There are numerous activities on the internet and in books that describe how to arrange your Word Wall. I add words that I think my students should know how to read, spell, and use in conversation and in writing after we have studied them. My wall is organized alphabetically. I write the vowels in red. I cut around the shape of the words. I leave them up all year. I also have a Social Studies wall that contains content vocabulary. On that wall, I take the words down after we finish a unit and put them in a baggie. The baggies hang on the wall so that students can go back and use them later.
These are activity choices that students can do using the Word Walls.
- Use the spinner and do the activities listed on it.
- Give your partner a clue and they have to guess which word you are describing.
- Write a sentence but leave a word blank. Your partner has to fill in the blank with a Word Wall word.
- Choose a word and code it with CLOVER.
- Draw a picture of a word and your partner has to guess it.
- Act out a word and your partner has to guess it.
- Create a Tree Map and sort the words that are on one of the cupboards.
This is another common, simple center that many teachers use. It is useful for students that need environmental print practice, students who need to revisit words they have already learned, and it is an easy way to get unmotivated students up and out of their seats. I like to use paint sample cards (because they are colorful) and write a special message on it. Then I hide it somewhere in the room. Students who discover it while they are reading around the room will get a special suprise. I don't ever tell the students I hid the card...I just let them discover it!
Students select a pointer from the container. Be creative with your pointers--wands, pinwheels, fancy rulers, Dollar Tree has very cool oversized ojects that work well! Then they take a walk around the room and point out important words as they go. They can practice reading the Word Wall. They practice reading the Social Studies vocabulary Word Wall. Students can enjoy reading their classmate's work that is hanging up. They record what they read on the record sheet.
