Word Wall

I got the idea to write about how I use my word wall after reading about Ms. M's Word Wall. It's so interesting to hear how different schools/teachers do things.

This is what my Word Wall looks like...

Here is a picture of my Word Wall. I got the idea from a substitute who took over a class from a teacher who was on maternity leave. Her classroom was very small and she turned a small space into her Word Wall. When her time was done, she gave me this ABC train.

Pros: This is set up on a dry wall, so I simply staple (shhhh, don't tell) the words to the wall as we add them each week. You can't see it from the picture, but my Writing Station is actually located under my Word Wall. Sometimes during writing time, I let my children sit at this table so they can add one of their new words to their writing.

If I see them looking back at the Word Wall, I make a huge deal of it.
"Did I just see you looking at the Word Wall? That is so smart! You are using your resources to help make your writing better!" :)

My co-worker did this every week last year, I think I'm going to borrow her awesome idea. She CLAPS out all her word wall words.

"A (clap) is for... a, and, as
B (clap) is for... be, because, been"
etc....

Cons: I have to step on a chair to reach the top of the alphabet and also sometimes the space can get limited towards the middle to end of the school year. Also, my Word Wall is located at the back of the room, this is a good thing and bad thing because my students have to turn around to see it BUT it helps them start to memorize how to spell their high frequency words.

This year, I typed out all the high frequency words in colorful paper. I did write the words on a sentence strip (cut it to fit), but I think this will make it look more professional and will be easier to read.