word walls

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Home : 2006 : July : 27

word walls
By BookMuncher

I've found that making my word wall with my students works best for me. The commercial ones are very nice and I know a lot of people like them, but I like the ownership that comes with making it together. I use the large
size of post-it's- different colors. I introduce 5 words a week. I tell the word and write it in front of the students- vowels in red, consonants in blue. Depending on what they already know, we'll underline a word chunk or blend. Sometimes I draw a little picture to help them remember. Whatever works for that particular group of students at that time. Like bertie, I do very short activities

with the words each day (5 min. max) and post them on the word wall with the kids watching at the beginninng of the next week.

Don't forget that once a group of words is up, you still need to encourage word wall use. Cross-referencing is a tricky skill for children. I play different games on Fridays that require children to scan their eyes over the words and familiarize them with the location of words.