Posted by: Alesia Netuk
Updated: November 20th, 2023
How Using Word Wall Strategy Can Help Your Students Improve Literacy Skills
How Using Word Wall Strategy Can Help Your Students Improve Literacy Skills
Word walls are excellent instructional tools to support children with reading and writing. They offer a host of benefits and can be used in multiple ways to help children develop their literacy skills.
Why Use Word Walls?
What is a word wall?
A word wall is a collection of words displayed for children to refer to. They can consist of high-frequency words, specialized vocabulary from subjects like math and science, or words that children are frequently misspell. The words are typically categorized by the letter they begin with so children can find them easily.
Creating a Word Wall
Word walls can be created on a bulletin board, whiteboard, or wall for children to access. Or, smaller, individual word walls can be made for each child. These more portable word walls can be kept at each child’s desk or table.
When creating a large word wall display, choose an area with enough space that allows you to continue adding more and more words to it. Also, make sure the words will be displayed so children can easily see them. Having words up near the ceiling, for example, is not ideal for young children.
Since words are organized according to the letter they begin with, create headings from A to Z. Leave enough space under each letter to add words. Some educators have children make the headings, use commercially-made letters, or create the headings themselves.
The next step is to add words to the wall. Again, these may be written by the children, store-bought words, or written by the educator. Some educators prefer that children write the words to promote ownership of the word wall and ensure it is a collaborative effort. When attaching the words to the wall, consider whether they will be staying in place or if you want children to be able to take the words down to use during writing activities. Depending on how you intend to use your word wall, tape, sticky tack, or velcro work well.
If you are making individual word walls, file folders work well. Attach a page divided into spaces for each letter of the alphabet. Words can be added using a pencil or marker. The folders are small enough that they can be easily tucked away in a desk when not in use. One benefit of personal word walls is that they can be tailored to the specific words each child needs to focus on.
Using a Word Wall
For word walls to be effective instructional tools, children need to be taught how to use them and provided with many opportunities to reference them. The goal is to have children independently access the word wall to support their writing. Instead of asking you how to spell words, they find the words on their own and copy them from the wall.
Using a collaborative and authentic approach when adding words to the wall is essential. If an educator simply adds a bunch of words to the display without input or context, the word wall will be very challenging for children to use. Instead, add words that children are currently learning, focusing on in their reading or writing, or regularly asking for help. Make sure the words are written clearly, using correct letter formation, and add them to the wall together.
Start out slowly. Don’t add so many words that it’s difficult for children to find the one they want. Also, be mindful of adding words that are commonly mixed up. For example, adding “the” and “they” at the same time may cause confusion.
When introducing a word wall, children will need reminders to use it until it becomes routine. As they become more accustomed to using it, you may be able to add three to five new words each week.
Word Wall Activities
To support the goal of having children use the word wall independently as a reference tool, incorporate daily word wall activities into your program. Try having children chant, clap, or cheer the words to become more familiar with them. When they are writing, set the expectation that all word wall words be spelled correctly since they can be easily referenced. A good learning center activity is “Read the Room.” Give children pointers and have them go around the room, reading all the words that are displayed, including those on the word wall.
Try playing “Word Wall Bingo.” Each child writes words from the word wall on a bingo card. Take the words off the wall and shuffle them up. Choose a word, then have children cross the word off if it’s on their bingo card. The first person to cross off all their words wins.
Another game to try is “Guess the Missing Word.” Give everyone time to study the word wall. Then, have everyone close their eyes as you remove one word. Children take turns guessing which word is missing. This is a simple game with no set-up that you can easily incorporate into transition times.
Printables with missing words:
Summer: Cloze the Gap! Set 1
Kids replace the gaps with summer-related words. Summer vocabulary in this set: bees, ball, farm, flip-flops, hippo, insects, lemonade, ocean, picnic, roses.
Summer: Cloze the Gap! Set 1
Summer: Cloze the Gap! Set 2
Kids replace the gaps with summer-related words. Summer vocabulary: air conditioner, cocktail, flower, goggles, Independence Day, juice, lightning, nests, outdoors, sand.
