Walls of Words for Beginning Readers
Word walls are a collection of words for beginning readers to use to promote learning in reading and writing.
WordWalls are most effective when the children help to generate them. This lens will point out various types of WordWalls used in classrooms, how they can be used to promote reading and writing and suggest ways they can be used in homes or for homeschoolers.
WordWalls are most effective when the children help to generate them. This lens will point out various types of WordWalls used in classrooms, how they can be used to promote reading and writing and suggest ways they can be used in homes or for homeschoolers.
Word Wall Table of Contents
- Organize Your Words
- Teaching Words for the Word Wall
- Are you using Word Walls to teach Literacy Strategies?
- Personal Word Wall
- Word Wall Activities
- Word Wall Word Search
- Favorite Pointers for Word Walls
- Pointers for Word Walls
- Doing the Word Wall Chants
- Fall Word Walls
- Deb Renner Smith explains Word Walls
- Word Walls
- Take a Word to Your Desk
- How do you use Word Walls with your children?
- Meet the Author of this Lens
Organize Your Words
Word Walls Organize the Words children are learning to read and spell.
Photo Credit: Word Wall
on Flickr, Creative Commons.
Word walls are a collection of words for beginning readers to use to promote learning in reading and writing.
There are several types of word walls that can be used in the classroom such as ABC words, names, high-frequency words, word families, etc.
Words can be overlayed with yellow, blue and red acetate paper.
High-Frequency Word Wall
Words on the high-frequency word wall are taken from Frys 1st hundred word list. 5 new words are added to the word wall weekly.
The children do a variety of activities with the
words.
As the words are added to the word
wall the children are responsible for spelling the words correctly in their daily writing.
Mrs. Lynch's first grade class uses these fun activities with the word walls.
Guess the word...Give clues such as:
It is on the wall.
It has 3 letters in it.
It rhymes with hat.
It is an animal.
etc. The kids write the word when they figure it out.
Ready, Set, Spell...
Say a word from the wall.
Together say, ready, set,spell.
Spell the word together.
Word Wall Bingo...
Make a tic, tac, toe grid (9 spaces)
Children choose 9 words from the word wall that
they know and write them in the grid.
Teacher randomly calls out words from the wall.
The first player with all 9 words covered wins.
Find more activities at here.
You can find more ideas for Word Walls at Starry Starry Night and Frogs: Hopping to Learn! .
Teaching Words for the Word Wall
Word Wall Words
Photo Credit: Word Wall
on Flickr, Creative Commons.
We practice the words by clapping, snapping and chanting,
At the second grade level, teachers introduce five words each week. Students read the words and spell them out loud while clapping at the consonants and snapping at the vowels.
Different activities are also done every day with the five words that make their way to the classroom's word wall on Friday.
The goal is to have the students be able to spell the words instantly and automatically.
Making Your Word Wall More Interactive
Amazon Price: $10.19 (as of 11/15/2009) 
Are you using Word Walls to teach Literacy Strategies?
Word Wall Activities Make it Fun to Learn Words
- How primary teachers are using word walls to teach literacy strategies?
- Ways to Introduce and Review Words
Mary Rycik saw many students enthusiastically clapping their hands, snapping their fingers and stomping their feet as they spelled out the letters from their word wall words, a technique suggested by Cunningham (2000).
How primary teachers are using word walls to teach literacy strategies from Ohio Reading Teacher free in Autos provided by Find Articles.
Personal Word Wall
Mini Office Word Wall
Mini Office Word Walls are ideal for teaching small groups, using at individual desks or for homeschoolers who don't have room to devote to teaching.
Having the words close can help children find the words they are looking for when writing.
Children can add words that are important to them; the words they use most often but don't yet know how to spell.
Learning Resources Word Wall Tri-Fold
Amazon Price: $29.99 (as of 11/15/2009)
Word Wall Activities
Guess the Word Wall Word....
Clues:
1. It is on the wall.
2. It has 3 letters.
3. It rhymes with sat.
4. It is an animal. etc.
"Ready, Set, Spell"
1. Say a word from the Word Wall
2. Everyone writes down the word.
3. Then together say ready, set, spell and we all spell the word.
Whisper and Shout: Children begin reading the words on the word wall in a whisper but gradually increase the volume until they are shouting the last word.
Note: If you teach the children how to do a theatrical shout, kind of a shouting whisper with lots of expression on their faces it will make the activity exciting without disturbing the classes around you and keep the class under better control. We call it a Classroom Shout.
