In chapter 7 of our textbook it talks about how to choose words to study. There are three levels: basic words, academic words, and specialized words. The first tier or the basic words are common words that are used in everyday conversation such as animal, clean and laughing, The second tier or the academic words are those words that are more frequently in writing rather than oral language, (i.e. community, evidence, greedy) and the last tier are specialized words that are content specific. (i.e. osmosis, suffrage, and minuend) Researchers say that although words from all three tiers should be displayed on word walls teachers should focus on the academic words due to the powerful impact on a student’s vocabulary development.
I think word walls in the classroom can be a very effective tool. It not only helps students identify words, and learn how to spell them but it also exposes them to new words and their meaning. Teachers need to teach activities with the word wall so that students will be engaged and internalize the words. Some activities may include taking 5 minutes to review the words daily, clapping out the syllables, playing bingo or even playing hangman. Some teachers even cut the words into configuration shapes to give students clues or use different colored paper to indicate the level of difficulty. I think the key no matter what strategies you use is to encourage students to use the word wall as a tool whether it helps them in their reading, writing or in their daily conversations.
I found an article online by Mary Rycik called “How primary teachers are using word walls to teach literacy strategies.” The article not only gives examples on how to use word walls but it also talks about the impact word walls can have. In her article Rycik talks about Patricia Cunningham and her Four Blocks of Literacy framework, which includes working with words. Cunningahm’s eight-year study of the four blocks program had impressive results. Of the 10-15% of children who did not read at grade level at the end of first grade, half were reading on or, in some cases, above grade level at the end of second grade.
Word walls are an important tool for all students whether they are struggling or proficient readers and writers. It is not only a scaffolding tool but allows students to be more self-reliant and become more independent.
Rycik, M. (2002). How primary teachers are using word walls to teach literacy strategies. Retrieved from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4064/is_200207/ai_n9098510/?tag=content;col1
Sophia - Thanks for sharing the article on word walls. I agree they are a powerful tool for young students. The article you found has some great tips. Even though we have only been in school for a few weeks, my students already use the word wall on a daily basis. I am still looking for new ways to introduce word wall words and spice things up. I am a big fan of Patricia Cunningham. I think her approach is very balanced and makes a lot of sense. Your blog pointed out to me that I need to make sure I am introducing plenty of academic words. This will help to enrich the vocabulary of my students. Great blog!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing the article you found on word walls. It got me thinking about how I use my own word wall and the ways I can improve it. I think that I can add a lot more words to my own wall without it getting too complicated. I think the most important thing about the word wall is making sure that the kids know how to use it and how to learn from it. So far, in my own class of kindergartners we have added student names with their pictures and some of the sight words that we have learned. Students seem comfortable using the wall for various purposes but it seems that they use it more for real world purposes (when handing out papers or when reading our schedule) and have not quite mastered using the wall for writing. I have seen other teachers who create miniature word walls for their students writing folders and I think that this would be an excellent way to make the words more readily available to the students. I think it is important to hold the students accountable for the words on the wall once they have really mastered using the wall. I am excited to work on my own word wall having read your article! Also as a slight side note, my class also creates a Math Word Wall with some terms staying up all year while others cycle out depending on what we are studying. Thanks for the great article and ideas!
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