Summer: Cloze the Gap! Set 2
Summer: Cloze the Gap! Set 3
Kids replace the gaps with summer-related words. Summer vocabulary: zipline, August, Fourth of July, journey, meditation, rabbits, sunflower, yacht, thunder, tan.
Summer: Cloze the Gap! Set 3
Cloze the Gap – Halloween Worksheet
Read the sentences and fill the gaps with Halloween-related words. This fun and educational Halloween activity is an excellent way to strengthen vocabulary skills.
Cloze the Gap – Halloween Worksheet
You may also wish to have children draw or cut out pictures to illustrate words on the wall. Picture clues help developing readers find the words they are looking for.
Word walls are an excellent way to help surround children in a print-rich environment. They also help foster independence, as children learn to use the word wall as a reference tool. From beginning readers and writers to those with more developed literacy skills, word walls can be created to support children of a variety of ages.
Word wall you can print and start using in your classroom
Alphabet word wall
Things That Begin With The Letter A
This worksheet features pictures of things that begin with the letter A: angel, apple, alien, apron, alligator, acorn, astronaut, axe.
Things That Begin With The Letter A
Things That Begin With The Letter B
This worksheet features pictures of things that begin with the letter B: barn, book, bed, bat, bee, baby, ball, bird.
Things That Begin With The Letter B
Things That Begin With The Letter C
This worksheet features pictures of things that begin with the letter C: crab, car, castle, cake, cab, cave, cat, corn.
Things That Begin With The Letter C
Things That Begin With The Letter D
This worksheet features pictures of things that begin with the letter D: darts, dog, dinner, desk, dice, drink, dad, desert.
Things That Begin With The Letter D
Things That Begin With The Letter E
This worksheet features pictures of things that begin with the letter E: eagle, egg, eraser, ear, elephant, eat, elevator, envelope.
Things That Begin With The Letter E
Things That Begin With The Letter F
This worksheet features pictures of things that begin with the letter F: fan, fall, feed, fire, frog, family, fence, fork.
Things That Begin With The Letter F
Things That Begin With The Letter G
This worksheet features pictures of things that begin with the letter G: grapes, goat, gold, girl, gift, gate, ghost, garden.
Things That Begin With The Letter G
Things That Begin With The Letter H
This worksheet features pictures of things that begin with the letter H: hat, heart, hotdog, hop, hen, hammer, honey, hippo.
Things That Begin With The Letter H
Things That Begin With The Letter I
This worksheet features pictures of things that begin with the letter I: iron, igloo, icecream, ivy, ink, island, ill, insect.
Things That Begin With The Letter I
Things That Begin With The Letter J
This worksheet features pictures of things that begin with the letter J: jump, jet, judge, jam, jar, juice, jello, luggle.
Things That Begin With The Letter J
Things That Begin With The Letter K
This worksheet features pictures of things that begin with the letter K: karate, kite, key, kangaroo, kid, kitchen, kiss, king.
Things That Begin With The Letter K
Things That Begin With The Letter L
This worksheet features pictures of things that begin with the letter L: laugh, leg, lay, love, lake, ladder, lamp, lady.
Things That Begin With The Letter L
Things That Begin With The Letter M
This worksheet features pictures of things that begin with the letter M: mad, mermaid, mailbox, magic, money, menu, map, mop.
Things That Begin With The Letter M
Things That Begin With The Letter N
This worksheet features pictures of things that begin with the letter N: note, net, neck, nurse, nest, ninja, nuts, needle.
Things That Begin With The Letter N
Things That Begin With The Letter O
This worksheet features pictures of things that begin with the letter O: oak, officer, ocean, oatmeal, ox, open, omelet, octopus.
Things That Begin With The Letter O
Things That Begin With The Letter P
This worksheet features pictures of things that begin with the letter P: pig, park, pea, pot, panda, pear, pen, pirate.