Clues:
1. It is on the wall.
2. It has 3 letters.
3. It rhymes with sat.
4. It is an animal. etc.
"Ready, Set, Spell"
1. Say a word from the Word Wall
2. Everyone writes down the word.
3. Then together say ready, set, spell and we all spell the word.
Whisper and Shout: Children begin reading the words on the word wall in a whisper but gradually increase the volume until they are shouting the last word.
Note: If you teach the children how to do a theatrical shout, kind of a shouting whisper with lots of expression on their faces it will make the activity exciting without disturbing the classes around you and keep the class under better control. We call it a Classroom Shout.
More Word Wall Activities
Children love using flashlights so why not put it to good use by letting them focus the light on Word Wall Words. Here is a chant that my children love to sing as they hunt for high frequency words on the Word Wall.
Flashlight, flashlight, oh so bright,
Shine on a word with all your light.
- wordwallactivites
- Activities to use with the Word Wall or Spelling Words HOME Back to word walls Clap, Chant, Write--Introduction of New WordsTeacher introduces 5 Word Wall words per week by having students:see the words say the words chant the words (snap, clap, stomp, cheer) write the words and check them together
I'm Thinking of a Word Wall Word
A Word Wall Game
For the word HUG:
1. I'm thinking of a Word Wall Word that begins with h.
2. It has a short vowel in the middle.
3. It is something you do when you greet a friend.
Attibutes that could be included in the clues might include: prefixes, suffixes, double consonants, silent letters, blends, etc. They could be: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, plurals, compound words, foreign words, opposites, etc
Once the children get the idea of how to play the game this activity can be used during center time.
Note: I like to leave clues for a substitute teacher on what clues the children have learned so far.
Master Mind Word Wall
1. Pass out lined paper.
2. Teacher tells a clue such as "I'm thinking of a word that starts with h"
3. Children write their first guess on the first line.
4. Now pick a student to ask a question and all children write their next guess on the second line.
Continue with clues/guesses (examples: It ends with a silent e. It has two syllables. It rhymes with, etc.).
By the fourth clue, everyone should have the correct word. It is very important to model this activity.
Bell Chime Word Wall
Pick a list to spell. Assign vowels to one group (boys, girls, this side of the room, etc.) and consonants to another. As you spell each word, the children stand and chant their assigned letters and then sit down. This is an excellent way to practice spelling while getting the wiggles out!
Note: I like to show them a short video of Bell Ringers in order to help the children get the idea. As they say their letters they pretend to ring a bell and point to the letter they are saying.
Note: I like to show them a short video of Bell Ringers in order to help the children get the idea. As they say their letters they pretend to ring a bell and point to the letter they are saying.
Word Wall Pole
Word Walls for Beginning Readers
Make Your Word Walls Hands-On
Make your Walls interactive by attaching key words with Velcro strips or sticky tack.
If this isn't possible, put pockets under your Wall at the children's eye level. Place copies of key words in the pockets.
These techniques allow students to go to the Wall, remove a word, use it at their desks, and return it.
Loading poll. Please Wait...
Rainbow Writing
Rainbow writing: Write each word in a yellow crayon. Then go over the same word in orange, blue, green, etc. Be careful to have the students write the whole word before changing color (rather than each letter in all 5 colors). The students are actually learning to spell the word without even knowing it!
This is a great way to use up all those broken crayons.
Paste the Letters Puzzle
Day One: Write the letters to words on 1 inch squares. Cut the words apart and put them in an envelope.
Day Two: Rearrange the letter squares in the correct order and paste them down onto an index card. Put the word into a file box in ABC order.
These words can then be used for other activities either at school or at home.
The Basketball Cheer
Cheers to practice Word Wall Words
Pretend to bounce a basketball on each letter and then say the whole word as you "make a basket."
Word Wall Word Search
Encourage your students to look for word wall words in other work and/or independent reading. Give each of them a piece of highlighter tape before Silent Reading and share the words that they found at the end of the session.
Back Writing
Pair students up and have one "write" the word on his or her partner's back. The partner guesses the word and they switch places.This works well as a center activity after demonstrating several times as a class activity.
Word Wall Research
How Word Walls are used in Classrooms
Word Walls are effective tools when the children are involved in creating them
- Literacy & Learning - Action Research
- In looking at our own classrooms through the lens of our experiences in the hospital and the university classroom we realize that the print which is most useful to the children includes such things as recorded brainstorms, lists of writing ideas, reminders, duty lists, categorized information, and chart stories which the children not only helped generate but also referred to as they work. This is not to say that students have to help generate all of the print used in the classroom but the print should be pertinent to the students within the context of their ongoing activity.
