Word Walls

According to Patricia Cunningham (2012), who is credited with inventing the word wall, “the word wall is an area in the classroom where words are displayed -– but not just any words -– truly important ones. They are systematically organized and a tool designed to promote group learning.”  

Cunningham, P.M. (2012). Phonics They Use: Words for Reading and Writing. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Top Ten Tips for Setting Up Your Word Wall:

1. Try to put it as close to eye-level as possible...We like to reserve the most visible part of the classroom wall space for the word wall. Ideally the letters would go across in a single row, but try for as few rows as possible, as we know some classrooms are oddly-shaped.

2. The letters should include both capital and lowercase letters, and a keyword picture. The word wall labels (and other alphabet resources) that we use are available in our TPT store!

3. Use visual borders between the letters and solid backgrounds. Our brains are programmed to see borders and the solid backgrounds cut out distractions.

4. Make the words in large, bold, black font about 2" (150+ font size) on white paper; in a typeface similar to the text they will see in their leveled books. Click here for a free editable word list.

5. Cut around the shape of letters to help with visualizing how the words look...and this helps with handwriting- ex. Students will remember that 'the' has two tall letters and one short letter at the end.

6. Back words in various colors of card stock. Make words that begin with the same letter like 'with', 'went', 'when' in different colors to make them more distinguishable; put pictures or clues on homophones.

7. Designate words with common spelling patterns; ex. Put a star sticker next to 'can' because it can help you spell ran, fan, van, etc.

8. Try to make the word wall interactive- ex. Make a word wall with felt and Velcro so words can be removed and used by students; Store words on rings or in library pockets under the word wall; Make personal miniature word walls.

9. Add words gradually. The first words that go up onto the word wall should be the students names. Just like the other words, these are added gradually as you study a name each day. (The names can eventually be moved to a separate name chart- more on that next time.) Later in the year celebrate words can be removed from the word wall because students know them.

Stefanie's Word Wall at the beginning of the year last year.
Notice that it starts with the students' names.

10. Remember to have fun with your students in reviewing words on the word wall in daily via cheers, songs, games, etc.!

Stefanie's Word Wall is ready for the new year to begin :)

Chrissa's Word Wall last year-
made with a giant piece of felt and painter's tape!

Some easy ways to store the word wall words:

in a small photo album

small accordion file pouch