Things That Begin With The Letter P
Things That Begin With The Letter Q
This worksheet features pictures of things that begin with the letter Q: quartz, quail, question, quack, queen, quilt, quiet, quake.
Things That Begin With The Letter Q
Things That Begin With The Letter R
This worksheet features pictures of things that begin with the letter R: rat, rose, read, rag, rabbit, rock, road, rain.
Things That Begin With The Letter R
Things That Begin With The Letter S
This worksheet features pictures of things that begin with the letter S: seal, sun, sand, socks, star, sad, school, spoon.
Things That Begin With The Letter S
Things That Begin With The Letter T
This worksheet features pictures of things that begin with the letter T: tea, table, tie, tent, toys, tire, tiger, tail.
Things That Begin With The Letter T
Things That Begin With The Letter U
This worksheet features pictures of things that begin with the letter U: utensils, umbrella, unicycle, unicorn, under, uniform, upsidedown, upset.
Things That Begin With The Letter U
Things That Begin With The Letter V
This worksheet features pictures of things that begin with the letter V: valley, vet, vote, vase, vacation, vest, van, vegetables.
Things That Begin With The Letter V
Things That Begin With The Letter W
This worksheet features pictures of things that begin with the letter W: watermelon, wedding, wash, whale, waves, witch, wall, windmill.
Things That Begin With The Letter W
Things That Begin With The Letter X
This worksheet features pictures of things that begin with the letter X: bo, x-ray, wax, fix, x-rayfish, mix, Xmas, xylophone.
Things That Begin With The Letter X
Things That Begin With The Letter Y
This worksheet features pictures of things that begin with the letter Y: yogurt, yummy, yo-yo, yoga, yuck, yarn, yawn, yell.
Things That Begin With The Letter Y
Things That Begin With The Letter Z
This worksheet features pictures of things that begin with the letter Z: zucchini, zoo, zero, zorilla, zipper, zest, zebra, zigzag.
Things That Begin With The Letter Z
Phonics word wall
ET Word Family Word Wall Cards
With this word search, kids read and find words with the ET ending. Start with the easiest version and move forward to the second.
ET Word Family Word Wall Cards
ED Word Family Word Wall
With this word, search kids read and find words with the ED ending. Start with the easiest version and move forward to the second.
ED Word Family Word Wall
EG Word Family Word Wall
With this word, search kids read and find words with the EG ending. Start with the easiest version and move forward to the second.
EG Word Family Word Wall
Science word wall
Butterfly Life Cycle Word Wall Cards
With this word search, students learn vocabulary associated with the butterfly life cycle. It is an excellent way to introduce vocabulary words. In addition, the word search includes illustrations of the butterfly life cycle.
Butterfly Life Cycle Word Wall Cards
Ant Life Cycle Word Wall
Use the ant life cycle word wall to build vocabulary and writing skills, as well explore stages of the ant life cycle.
Ant Life Cycle Word Wall
Crab Life Cycle Word Wall
Use the crab life cycle word wall to build vocabulary and writing skills, as well explore stages of the crab life cycle.
Crab Life Cycle Word Wall
Jellyfish Life Cycle Word Wall
Use the jellyfish life cycle word wall to build vocabulary and writing skills, as well explore stages of the jellyfish life cycle.
Jellyfish Life Cycle Word Wall
Mosquito Life Cycle Word Wall
Use the mosquito life cycle word wall to build vocabulary and writing skills, as well explore stages of the mosquito life cycle.
Mosquito Life Cycle Word Wall
Shark Life Cycle Word Wall
Use the shark life cycle word wall to build vocabulary and writing skills, as well explore stages of the shark life cycle.
Shark Life Cycle Word Wall
Turtle Life Cycle Word Wall
Use the turtle life cycle word wall to build vocabulary and writing skills, as well explore stages of the turtle life cycle.
Turtle Life Cycle Word Wall
Ladybug Life Cycle Word Wall
Use the ladybug life cycle word wall to build vocabulary and writing skills, as well explore stages of the ladybug life cycle.
