Our Word Wall is "Sew" Cool!

Part of our language arts program involves making and using a class word wall! Each morning during calendar time, a helper chooses a word wall word, which we practice spelling by chanting and clapping out the letters. Then our helper adds it to the blue word wall which hangs in the front of our room. The words are velcro, and they stick like magic!

The words that we add to our word wall are basic sight vocabulary...words that are not phonetically correct and/or do not follow traditional spelling and phonics rules. The word wall is arranged alphabetically, and during writing workshop and other writing times, we can refer to the word wall when we need to spell a basic sight word!

To help us practice reading and spelling the word wall words correctly, we play a number of games. One we like is called "Word Wall Bingo." Each child has a bingo card with six blank spaces. The child writes one word wall word in each space. Then the words are taken from the wall and placed into a container, and one by one they are pulled out. If you have that word on your bingo card, you can cover it with a marker. When your entire card is covered, yell "BINGO!" We play until everyone gets bingo and we've read all of the words!

Another game that is fun is called "Mind Reader." Each person numbers their paper from one to four. The teacher gives a clue about one of the word wall words, and each time the children write their guess next to the number. For instance, the first clue might be "It begins with S" and then next to the number one you can write down any of the S words on the wall. Then the second clue is given, and you can write the same word or another word that fits both of those clues. By the fourth clue, everyone can "guess" the mystery word!

By using the word wall, we hope that the first graders become more confident in their writing and begin to make the transition from temporary to conventional spelling. For more information on WORD WALLS, click below. For a list of the Dolch Basic Sight words which we use on our word wall, click below! Word Wall Information Dolch Basic Sight Words

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Back to Curriculum Practice reading some of our WORD WALL words using these flashcards!