: brother, aunt, uncle, baby, age, love, your, and hug.
Pronouns and Tough Things To Talk About
This is a unique list of things that are often difficult to define and discuss for some youngsters. There are also some common pronouns. The term that this list includes: divorce, my, marry, mine, died, his, house, and her.
Endearing Terms
These are words that often inspire love, affection, or a mixture of the two. Terms found here included: grandmother, grandfather, children, sweetheart, best, and friend.
Food and Dining Words
All of these terms have to do with eating lunch. This includes the terms: tomato, bean, drink, grapes, banana, soup, bread, cheese, butter, and food.
More Stuff To Eat
If you're hungry you might want to think about eating: carrot, pie, cake, eat, milk, bacon, eggs, and pop.
Good Foods Chart
These are all healthy choices to eat, well outside of the hotdog. This is filled with the terms: potatoes, apple, hotdog, lunch, cereal, hungry, dinner, and full.
Salty and Sweet Words
These are some terms that students will be familar with from the kitchen. Features: cookie, favorite, candy, store, sugar, and salt.
Sugary Things and Lettuce
We stick on the theme of things that eat. The terms include: ice cream, strawberry, lettuce, orange juice, and hot chocolate.
Things You Might Find At The Snack Stand
These are items that you will commonly see being sold at a snack stand. Includes: pop corn, sandwich, cafeteria, breakfast, and hamburger.
Things in a Home
These are rooms and things you will commonly find in a home. The terms include: house, kitchen, garage, bathroom, couch, bedroom, table, fireplace, chair, trash, and can.
Common Household Items
Things that you will find around the house or rooms in them. Terms include: bath, window, rug, clock, lamp, mirror, bed, and desk.
More Things In Your Home
Things that you will find in a home or apartment. The terms include: shelves, dresser, closet, picture, curtain, sink, cabinet, kettle, tissue, and shower.
Things at Summer Camp
Things you find at summer camp or in a college dormitory. The words include: fan, towel, soap, stove, toilet, plate, cup, saucer.
Electronics and Openings
These are names of electronics and things that provide an opening way. The words include: VCR, yard, DVD, door, TV, fence, roof, and gate.
Things In A Kitchen
These are things that you will commonly find in your kitchen. The words include: outlet, plug, fork, knife, spoon, napkin, bowl, and salt.
Things Near a Kitchen
All of these items are commonly found near or in kitchens. The words include: telephone, living room, dishwasher, and refrigerator.
Science and Nature
These are things that are science related. The terms include: sunny, cloudy, windy, forest, ocean, desert, snow, river, sky, and star.
The Weather
All these things directly or indirectly are related to weather and climate. The terms included are: rain, rocks, cold, ice, warm, grow, hot, and moon.
Nasty Weather
This is more related to extreme weather. The terms included are: lighting, weather, tornado, wetland, volcano, rainbow, thunder, and hail.
On Earth
These are common vocabulary terms that relate to our planet. The terms include: plant, land, sun, earth, wear, and hill.
Extremes of Nature
These are the forces that nature puts towards use. The terms include: hurricane, earthquake, mountain, and waterfalls.
Word Walls and How They Help Students
An organized collection of words, numbers, and images displayed on a wall, or a classroom bulletin board is called a word wall. They are essential for vocabulary development and act as a point of reference for students when discussing or writing about a particular topic. For each class, the contents of the word wall have to be the terms that the students can view, read, speak, and write.
These tools have been used by teachers for over a century. They are a staple of classroom walls lower elementary classrooms all over the world. My teachers used them when I was a student, so did my mother's, and my grandmother's teacher. When the words are assembled correctly it can help students identify patterns and contrasts between words. The real advantage is that it helps makes new words concrete for students. The basic model that you can use with students when introducing word walls is to incorporate them in your daily routine. Using these types of organizers in your classroom is a great strategy for pre-readers and readers alike. They are basic general displays of words that students see regularly and they work as a great review and recognition tool. These can commonly be placed on bulletin boards.
Throughout the class year, the words continue to change, indicating the students' growth in vocabulary and understanding. This interactive tool is great for any class level as it increases exposure to new words and concepts.
Types of Word Walls:
- For sight words
- Tricky words
- To improve spelling
- To Support Reading Units/chapters
- To support Vocabulary that is content area related
- Parts of Speech
- Suffixes, prefixes, vowel digraphs
The Importance Using Word Walls
- They help students recognize patterns and differences in words such as the, they, their, and there. The sight of these words helps students compare the differences and similarities between each word.
- They help the young students retain and remember the words for longer due to repeated visual exposure.
- They reinforce the spellings of new words, important terms, and tricky and frequently misspelled words.
- They expand student vocabulary by housing words they might need in writing or discussions.
How to Create an Interactive Word Wall?
A word wall is only effective if it is part of students' daily learning routine. Printing and writing words and expecting students to read them independently is not enough. Here's how you can make them even more engaging:
- Select a visible and accessible area in your classroom to make a word wall. Use dark colors, so the words stand out.
- For young students, alphabetize words to support their learning of alphabetical order.
- Be consistent with the formatting. Use the same size for note cards and font, and use a clear and bold font style, in a dark color, that can be read from afar. Use multiple colors to differentiate between categories.
- Don't be shy to add new words to your wall during lessons.
How to Incorporate Word Walls into Daily Lessons?
- For preschoolers, introduce three to five new words every week.
- Discuss new entries and teach students how to find and spell the words.
- Use the word wall daily. Practice incorporating the words already on the wall into daily activities. Make reading fun by performing various actions while reading the words from different categories. For example, cheering, chanting, shouting, clapping, jumping, and spelling.
- Keep your chart papers and markers handy. If a new word comes up during the class discussion, add it to the wall, making students feel they also have a part in adding words to the classroom word wall. Include the words most commonly used by the students in their writing.
- Keep practicing the words on the wall, so the students can read and spell the words accurately.
- Update the word wall according to seasons, lessons, and holidays; keep adding relevant vocabulary regularly.
- Instead of randomly selected words, use curriculum-relevant material.
- Word walls should be referred to often so students come to understand and see their relevance.
- Encourage students to share their life experiences or create fantasy stories by picking any word off of the wall.
Conclusion
The basic function of a word wall is to have a constant visual reminder through sight words, giving students access to new and updated content vocabulary. Having keywords organized and ready to use promotes independence in students and encourages them to learn how to use academic vocabulary in discussions and writing.