Ladybug Life Cycle Word Wall
Kindergarten word wall
Kindergarten Spelling Word Wall (Unit 1)
During week 1, kindergarten students practice the following words: I, a, rat, sat, hat.
Kindergarten Spelling Word Wall (Unit 2)
During week 2, kindergarten students practice the following words: the, to, cat, sat, mat.
Kindergarten Spelling Word Wall (Unit 3)
During week 3, kindergarten students practice the following words: it, in, bad, sad, mad.
Kindergarten Spelling Word Wall (Unit 4)
During week 4, kindergarten students practice the following words: is, go, cap, map, tap.
Kindergarten Spelling Word Wall (Unit 5)
During week 5, kindergarten students practice the following words: up, my, lab, cab, dab.
Kindergarten Spelling Word Wall (Unit 6)
During week 6, kindergarten students practice the following words: me, at, hit, pit, fit.
Kindergarten Spelling Word Wall (Unit 7)
During week 7, kindergarten students practice the following words: am, we, hid, kid, lid.
Kindergarten Spelling Word Wall (Unit 8)
During week 8, kindergarten students practice the following words: he, on, dip, hip, lip.
First-grade word wall
1st Grade Spelling Word Wall (Unit 1)
The spelling word wall is displayed on a wall or an area where students can see and use the words. Words: he, was, that, she, tack, snack, crack, rack, stack.
1st Grade Spelling Word Wall (Unit 2)
The spelling word wall is displayed on a wall or an area where students can see and use the words. Words: on, they, but, at, wall, tall, stall, hall, gall.
1st Grade Spelling Word Wall (Unit 3)
The spelling word wall is displayed on a wall or an area where students can see and use the words. Words: with, all, there, out, land, ant, stand, slant, pant.
1st Grade Spelling Word Wall (Unit 4)
The spelling word wall is displayed on a wall or an area where students can see and use the words. Words: be, have, am, do, mash, flash, lash, trash, crash.
1st Grade Spelling Word Wall (Unit 5)
The spelling word wall is displayed on a wall or an area where students can see and use the words. Words: did, what, so, get, check, peck, deck, beck, speck.
1st Grade Spelling Word Wall (Unit 6)
The spelling word wall is displayed on a wall or an area where students can see and use the words. Words: like, this, will, yes, cell, smell, yell, sell, spell.
1st Grade Spelling Word Wall (Unit 7)
The spelling word wall is displayed on a wall or an area where students can see and use the words. Words: went, are, now, no, bend, spend, lend, rest, test.
1st Grade Spelling Word Wall (Unit 8)
The spelling word wall is displayed on a wall or an area where students can see and use the words. Words: came, ride, into, good, lick, wick, kick, chick, click.
Second-grade word wall
2nd Grade Spelling Word Wall (Unit 1)
The spelling word wall has displayed an area where students can see and use the words: of, his, had, car, jar, harp, yarn, bark, barn.
2nd Grade Spelling Word Wall (Unit 2)
The spelling word wall has displayed an area where students can see and use the words: him, her, some, paw, hawk, lawn, yawn, ago, across.
2nd Grade Spelling Word Wall (Unit 3)
The spelling word wall has displayed an area where students can see and use the words: as, then, could, coat, goat, toad, load, oat, boat.
2nd Grade Spelling Word Wall (Unit 4)
The spelling word wall has displayed an area where students can see and use the words: when, were, them, stir, squirt, girl, dirt, bird, circle.
2nd Grade Spelling Word Wall (Unit 5)
The spelling word wall has displayed an area where students can see and use the words: ask, an, over, sold, fold, gold, angry, mold, told.
2nd Grade Spelling Word Wall (Unit 6)
The spelling word wall is displayed in an area where students can see and use the words: just, from, any, house, mouse, ground, sound, shout, snout.
2nd Grade Spelling Word Wall (Unit 7)
The spelling word wall has displayed an area where students can see and use the words: how, know, put, towel, crown, town, howl, brow, down.
