Word Wall Lessons Format
Monday:
Introduce the following words:
1.
2.
3.
Have students:
- See the words
- Say the words
- Chant, snap, clap, stomp, cheer
- Write the words
4.
the words.
Tuesday:
Practice with 5 new words
- Write them
Make them with magnetic letters
Use them in sentences
Use with word wall activity
Wednesday
Work on analogy
Si conozco
If I know
puedo escribir
I can write
Thursday
Place 5 new words on the word wall
Do an activity with entire word wall
Friday
Read the word wall together
Do an activity with entire word wall
5
Five Word Activities
Activity 1
Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check
Take a paper with three or four columns
Teacher calls out 5 word wall words.
Students write the list of words in the first column.
Begin with the first word. SAY it and notice parts to remember.
LOOK closely at the letters to notice the visual details.
COVER the word with a card and think about how the word looks.
WRITE the word from memory.
Uncover and CHECK it with the word in the first column.
Cover and write the word again and check.
Do all five words.
Fountas, I.C. Pinneii, G.S.: (1998) Word Matters. N.H. Heinimann.
Activity 2
Word Jar
1.
When 5 new word wall words are introduced, write them on a slip of paper and add to Word
Jar.
2.
Choose 5 students to pick a word from the jar.
3.
One student at a time reads their word, class chants the spelling
4.
Do additional words.
Gruber, B. (1998) Instant Word Wall High Frequency Words. CA: Practice & Learn Right Publications
Whole W o r d Wall Activities
Activity 1
Guess the Covered Word
The purpose of this activity is to help children practice the important strategy of cross-checking meaning
with letter-sound information.
1.
The teacher writes 4 or 5 sentences on board, sentence strips, or overhead. Cover a word in
each sentence with two sticky notes—one covering the onset, the other covering the rime.
2.
Call on a student to read the first sentence.
3.
Students make several guesses for the covered word. Teacher writes the guesses on the board.
4.
The teacher takes off the first sticky note that is covering the onset.
5.
Guesses that don't begin with that onset are erased and any new guesses can be added.
6.
When all the guesses which fit both the meaning and the onsetare written, the whole word is
revealed.
Cunningham, P.M. (1999). The Teacher's Guide to the Four Blocks. N.C.: Carson-Dellosa.
Activity 2
Be a Mind Reader
Be a Mind Reader was a favorite of my class last year. In this game, the teacher thinks of a word on the
wall and then gives five clues to that word.
1.
Have students number their paper 1-5 and tell them that you are going to see who can read
your mind and figure out which of the words on the board you are thinking of. Tell them you will
give them five clues. By the fifth clue, everyone should guess your word, but if they read your
mind they might get it before the fifth clue.
2.
For your first clue, always give the same clue: "It's one of the words on the wall."
3.
Students should write next to number one the word they think it might be.
4.
The second clue is: It has four letters.
5.
Students write word.
6.
The third clue is: It begins with a diagraph ph.
7.
Student writes word
8.
The fourth clue is: it has a short e vowel sound.
Student writes the word.
10. The fifth clue is: It begins the sentence:
will lunch be ready? When
11. "I know you all have word next to number S, what is it? But who has it next to number 4?, 3?,
2?, 1?" Some students will have read your mind and will be pleased as punch with themselves?
Do several words in the same manner. As students get familiar with this activity they like to be
the person giving the clues and having their mind read.
Cunningham, P.M. (1999). The Teacher's Guide to the Four Blocks. N.C.:Carson-Dellosa.
Activity 3
Bean Bag Toss
Materials:
One shower curtain liner divided into 20 squares
2 Bean Bags
Words on large cards with small numbers on the corner of each card. Attach the words to the shower
curtain with tape or rubber cement before the game is to be played. Divide the class into 2 teams. Each
team will take turns throwing the bean bag to a square. If the student can read the word the bean bag
lands on, the team gets the number of points on the card. If the student misses the word, the other
team gets the chance to say it. The team with the most points wins the game.
