Word walls can be found in almost every classroom that one walks into. So what exactly is a word wall, how is it implemented into the classroom, and is it really beneficial to students? These are just a few questions that an individual can ask about word walls. After much research on word walls, I found some very interesting and enlightening information on the topic. Much of the information included ideas of how to incorporate word walls into classrooms across many grades along with basic information on word walls including: what a word wall is, how to make a word wall, the many different types of word walls, and various games that can played with word walls.
According to the article, Instructional Strategies Online, a word wall is basically a collection of related words that are organized on a wall in the classroom in an area where every student can see it. The word wall can be used as an instruction tool that is not only educational and interactive but it can also be used for teaching spelling and reading to the students. There are a wide variety of word walls that can be used in the classroom some of which include words like: high frequency words, word families, various types of names, words that incorporate the alphabet, and other combinations of words. Teachers define their word walls in numerous ways depending upon the techniques and the ways in which the teacher wishes to use the word wall in the classroom. In the article from Teachingfirst.net, they talk about a word wall for first graders that contains sight words and they introduce five new words a week. They talked about how these words are organized in an alphabetical order fashion and the students can refer to the word wall when they are writing. One of the trends that I noticed not only in the classroom but also in the articles that I read is that many word walls in the primary grades seem to be more sight words or high frequency words whereas the word walls in upper grades are compiled of more words that they find interesting. It really just depends on the teacher and the grade.
So are word walls really that beneficial to students? In the Instructional Strategies Online article discusses the benefits of word walls ranging from helping to teach students reading and spelling skills to serving as a reference point during writing lessons and activities. The article says that some of the main purposes of word walls are to not only, “teach students to recognize and spell high frequency words, identify patterns and relationships between a variety of words,” but to also help children to build their phonemic awareness. They go into further detail explaining that word walls can also serve as a “visual map” that helps students to recognize and recall connections between words, provide a reference for students when reading and writing, help children advance in independent reading and writing at young ages along many other benefits. The most common benefit that seems to be provided by the word wall is reading and writing abilities. I was able to witness some of the word wall benefits in a kindergarten classroom, where the students looked forward to every time they learned and practiced a new word from the word wall. A word wall is obviously beneficial to every student in a variety of ways.
There are several ways that teachers can use word walls in the classroom including games and interactive classroom lessons. After witnessing a word wall activity in a kindergarten classroom, I learned that one of the easiest ways to implement a word wall is to involve students in the word wall. The students not only enjoy helping with the word wall but they learn from the activities associated with word walls. Some teachers develop songs and chants to go along with word walls and some teachers use fun interactive and educational games for their word walls. On the website myweb.stedwards.edu, they express the importance of not only having a word wall but actually “doing the word” and incorporating games and actually using the word wall, not just having a word wall to have. They give examples of “doing” the word wall meaning that they were very selective when choosing words, added new words each week, expected word wall words to be spelled correctly, and having students practice the words from the word wall. I never really thought about it before, but in some classrooms I have seen words and never actually seen the teacher use them. The whole purpose is to help students not only learn to read and write but to give them the opportunity to learn many “must-have” words. I found some wonderful games to incorporate with word walls in the classroom. Many of the games came from the websites teachingfirst.net. A couple of games that I thought could be used across many grade levels included: word wall bingo and who wants to read like a millionaire and the directions to these and many more can be found at the link below. Most games and songs can be modified to word walls across grade levels.
After much thought, observations, and researching I now realize the importance of word walls. If they are done correctly every student will benefit from the word wall in some form or fashion. I believe that they are a great idea and resource and that every teacher should find some way to implement a word wall in his or her classroom.
The links to the websites that I used are posted below. They also have additional information on word walls if anyone is interested.
Brooke, your post on word walls is great in explaining what a word wall is and just how beneficial they can be to students, the key to success is actually DOING the word wall not just posting it up in the classroom. Our research has led us to some insightful thoughts on how to make word walls interactive and meaningful for the students. As teachers, we need to engage the students in the word walls through chanting, conversation, reading, writing, games, and more! There were lots of great ideas of how to visually set up a word wall and interact with it in our research. It showed me just how different I can do my own word wall in my class but still have success with it. Your blog post lists a few of the great game that are out there for teachers to use. They were very fun and your right that they can all be tweaked to suite the level of your students. One fun idea for a secondary word wall that a few teachers commented on was to have a seasonal word wall. While this would not be as large or reviewed as the main word wall, I thought it was a great idea to get the students learning some fun things! As we have both learned, word wall can be used for multiple words and topics as well as ages and academic levels. After this project, I honestly do not think any class should be without a word wall. I would recommend that word walls are used through high school and beyond if possible. The way you put it, that word walls create a "visual map" for the students is a perfect description. One can only imagine what the site of one word on the word wall can trigger in a student's head. I really have come to love word walls can't wait to have one in my classroom because I believe that they are a very useful tool for the students, one which actually works! Word walls also provide teachers with the opportunity to make learning fun!
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