2nd Grade Spelling Word Wall (Unit 8)
The spelling word wall has displayed an area where students can see and use the words: take, every, old, argue, glue, clue, center, cash, cannot.
Alphabet word lists
Words That Start With A For Kindergarten
This printable is great for introducing words that start with A for kindergarten kids: alligator, axe, apricot, ask, alley, acorn, ate, apron, agent, and more.
Words That Start With B For Kindergarten
Introduce words that start with B for kindergarten kids: bee, ball, bake, belt, beard, back, bird, belly, bite, book, bat, bed, barn, bark, and more.
Words That Start With C For Kindergarten
With this printable kids learn words that start with C: car, cab, camp, carrot, cake, cane, cash, cave, coat, crab, can, cat, corn, catch, calf, and more.
Words That Start With D For Kindergarten
Introduce words that start with D: dice, dirt, dad, drink, drive, deep, darts, dance, dinner, dog, day, dig, deck, desk, dark, desert, and more.
Words That Start With E For Kindergarten
Introduce words that start with E: elephant, envelope, elevator, echo, empty, eagle, easy, ear, equal, egg, enter, exit, end, engine, eat, each, and more.
Words That Start With F For Kindergarten
Introduce words that start with F: friend, farm, field, fork, fan, fell, far, family, fat, fall, frog, fence, feeling, feet, feed, fear, face, fast, and more.
Words That Start With G For Kindergarten
Introduce words that start with G: gift, ghost, gray, grow, guest, gate, glue, gold, good, goat, go, green, girl, get, garden, give, grapes, and more.
Words That Start With H For Kindergarten
Introduce words that start with H: hop, have, hen, he, her, hair, happy, hard, hat, hi, hello, heart, hear, help, head, hand, hammer, half, heat, heel.
Words That Start With J For Kindergarten
Introduce words that start with J: jump, just, July, jail, jeep, jelly, jam, joy, juice, juggle, jet, June, January, jacket, jar, junior, job, joke, judge.
Words That Start With K For Kindergarten
Introduce words that start with K: ketchup, kid, key, kind, king, kill, keen, kingdom, karate, kite, kit, keep, kick, kiss, kitchen, kept, kennel, and more.
Words That Start With L For Kindergarten
Introduce words that start with L: like, low, large, land, lips, lake, lady, last, lay, love, list, leg, lick, leak, light, ladder, lamp, laugh, lazy, left.
Words That Start With I For Kindergarten
Introduce words that start with I: in, is, ill, itchy, inside, icicle, Ill, iron, ivy, igloo, ink, it, inch, insect, ice, idea, Im, island, ice, cream, iris.
Words That Start With M For Kindergarten
Introduce words that start with M: my, make, mad, mop, man, many, maybe, mean, melt, mouth, more, money, map, mail, magic, me, meal, meat, menu, mess.
Words That Start With N For Kindergarten
Introduce words that start with N: net, neck, never, nut, name, neat, new, noise, note, no, nest, not, nail, nose, navy, needle, nice, noon, nurse, now.
Words That Start With P For Kindergarten
Introduce words that start with P: pen, park, pink, pad, plum, paper, pot, party, pat, push, pull, people, pin, pan, peas, pig, pants, pass, pay, pet.
Words That Start With O For Kindergarten
Introduce words that start with O: October, on, often, octagon, officer, over, open, obey, oats, odd, off, office, onto, ox, only, oh, oclock, ocean, and more.
Words That Start With Q For Kindergarten
Introduce words that start with Q: quiet, question, quest, quarter, quiz, quip, quad, quartz, quirk, quick, quail, quote, queen, quit, quite, quart, and more.
Words That Start With R For Kindergarten
Introduce words that start with R: rose, rest, rabbit, race, rain, real, room, rag, rip, red, run, right, radio, road, read, relax, rat, ribs, rock, row.
