Word walls support literacy growth in students because they are an effective way to create schemas and strengthen knowledge in any grade, any topic. Word walls should be interactive, allowing students to be engaged in the process and make connections to their real life. They should be in an area of the room that is easily accessible, as they are a bridge to learning and can be an anchor for all students, not just those that struggle. “Word Walls are designed to: · Support the teaching of important general principles about words and how they work · Foster reading and writing · Provide reference support for children during their writing and reading · Promote independence on the part of young students as they work with words in writing and reading · Provide a visual map to help children remember the connections between words and the characteristics that will help them form categories.” (Pinnell, G., & Fountas, I., 1998, p. 43). In my classroom, I always had two types of word walls, high frequency words and academic words.
High Frequency Word Wall
My high frequency word wall is used throughout the year, constantly adding new words and revisiting old words. I chose words from a variety of sources (Fry words, Month to Month Phonics for 3rd grade, word families, words from student's work, etc). We would examine words, dissect them, to help students understand how it works. The way we analyzed each word depended on the individual word. We might find a base word, a prefix or clusters, anything that would help students break down the word and recognize word parts. Once students had ample practice, I would add the word to the word wall, where it would remain all year. We would use our high frequency word wall to play “word detective” as a class, which was also used as an anchor activity for students to play on their own. To play word detective, each student would have a “placemat” with all the word wall words listed. One partner (or teacher) picks a word from the placemat and then gives step-by-step clues to their partner, who is trying to figure out the secret word! Example: 1. My word has two syllables. 2. My word has the long vowel E sound, using the rule “When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking.” 3. My word starts with a P. 4. My word is people.
Academic Word Wall
My second word wall is an academic word wall. These are words that we encounter during our subjects. I will often have a separate science, math and social word wall, which I incorporate into bulletin boards used for each subject. Students make my academic word walls, as I want them to be the ones constructing it, to ensure they are constructing meaningful connections. We will first talk about the word as a class, go over the definition and I will show a visual picture of the word. This is often after an experiment or a hands on activity, so students are familiar with the word in a real-life context. Once I have modeled the word for the class, they then take their own cue cards and create a definition, along with a picture, of the new word. Students add their cue card to their own personal key ring, which they can get out at any time. This is also great for independent review, or review with a partner!