Description & Research
A word wall is a designated area in the classroom where important words and their meanings are displayed. They can be used to teach both fluency and vocabulary, but the strategy discussed and resources provided here are considered in light of vocabulary instruction.
Word walls might be used for content-specific academic vocabulary in multiple disciplines or for content-general academic vocabulary. They can be used in unit studies to identify key words that students can refer to throughout the process. For example, a history teacher might include key words that are important for a unit on the Civil Rights Movement. A language arts teacher might include key elements of figurative language. Any teacher might choose to create a word wall that helps students clarify between different verbs in questions (i.e. clarify, explain, analyze).
There has been a lot of research on different ways to use word walls. Jackson and Narvaez (2013) discuss ways to use it within a science classroom, some of which are interactive. Beers (2003) limits her use of word walls to fluency. Green (2003) advocates use of word walls for more complex lessons than simple definitions, including the concepts of synonyms, antonyms, and homonyms. He does caution that when used in this way, students need to have more scaffolding than in word walls used only for vocabulary. Marzano (2004) tells us that “students’ comprehension will increase by 33 percentile points when vocabulary instruction focuses on specific words important to the content they are reading as opposed to words from high-frequency lists [teaching frequently-occurring words out of context]” (as cited in www.edu.gov).
Resources
https://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/studentsuccess/thinkliteracy/files/ThinkLitWordWalls.pdf
http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/word_walls
http://www.k12reader.com/10-great-word-wall-strategies-for-classrooms/
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/strategy/strategy062.shtml
https://www.facinghistory.org/for-educators/educator-resources/teaching-strategies/word-wall-building-vocabulary
Video
Click HERE to view a demonstration of an 8th grade history class utilizing an interactive word wall. I chose this video because it demonstrates how word walls can be used to teach students literacy skills (i.e. cause and effect) and content-specific vocabulary.
A word wall is a designated area in the classroom where important words and their meanings are displayed. They can be used to teach both fluency and vocabulary, but the strategy discussed and resources provided here are considered in light of vocabulary instruction.
Word walls might be used for content-specific academic vocabulary in multiple disciplines or for content-general academic vocabulary. They can be used in unit studies to identify key words that students can refer to throughout the process. For example, a history teacher might include key words that are important for a unit on the Civil Rights Movement. A language arts teacher might include key elements of figurative language. Any teacher might choose to create a word wall that helps students clarify between different verbs in questions (i.e. clarify, explain, analyze).
There has been a lot of research on different ways to use word walls. Jackson and Narvaez (2013) discuss ways to use it within a science classroom, some of which are interactive. Beers (2003) limits her use of word walls to fluency. Green (2003) advocates use of word walls for more complex lessons than simple definitions, including the concepts of synonyms, antonyms, and homonyms. He does caution that when used in this way, students need to have more scaffolding than in word walls used only for vocabulary. Marzano (2004) tells us that “students’ comprehension will increase by 33 percentile points when vocabulary instruction focuses on specific words important to the content they are reading as opposed to words from high-frequency lists [teaching frequently-occurring words out of context]” (as cited in www.edu.gov).
Resources
https://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/studentsuccess/thinkliteracy/files/ThinkLitWordWalls.pdf
http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/word_walls
http://www.k12reader.com/10-great-word-wall-strategies-for-classrooms/
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/strategy/strategy062.shtml
https://www.facinghistory.org/for-educators/educator-resources/teaching-strategies/word-wall-building-vocabulary
Video
Click HERE to view a demonstration of an 8th grade history class utilizing an interactive word wall. I chose this video because it demonstrates how word walls can be used to teach students literacy skills (i.e. cause and effect) and content-specific vocabulary.