Some alternative games using a shower curtain:
•
For the beginning of the year or for kindergarten: Write the letters of the alphabet onto the
card. The children identify the letter name or the sound(s) that letter makes.
•
Make index cards for upper and lower case letters. Give the students upper case cards to match
to the lower case liner. For variation—they can choose the card from a pile and then attempt to
toss the bean bag onto the matching box.
•
Students can toss the bean bag onto the liner. They must then name a word wall word that
begins with the sound of the letter it landed on.
•
Students pick up a picture card, they must then try to toss the bean bag onto the square that
contains the letter that matches the beginning sound of the picture on the card.
Activity 4
List
Have the students word with a partner. Give them a list to make from the word wall.
Ex. List all the word that have only 1 part, 2 parts etc or certain vowels, two vowels together, adjectives
nouns, blends, number of letters, begin or end with a vowel.
Give them a few minutes and then have everyone share what they wrote and record these on a chart. If
there is a word that they wrote that didn't fit, then talk about it and go on.
Activity 5
Bingo
You will need photocopies sheets of 9 or 25 blocks (see appendix 2). Students will need objects to cover
words.
1.
Call on students to pick words from the wall they want included in the game.
2.
As each word is picked, students will write it on their Bingo sheet in any black block they choose
and you will write it on an index card.
3.
When all students have filled up their sheets you are ready to play.
4.
Shuffle your index cards and call the word one at a time.
5.
Have students chant the spelling of each word and then cover it with their object.
6.
The first student to have a complete row covered wins Bingo.
7.
Students can clear their sheets and play again.
Cunningham, P.M. (199S). Phonics They Use. N.Y.:Harper Collins.
Activity 6
Rhyme with the Word Wall
The teacher says a sentence which contains a word that rhymes with one of the Word Wall words and is
spelled with the same pattern. Children must decide which word rhymes and how to spell it.
1.
Students number their paper just as they do it for Clap, Chant, Write, 1-S
2.
The teacher gives the following clues for the lesson words.
Number one begins with a t and rhymes with walk
Student writes talk on paper
Number two begins with an m and rhymes with by
Student writes my on paper
Number three begins with an f and rhymes with end
Student writes friend on paper
Number four begins with a w and rhymes with bear
Student writes wear on paper
Number five begins with a f and rhymes with car
Student writes far on paper
3.
To check the answers, teacher says the rhyming word and lets students say the word they wrote
and chant its spelling.
Cunningham, P.M. (1999). The Teacher's Guide to the Four Blocks. N.C.: Ca
Activity 7
Word Sorts
•
Write 10-lS words on large index cards and place in a pocket chart.
•
Have students write these words on separate smaller cards or papers at their desks.
•
Have students sort the word into different piles depending on some features certain words
share. Students may sort all words that begin with a certain sound, have a certain vowel sound,
and contain a certain blend or diagraph.
Cunningham, P.M. (199S). Phonics They Use. N.Y.: Harper Collins.
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Word Walis
Word walls are collections of words that are support the development of students' independent and strategic
reading and writing. Word walls are a helpful visual record of students' learning that can also serve as a quic
reference when students get "stuck" on a word while reading or writing. When used effectively, word walls can
be the core of a systematic phonics and spelling program (Brabham & Villaume, 2001).
Different types of word walls
• High-frequency sight words - arranged alphabetically. New words introduced at a rate of 3 to 5 per
week.
• Word family word wall - groups of words organized by word families, including words built during
Making Words.
• Graffiti wall - words that teachers or students find interesting in their ovm reading; these may be
organized alphabetically or randomly.
• Content area word walls - words from math, science, social studies, or other units of study
• Frequently misspelled words, including homophones and contractions
• Words with specific spelling patterns, such as vowel digraphs, prefixes, or suffixes
Don't just "have" a word wall -- "Do" the word wall!
