Word Walls
I absolutely love the idea of using word walls in my future classroom. We talked in week one about how some students (typically those of low SES) come to school knowing hundreds of thousands of vocabulary words less than their peers. I think vocabulary is so closely tied to how a student learns; if a teacher is using words in her lessons that a student doesn't understand, how can the student learn the objective? Without trying to catch them up with their vocabulary, we are already setting our students up to fail. Word walls can be one easy way to help close that gap between students. Once it is set up in the classroom, it is a fairly quick and easy attempt to introducing vocabulary words to students. Just simply exposing those words and having them in student vision can help students understand the importance of having a broad vocabulary. Here are some examples I found on Pinterest:
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| (http://lifeinfirstgrade1.blogspot.com) This is what I imagine I will do in my future classroom. I like how neat it is, the amount of space it takes up, and the bright colors. |
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| (http://ashleigh-educationjourney.com) I also like this word wall because it seems very accessible to students. |
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| (http://lifewithmoorebabies.blogspot.com) How fun is this?! I think it would be so cool to have the caterpillar going around the whole classroom. The only downfall with this is that it is not organized by letter or anything. |
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| (http://yeehawteachingintexas.blogspot.com) I think this is a good idea for when your word wall gets too full. You can store words that students have become more familiar with in something like this, while keeping the new words on the wall. |
I love the idea of if a word wall gets too full to put them in a filing sort of way. That way students can still access them easily if they need them! I love that! I like how you mentioned it is a good way for students to close the gap that do not know so many words as others. You are so right.
ReplyDeleteSorry... I forgot to add a question. Have you seen word walls in classrooms you have observed? How have you seen teachers utilize them in lessons?
ReplyDeleteI like word walls too. I think it makes the classroom more of a learning environment. You made a good point about how word walls can help the gaps between students because I think so too. By having words on the walls, students are understanding and expanding their vocabulary and if the teacher uses the terms relative to the content, this will help ALL students, especially the lower students. I have seen word walls in lower elementary. Have not seen word walls in 4th or 5th grade.
ReplyDeleteI like the second picture the best. I think this would make a great word wall. I think word wall are a great tool no matter which subject or grade you teach. All students can find these useful. Many students have difficulty spelling words and I think this is a useful tool to help them spell without taking the time to look the words up.
ReplyDeleteWe shared the same word-a-pillar! He is my favorite! I would use him in my classroom. I have seen word walls in almost every classroom I've observed in. I have not seen teachers use them in a lesson though. That would be interesting to see.
ReplyDelete