How to Make a Word-Catcher for the Classroom
- How to Make a Word-Catcher
- How to Make a Word-Catcher for the Classroom. As many preschool and kindergarten teachers know, literacy lessons require a lot of creativity and--sometimes--props. One prop commonly found in the classroom is a word-catcher. The point of a word-c...
Favorite Pointers for Word Walls
Beginning Readers use pointers to focus on a particular word.
Pick your favorite pointers. Pick as many as you like.
Come back and add more.
Beginning readers are delighted to move around as they focus on reading the words. The pointers keep them focused on the words.
The Cat-O-Nine Tail is fun to use when studying a swampy area unit like Frogs, Alligators, or Purple Gallinules.
Pointers for Word Walls
Greater Than Less Than Pointers
We like to use these pointers to eat up words. Only polite munchers who know how to eat quietly are allowed to use these pointers during class but loud noisy munchers can use them during recess.
These pointers also work well when when looking for the the greater number during math centers.
These pointers also work well when when looking for the the greater number during math centers.
Word Wall Video
Word Walls designed by students.
Learn how other teachers use Word Walls
- Word Walls That Work | Scholastic.com
Learn some new tips for designing practical, efficient, and memorable hands-on word walls.- Interactive Word Walls
No classroom should be without an interactive word wall! The power of an interactive word wall in the classroom is amazing. The key to a successful word wall is the word, "interactive." Students need to actively interact with the word wall. Interaction includes cheers and chants for the new words of the week, activities that expand the students' understanding of how words work and the use of the word wall during writing as a primary resource for spelling.
Doing the Word Wall Chants
Practicing Word Wall words by chanting and writing them is necessary because struggling readers are not usually good visual learners and can't just look at, and remember words.
Now that you have a Word Wall, what do you do with it. Many of the chants will work for homeschoolers and ESL classes was well as traditional classrooms.
- Word Wall Chants - 4 Blocks
- Each day while "Doing the Word Wall" the class chants.
The chant and writing activity provides an opportunity to remember the words as a result of auditory and/or tactile methods.
Below are listed a wide variety of cheers that can be used in the "Doing the Word" activity.
Interactive Bulletin Board
Tired Words!
Tired words want to go to sleep.
Let them rest! Don't make a peep!
Try to use a synonym instead.
Let those tired words stay in bed!
- Cheryl Sigmon's Website
- Cheryl Sigmon has her students go to the Tired Words Wall to choose a synonym for an overused word. They pull the synonym they like from the pocket, take it back to their seat to make sure they spell the word correctly (possibly adding it to their personal dictionary), and returning it to the wall when they're finished.
- Interactive Bulletin Boards
- Bulletin Boards can be more than just decoration on the wall. By making it interactive, a bulletin board can become another center in your classroom.
Fall Word Walls
- Autumn Picture Dictionary and Word Wall Cards from KINDERREADERS
- Dictionary and Word Wall Cards
Deb Renner Smith explains Word Walls
Deb has a wonderful way of explaining how to teach difficult concepts with simple explanations and simple activities. Her blog is a must read for all teachers of beginning readers.
- Writing and Reading Lessons: Word Walls
- In kindergarten the words are spread all over the classroom. In first grade the teacher collects all the words together and posts them in a special place.
Word Walls
Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand by
Take a Word to Your Desk
When a child is writing and needs to use a word wall word they can just take a small scrap of paper and write the word down and then take it back to their desk to continue writing.
Check out the following link for more ideas to use with flashcards.
Check out the following link for more ideas to use with flashcards.
- 101 Fun and Educational Flashcard Activities%u2026
- Children use these to write down words from word walls, and charts - then take the words back to their writing.
Lenses with more Word Wall ideas
Add words to label the bright wall decorations and you have a word wall for children to use when writing about clothing.
Photo Credit: Colorful Bulletin Board
on Flickr, Creative Commons.
Fancy Nancy is ready to Read the Room.
Each of these lenses is a unit study with ideas for teaching beginning readers and includes ideas for Word Walls.
-
Starry Starry Night: A Unit Study of Stars
-
From Astronomy to Art this lens will give you dozens of ideas, resources, hints and tricks to create starry-themed activities for both homeschool families and classrooms. Learn about Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Starry Night painting technique. Lis...
-
Interactive Bulletin Boards
-
Bulletin Boards can be more than just decoration on the wall. By making it interactive, a bulletin board can become another center in your classroom. You will find bulletin boards to teach math at calendar time and word walls for learning to read and...
-
River Otters: Playful Friends of the Woodlands!
-
Learn about River Otters through games and hands-on learning centers. Decorate your classroom with a Woodlands Riverbank Theme. Learn the habits of River Otters, the food they eat and how they raise their young. You will find suggestions for both fi...
