The Ease and Power of a Word Wall in the Classroom

Contrary to popular belief, English class is not the only one with vocabulary lists and necessary words and concepts students must understand. Every subject has its core language that is vital to mastering the content and there is often new terminology with each unit.

Academic Language

Brick and mortar words permeate every subject in every grade level. Brick words refer to the content-specific vocabulary related to the unit at hand. Mortar vocabulary includes terms that are connective, transitional, and directional. See the examples below in both a social studies and English class:

 

 

1. Provide examples of the different types of government: democracy, monarchy, and oligarchy.
   • Brick Words: government, democracy, monarchy, oligarchy
   • Mortar: provide, examples, different

2. Analyze the theme of the story and how the protagonist grew as a result of the resolution.
   • Brick Words: theme, protagonist, resolution
   • Mortar: analyze, result of

One reason that many students struggle academically is because they simply do not understand what the teacher is asking of them. Essentially, they do not know the definitions of basic mortar terminology. This is a great place to start at the beginning of each year, establishing understanding and knowledge of the key directional language you will be using throughout your teaching.

This can be especially true of your English Language Learners and one reason why they seem to struggle with the content; they are having difficulty understanding the basic text. Therefore, it is imperative that no matter how basic you feel the vocabulary may be, you must spend time introducing, teaching, and reviewing it, before you move on.

In order to assist your class in achieving knowledge of academic language, a constant visual reminder, such as a word wall, is a great way to reinforce the learning, understanding, and use of new terms.

How to Set it Up

• Choose your words: You don’t want to overwhelm your pupils by flooding them with an entire dictionary to memorize. Choose the most necessary vocabulary. Their grade level and the length of unit should help determine the quantity of terms chosen. A helpful tool is the bold words in the class textbook. However, do not feel that you must stick to this list precisely.

• Choose your location: Where is the best place in the classroom so that everyone will see it, everyday? A white board in front? A bulletin board on the side? Perhaps you have a pocket chart on wheels you can easily maneuver to the most visible location. The key is to have a clear, dedicated space for this important tool.

• Write the words: The larger the terms are written, the better. 5x7 index cards work well for this purpose. Use a thick sharpie marker and print neatly and clearly. Organize the cards alphabetically so your students can easily locate them.

How to Use It

Once the wall is complete, you are not finished! Now you must direct your class to look at it and reference it for their vocabulary needs.

• Refer to it daily: Have some type of activity, big or small, that requires your learners to access this wall every day. This results in constant practice of their brick and mortar terminology, which is what they need to successfully master the content.

• Create activities using it: A simple way to ease into daily use of this tool is to have a warm-up question or two at the beginning of the class that directly relates to one or more of your terms. You could ask for a definition, synonym, antonym, or a sentence using the vocabulary correctly. As you come across these words in your lesson or discussion, take a moment and ask a few students for the meaning. End class with a brief non-graded verbal quiz in which you quickly call on multiple learners to provide definitions.

• Play games with it! Make this a fun resource in your room, one that your class looks forward to using:
• Every day, cover up one or two words and make your class give the word and definition of the words that are hidden. 
• Pictionary and charades are always fun Friday activities that get everyone out of their seats, using their vocabulary, and trying hard to be correct. Even 12^th graders enjoy this one!
• Play vocabulary bingo where you provide the definition, a synonym, or antonym, and your class must know the answer to mark the space off their bingo chart. This can be done individually or in groups.
• Award small bonus prizes or extra points for those that can correctly use the terms, unprovoked, in a class discussion. 

One last tip to ensure success with your new classroom resource is to give your pupils their own personal copy of the list for each unit. They can keep these lists in their binders, write on them, and manipulate them as needed for individual retention. This visual reminder, accompanied with the consistent repetition of verbal usage, will help your class master the academic language in no time! Try it out!

Other Resources:

Daily Activities for Academic Language Development

This article provides great, quick activities that can be implemented daily to practice academic language as it pertains to specific standards. These activities do not require much prep and gets the class using the words in different ways.

Primary Grade Word Wall Game

A fun and active way to engage your younger learners in learning their vocabulary is to recreate a “snowball” fight with one word per paper (that is crumpled up like a snowball). Once tossed to a classmate, that pupil must read the word to his neighbors. You can easily adjust this activity to fit your class’s level and vocabulary readiness; for a more advanced version, require your snowball throwers to create a sentence using the word correctly.

Intermediate Word Wall Ideas

Word walls are great tools for intermediate grades as well. Use this resource for more ideas on how to create the wall, implement it in your daily teaching practice, and engage your learners in activities using the words.

World Wall Games for K-8

Make learning academic language fun by introducing these vocabulary games to your K-8 pupils. With a few adaptations, these activities could be used at the high school level as well. Get your class out of their seats and interacting with the word wall!