word wall

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Home : 2001 : December : 22

word wall
By Julianne

I think a word wall for upper level science is a great idea. I teach first grade and we simply place the words under their initial letter of the alphabet and the kids practice reading them periodically. Since these are
"sight words" for the most part we already know the meanings. We're trying to remember how to read and spell them.
For your group you might list the words in categories rather than alphabetically. For instance, vocabulary for physics in one area, biology in another. Or use another way of categorizing them that makes sense. I would post the word along with the definition at first.

At the beginning or end of each day's session, have your students quickly run through the words and their meanings. Now start to remove the meanings so the students must provide them. Continue to run through the vocabulary each class period or a couple of times a week. Finally, give a definition and have students provide the word and spell it without looking at the word wall. These exercises can be very short - 5 minutes or less each time. But they should really provide some good drill and practice for important concepts. To give an incentive you might want to reward kids with a candy or other small prize if they can "name that term" correctly. I know my (personal) middle school kids would enjoy that. Good luck with your word wall. Let us know how it works.