Cunningham (2005) reminds us that many teachers "have" a word wall. But - for struggling readers, having
word wall Is not sufficient. You have to "do" a word wall. "Doing" a word wall means:
1. Being selective and limiting the words to those really common words that children need a lot in their
writing
2. Adding words gradually - five a week max
3. Making the words visually accessible and attractive. Write the words in large black letters and use a
variety of colors so that commonly confused words (from, for, that, they, this) look different
4. Practicing the words by chanting and writing them
5. Incorporating frequent word-wall activities in literacy instruction to support students' independent and
interactive use of the word wall (see below for ideas)
6. insisting that word-wall words are spelled correctly in any writing students do
Making the most of the word wall
. - I- , • •
• Show students how to use the word wall as tool to support their reading and writing. Plan activities tha
invite students to develop deeper understandings of the relationship between letters and sounds.
Teach mini4essons that explicitly demonstrate how to use word parts as clues for word identification
and spelling (see chunking and decoding-by-analogy). The goal is to use the word wall as a scaffold
help students develop their sight word and word identification knowledge (Gaskins, 2005).
• Encourage strategic use of the word walis during individual conversations. Instead of telling a studen
how to spell a word, demonstrate how you use the word wall to find similar words or remember
previously learned spelling strategies. Strategic conversations can scaffold students' development o
chunking and decoding-by analogy strategies used by skillful readers.
• Use the word wall as a springboard for word study activities, including word sorts, word searches, fla
card games, making words, and problem-solving conversations about spelling and word Identification
• Use the word wall as a "sponge" activity - When you have five minutes before lunch, play "I spy" or
other games using word wall words. For example, "I spy... a four letter word that rhymes with mat."
Encourage children to make up riddles for one another using word-wall words.
"Portable" Word Walls for Struggling Readers
In addition to explicit instruction and modeling in how to use the classroom word wall, students who
/^fV
(Cunningham, 2005) may take the form of a file folder with space designated for words under each letter of
the alphabet. They are designed to travel with students wherever they go, such as the reading specialist's
classroom and home at night.
What it Looks Like
Second Grade Word Wall
Third Grade Word Wall
Third Grade Word Wall
Click on any picture to see a larger version
Word Wall Instructional Activities
"On the Back" activities - Children use word wall words to make new words and extend their thinking about
the words
http://www.k111.k12.jl.us/lafavette/fourblocks/on the back activities.htm
Word Wall Chants
http://www.k111.k12.il.us/lafavette/FourBlocks/word wall chants.htm
Word Wall "Actlve-ities:" Build Vocabulary, Spelling, and Writing Skills: Five fun ideas to reinforce word wall
words
http://www.education-world.eom/a lesson/lesson/lesson328.shtml
Word Wall Resource page - More word wall activity ideas and how-to resources
http://www.education-world.eom/a Iesson/lesson/lesson328b.shtml
"'^ Teacher Tips
How do you use word walls in your class? Submit vour ideas here!
Resources and Links
Websites
Interactive Word Wall: Comprehensive description accompanied by 24 activities designed to make the word
wall an interactive instructional tool
http://www.teachnet.com/lesson/lanqarts/wordwall062599.html
Kathy Gurskey's Interactive Word Wall page: A teacher's description of how she used word walls in her
classroom. Includes pictures!
http://www.theschoolbell.com/Links/word walls/words.html
Word Wall Lists from the Kankakee School District: Downloadable lists and materials
http://www.k111.k12.il.us/LAFAYFTTF/FOURBLOCKS/word wall grade level lists.htm
Reading Assessment: Word Identification - Includes the Dolch and Fry word lists and an online
demonstration of a running record.
http://wilearns.state.wi.us/apps/default.asp?cid=91
Books
Phonics
//mv/.A/oK ctAir-Hc/ m L o l / K / R / . A . H . A m l I
Wml
They Use: Words
for Reading
and Writing (3rd Ed.) by Patricia Cunningham (Pearson