-
Adjectives: A Unit Study for Valentine's Day
-
Fill the day with arts, crafts, science experiments and ways to say I Love You. Pour out your feelings of love throughout the day. But it's not Valentine's Day you say? No Problem, these activities adapt to any other day or holiday. You will find b...
-
Woodchucks Under the Porch
-
Woodchucks chuck wood and Groundhogs determine the coming of spring. They eat your garden, dig holes under the porch but look adorable when they are first born and start to venture out of their dens. Watching the woodchuck babies venturing out from...
These Lenses have more Word Wall Ideas
-
Fireflies: Twinkling Lights of the Meadow
-
Have you ever gone out on a summer evening to catch fireflies. They flit and fly everywhere. Soon you have five and then six. One escapes and then you catch two more. In the morning you let them go. These wonderful experiences of childhood may be di...
-
Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?
-
How do you feel about Gray Wolves? What do you know about wolves in general? Do wolves really dress in Grandma's clothes and eat little girls? In the Wolf Unit Study you can learn about the anatomy of these fascinating canines, where they live, thei...
How do you use Word Walls with your children?
submit
-
Reply
- davidstillwagon davidstillwagon Aug 20, 2009 @ 3:29 pm
- good lens! My son is in 2nd grade and they use something like this. 5*
-
Reply
- Teddi14 Teddi14 Mar 9, 2009 @ 9:44 pm
- OMG, I found this lens from a tweet about your beginning readers lens. I am a special education language arts & reading teacher and I think this lens is EXCELLENT!!!! I will be back. I am faving it, rating it, & rolling it to my special education lens. I am just starting to use word walls and this lens has given me some great ideas for different ways to use them. I appreciate this so much. I will be back. Absolutely 5*'s for sure!!
-
Reply
- groovyoldlady groovyoldlady Oct 21, 2008 @ 6:45 am
- Evelyn...This is a Godsend! My youngest is dyslexic and learning to read has been a REAL challenge for us. I had started a flip book of common words for her to memorize and she loves the idea. However, boredom is starting to set in. I think we can use the wrod wall idea to really put some spark in her learning!
Thanks!
-
Reply
- The_Homeopath The_Homeopath Aug 16, 2008 @ 3:24 pm
- My son is dyslexic so much of his learning has really come down to rote-memorization of how words "look". 3M now makes Post-It notes with sight words on them and we had them ALL OVER his room. They worked. We even played "silly story" games where we'd take turns finding a word to add to the story. These were probably THE most effective technique that I found for helping him learn to read.
- Reply
- Load More
Follow EvelynSaenz on Twitter
- evelynsaenz
- aka evelynsaenz
- 693 followers
- 584 following
-
- Likes Children's Poetry Competition open fo...: Kids Express 2010 poetry competition for school ag... - http://likaholix.com/r/oOL #children
-
- Likes Letters from the White House writing ...: Writing contest sponsored from Reading Rockets. Gr... - http://likaholix.com/r/oOK #children
-
- Likes A Unit Study for Valentine's Day: Fill the day with arts, crafts, science experiments and w... - http://likaholix.com/r/oOF #education
-
- RT @theipl November is National Native American Heritage Month. Celebrate w/ IPL resources. http://bit.ly/1YoVrj
-
- Likes River Otter | Animal Pictures and Fac...: The river otter is a member of the weasel family. S... - http://likaholix.com/r/oOB #science
powered by Twitter
Meet the Author of this Lens
Evelyn's Hands-On Learning Blog.
If you enjoyed these ideas check out what else I'm up to:
-
Evelyn Saenz: Lensography of a Teacher
-
My passion is teaching and finding ways to teach children in fun, hands-on, creative ways. The unit studies I make on Squidoo reflect my view that learning should be integrated and no skills should be taught in isolation. I believe that each topic s...
by Evelyn_Saenz
My passion is teaching and finding ways to teach children in fun, hands-on, creative ways. The unit studies I make on Squidoo reflect my view that lea... (more)
Explore related pages
Frog Unit Study: Hopping to Learn- Take trips to the frog pond, play games and sing songs, gobble up the insect wor...
River Otters: Playful Friends of the Woodlands!- Learn about River Otters through games and hands-on learning centers. Decorate y...
Old Black Fly Unit Study- Old Black Fly's been buzzing around and lands on an alphabet's worth of spilled...
Starry Starry Night: A Unit Study of Stars- From Astronomy to Art this lens will give you dozens of ideas, resources,...
Purple Gallinules of the Everglades- Gallinules are spectacular creatures. The can be found walking on water lilies i...
Beginning to Read- Mrs. Wishy Washy and The Big Bad Pig are inviting you all beginning readers to j...
