Transcript Word Walls one component within a balanced literacy program

Word Walls
one component within a balanced literacy program
Teaching student
to read
Independent
reading
Working with
words
Writing
Word Walls are Designed to:
• Support the teaching of important general principles
about words and how they work.
• Foster reading and writing.
• Provide reference support for students during their
writing and reading.
• Promote independence on the part of young students
as they work with words in writing and reading.
• Provide a visual map to help children remember the
connections between words and the characteristics
that will help them form categories.
Fountas and Pinnell (1998)
Doing a Word Wall
• Selecting words
• Practicing words
• Making words
accessible
• Doing activities
• Adding words
• Hold students
responsible for
spelling
Cunningham, Hall,& Sigmon (1999)
Selecting Words
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Grade level high-frequency word list
Students’ names
Frequent words from stories being read
Letter combinations (ch, sh, th, wh)
Hard-to-spell high-frequency words
Letter combinations (ch, sh, th, wh, qu, ph, wr, kn)
Less common c and g sounds
Blends
Most common vowel patterns
Common contractions
Cunningham, Hall,& Sigmon (1999)
Selecting Words
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Homophones
Words ending in s, ed, and ing
Most frequently misspelled words
Most commonly confused homophones
Compound words
Less common c and g sounds
Common endings and suffixes with spelling
changes
• Common prefixes
Cunningham, Hall,& Sigmon (1999)
Making Words Accessible
• Put them where every child can see them.
• Write them in large, clear, black letters.
• Create portable word walls.
• Place a row of alphabetically organized
library pockets along the bottom of the wall
with word wall words in the pockets.
Adding Words
• Add 5 words a week to the word wall.
• Talk to the students about the words (i.e.
how the words sound, look, are connected
to other words, and what they mean.)
• Place the words above or below the letter
with which they begin.
• Place an asterisk next to the words that have
common spelling patterns.
Practicing Words
Monday and Tuesday
• Have students number paper from 1-5.
• Call out a word.
• Have a student find and point to the word on the
word wall.
• Students clap and chant the spelling rhythmically.
• Students write each word.
• Lead students to check or fix their own papers.
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday
• Call out any five words from the word wall.
Cunningham, Hall,& Sigmon (1999)
On-the-Back Activities
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On-the-Back Endings
On-the-Back Rhymes
On-the-Back Cross Checking
Be a Mind Reader
Ruler Tap
WORDO
Word Sorts
Cunningham, Hall,& Sigmon (1999)
Hold students
responsible
for spelling
Word Wall Words.