Word Walls one component within a balanced

literacy program

Teaching student to read

Independent reading

Working with words

Writing

Word Walls are Designed to:• Support the teaching of important general principles

about words and how they work.

• Foster reading and writing.

• Provide reference support for students during their writing and reading.

• Promote independence on the part of young students as they work with words in writing and reading.

• Provide a visual map to help children remember the connections between words and the characteristics that will help them form categories.

Fountas and Pinnell (1998)

Doing a Word Wall

• Selecting words

• Making words accessible

• Adding words

• Practicing words

• Doing activities

• Hold students responsible for spelling

Cunningham, Hall,& Sigmon (1999)

Selecting Words• Grade level high-frequency word list• Students’ names• Frequent words from stories being read• Letter combinations (ch, sh, th, wh)

• Hard-to-spell high-frequency words• Letter combinations (ch, sh, th, wh, qu, ph, wr, kn)

• Less common c and g sounds• Blends• Most common vowel patterns• Common contractions

Cunningham, Hall,& Sigmon (1999)

Selecting Words• Homophones• Words ending in s, ed, and ing• Most frequently misspelled words• Most commonly confused homophones• Compound words• Less common c and g sounds• Common endings and suffixes with spelling

changes• Common prefixes

Cunningham, Hall,& Sigmon (1999)

Making Words Accessible

• Put them where every child can see them.

• Write them in large, clear, black letters.

• Create portable word walls.

• Place a row of alphabetically organized library pockets along the bottom of the wall with word wall words in the pockets.

Adding Words

• Add 5 words a week to the word wall.

• Talk to the students about the words (i.e. how the words sound, look, are connected to other words, and what they mean.)

• Place the words above or below the letter with which they begin.

• Place an asterisk next to the words that have common spelling patterns.

Practicing WordsMonday and Tuesday • Have students number paper from 1-5.• Call out a word.• Have a student find and point to the word on the

word wall.• Students clap and chant the spelling rhythmically.• Students write each word.• Lead students to check or fix their own papers.Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday

• Call out any five words from the word wall. Cunningham, Hall,& Sigmon (1999)

On-the-Back Activities• On-the-Back Endings• On-the-Back Rhymes• On-the-Back Cross Checking• Be a Mind Reader• Ruler Tap• WORDO• Word Sorts

Cunningham, Hall,& Sigmon (1999)

Hold students responsible for spelling

Word Wall Words.