Words That Start With S For Kindergarten
Introduce words that start with S: shapes, star, sail, sad, stick, salt, school, screw, sew, sun, see, store, sand, spoon, safe, scare, seal, seed, set, socks.
Words That Start With T For Kindergarten
Introduce words that start with T: top, table, toys, tail, talk, team, tea, tent, tie, ten, two, take, tears, top, tap, tape, taste, tell, time, tire.
Words That Start With U For Kindergarten
Introduce words that start with U: umbrella, ugly, umpire, upset, us, unit, uniform, utensils, usually, under, up, uncle, undo, upon, ukulele, unique, and more.
Words That Start With V For Kindergarten
Introduce words that start with V: vest, violin, vegetable, visit, volume, vehicle, view, vanilla, vase, vet, violet, very, video, vote, valley, van, and more.
Words That Start With W For Kindergarten
Introduce words that start with W: west, when, well, welcome, wedding, waist, wake, warm, water, way, wow, where, why, we, wait, walk, wall, wash, waves, week.
Words That Start With X For Kindergarten
Introduce words that start with X: xylophone, ax, mix, wax, fox, jinx, flex, six, ox, x-ray, Xmas, box, fix, reflex, tax, hoax, minx, nix, lynx, tux.
Words That Start With Y For Kindergarten
Introduce words that start with Y: yes, yard, year, yet, yesterday, young, yoga, yoke, youth, yellow, yummy, yawn, yell, , you, your, yarn, yogurt, and more.
Words That Start With Z For Kindergarten
Introduce words that start with Z: zip, zipper, zap, zigzag, zoom, zorilla, zit, zing, zany, zoo, zero, zone, zebra, zombie, zucchini, zapped, zest, and more.
Phonics word lists
AG Word Family List
This classroom poster covers the ag word family and would be a great addition to your classroom decorations. Plus, it creates a rich and engaging learning environment. Ag word family list includes CVC words: bag, wag, tag, rag, gag, jag, lag, sag, zag, drag, flag, snag, brag, crag, retag.
AG Word Family List
EG Word Family List
To a beginning reader, the relationship between EG word family words may not be understood. When kids create a flipbook, they see the relationship between these words.
EG Word Family List
ED Word Family List
To a beginning reader, the relationship between ED word family words may not be understood. When kids create a flipbook, they see the relationship between these words.
ED Word Family List
EN Word Family List
Use this word family list to introduce the sound of words ending with -EN.
EN Word Family List
ET Word Family List
To a beginning reader, the relationship between ET word family words may not be understood. When kids create a flipbook, they see the relationship between these words.
ET Word Family List
AD Word Family List
Teach beginning spellers that words contain and share patterns. Use this word family list to introduce the sound of words ending with -AD.
AD Word Family List
AM Word Family List
Teach beginning spellers that words contain and share patterns. Use this word family list to introduce the sound of words ending with -AM.
AM Word Family List
AN Word Family List
Teach beginning spellers that words contain and share patterns. Use this word family list to introduce the sound of words ending with -AN.
AN Word Family List
AP Word Family List
Teach beginning spellers that words contain and share patterns. Use this word family list to introduce the sound of words ending with -AP.
AP Word Family List
AT Word Family List
Teach beginning spellers that words contain and share patterns. Use this word family list to introduce the sound of words ending with -AT.
AT Word Family List
AY Word Family List
Teach beginning spellers that words contain and share patterns. Use this word family list to introduce the sound of words ending with -AY.
AY Word Family List
IP Word Family List
Teach beginning spellers that words contain and share patterns. Use this word family list to introduce the sound of words ending with -IP.
IP Word Family List
IT Word Family List
Teach beginning spellers that words contain and share patterns. Use this word family list to introduce the sound of words ending with -IT.
IT Word Family List
OG Word Family List
Teach beginning spellers that words contain and share patterns. Use this word family list to introduce the sound of words ending with -OG.
OG Word Family List
OP Word Family List
Teach beginning spellers that words contain and share patterns. Use this word family list to introduce the sound of words ending with -OP.
OP Word Family List
References
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