Word Walls
Overview
A word wall helps build Vocabulary for reading fluidity and support Foundational Writing Skills such as spelling. Doing activities with the wall, such as gesturing, encourages participation, helping students remember the words even better.
Example: Use This Strategy in the Classroom
Watch how a teacher uses a word wall in a game format to promote recall of Vocabulary through Sight Recognition.
Design It into Your Product
Videos are chosen as examples of strategies in action. These choices are not endorsements of the products or evidence of use of research to develop the feature.
By using Padlet, students and teachers can co-create word walls, helping to move words from Short- to Long-term Memory. Watch this video to see how collaborative digital word walls can support learning.
Additional Resources
Additional examples, research, and professional development. These resources are possible representations of this strategy, not endorsements.
Factors Supported by this Strategy
More External Memory Aids Strategies
Easy access to high frequency words promotes sight word recognition as students see the words repeatedly.
Rhyming, alliteration, and other sound devices reinforce language development by activating the mental processes that promote memory.
A mnemonic device is a creative way to support memory for new information using connections to current knowledge, for example by creating visuals, acronyms, or rhymes.
Cards with strategies for managing emotions help students remember how to act when faced with strong feelings.
Providing a story map ahead of time or having students create a map during or after reading helps learners understand and practice Narrative Skills.
Timers help students learn to self-pace and transition.
