I think that kids tend to get more done when they stay in one spot and keep working without needing to get up and walk around, so the Wandering Word Wall solves that problem nicely! This makes them want to get up and walk around the room to check the spelling of a word, etc. It is important to introduce word wall activities and games to increase awareness and develop independence among students.Today I am going to explain how to teach kids to use a word wall, and about a really great writing tool that I like to use in my classroom called “The Wandering Word Wall.” “The Wandering Word Wall” is a small, portable word wall that you print and mount on a file folder so that children can take it with them and use in any area of the classroom.īut whether your word wall is large or small, if you don’t teach the children how to use it, you’ll probably find that it is just taking up valuable wall space in your classroom and that it serves little or no purpose!Ī portable word wall is a great tool to have, because often there are so many children in a classroom that they wind up trying to do writing assignments while sitting in desks that are a bit too far away from the real word wall, and so they can’t really see the words well enough to use it. Even though it is recommended to introduce five new words every week, you and your students can continue to practice learning new and revising old word wall words. These word walls are only a useful tool if they are regularly updated and incorporated into daily lessons. In the next few months, you can introduce five new words every week by the end of the school year, the kids will have learned more than 100 words! 1st Grade Word Wall Words Using this technique warrants instant attention from the kids because they have been used to seeing and recognizing their names, so their gazes automatically fall on the word wall.

On the Monday of the second week, kids arrive to see their names posted on the word wall. The first week is spent arranging the names in alphabetical order, comparing name lengths, counting boys and girls and the whole class, sorting the names according to syllables, pointing out the names of new friends, checking the shortest and longest names, and other fun stuff like that. This is their first lesson in organization! The students try to figure out why some names are on one colored paper while the others are on another. The teacher chooses a color for girls and another for boys and writes their names on the different colored squares. When students start the 1st Grade, they come to an empty wall with only the letters of the alphabet at the top. You can also differentiate the words from different categories by using different colored note cards. Bold sizes and font styles can be read from afar. When selecting the font color, size, and style, ensure the kids can read it without squinting or walking up to the wall. Keep the formatting consistent for all note cards. Select an accessible wall of your classroom and a dark-colored chart paper for cutouts, so the printed words stand out. As it is one of the most used tools in the class, making it appear colorful and catchy is essential. The 1st grade word wall introduces students to sight words and common everyday use words with predictable spelling patterns. Use it often and refer back to it often.Īs the term progresses, the words become more challenging until the students can read and recognize all recommended words for the 1st Grade. Just do not setup it and leave it as a backdrop. At the 1st grade level, we suggest you introduce on a few words per day and as students get the hang of it you can introduce many more words.

We encourage you to build your word wall slowly. But in the end, it is effective for teachers and ultimately students when it is used to bolster your instruction. Again, it displayed the need for instructor/student engagement with the word wall in order for it to be effective. I then read a much older study on vocabulary depth and the use of word walls out of the University of California. This study simply concluded that there are benefits for all levels of learners, but only when the word walls are used actively with students.

I read a very recent study that tried to grasp the differences seen between differing learner abilities out of Akron, Ohio. Prior to creating this Word Wall section, I was reviewing the effectiveness of word walls within the classroom environment. The 1st-grade students actively participate in building and updating the wall hence, they fully understand how to use it. Each year, students use the classroom word wall to enhance their knowledge to start reading and writing independently. The Words You Should Include on Your 1st Grade Word WallĪ word wall is one of the essential literacy tools in a classroom that displays words, numbers, and images to improve students' vocabulary.

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