002: Making and using Word Walls as literacy tools in a print-rich environment

Podcasts

Aug 2

Following on from our previous episode about creating an effective classroom learning environment, we are now zooming in on an important part of many classrooms: Word Walls, and their role as a literacy tool within a “print rich environment”.

Print-Rich Environments

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Print-Rich Environments

What are Word Walls?

What to do

Sources

The term “print-rich” has become familiar to many teachers around the world, but we wondered, do we really know what a print-rich environment is, and how to create one? For many teachers, us included, the term “print-rich” can be associated mainly with displays, or “environmental print”. Environmental print is important but, as we explored in the previous episode as well as this one, it is important to maintain a balance of stimulation and complexity with empty space in the classroom, rather than overloading the walls.

Beyond environmental print, books are very important literacy tools in a print-rich environment. Most, if not all, classrooms have some sort of class library, but it’s important that our libraries feature a variety of books, with a range of complexities, genres, quality, formats and content. It is also important that libraries are organized, and that they feature prominently in our classrooms to communicate their value to students.

An often-overlooked component of a print-rich environment is writing tools; tools for creating print, not just consuming it. A well-provisioned writing center would contain a variety of types and sizes of paper, surfaces for mark-making, markers, pens, pencils are other writing tools.

A print-rich environment is about more than simply exposing children to print, with the aim that they will soak it up through osmosis, but about valuing and promoting literacy by providing varied tools and opportunities to read and write, in a vocabulary-rich learning environment.

One such tool that many teachers have in their classrooms, is the Word Wall.

What Are Word Walls?

What is a word wall though?

According to Green Brabham, E. & Kidd Villaume, S., (2001), Word Walls are:

Developmentally appropriate collection of words
Selected for instructional purposes
Cumulative
Referred to through activities and talk
Conversational scaffolds
Visual scaffolds for independent reading and writing

This means that Word Walls need to be built over time, in response to student needs, and actively used through activities and conversation. A display of the 100 Dolch sight words words that is put up during inservice week would be a display… but not really a Word Wall.

They go on to say in their article, that they’re used for:

Facilitating word analysis
Provide models of commonly misspelled words
Build vocabulary from units of study
Reference to enable students to become “independent and strategic problem solvers as they read and write”
Empowering teachers and students
Embedding and anchoring words, sounds, rules etc in the class’s long term memory
Visible record of skills taught and content studied

The aim of a Word Wall should be to provide a reference that enables students to become more independent and strategic problem solvers as they read and write, transferring control from the teacher to the students.

Word Walls for beginning readers and writers often feature an ABC wall, perhaps beginning with the names of the students, and building with words drawn from shared books. Additionally, a chunk/phoneme wall that features words used in systematic phonics instruction and organized by rimes, diagraphs, word beginnings and endings etc. A 3rd wall might also be used as a reference for “sight words”, or content words, organized alphabetically.

They point out that when creating a phoneme wall, the teacher should be discerning about which words to include, to encourage problem-solving and independence on the part of the student. For example, if “say” is on the wall, there is no need to include the word “play”. The teacher can support the student to find the word with the same ending, and work out what is needed to change the beginning.

Developing readers and writers will use walls for different purposes. For example:

Commonly misspelled words
Confusing homophones
Contractions
Different spelling of vowel phonemes (e.g. boat, rope, though, beau)
Prefixes, suffixes
Greek and latin roots
Content vocabulary

Additionally, reference displays with subject-specific symbols, such as math, geography and science, are also Word Walls, and should follow the same rules as above (cumulative, age-appropriate, instructionally driven, actively used and referred to, etc).

What to do in your classroom

We will use Wolfersberger, Reutzel, Sudweeks and Fawson’s (2004) 4 Dimensions of a “print rich” environment as a guide.

Dimension 1: Provisioning the classroom with literacy tools (word wall).

The first step is to consider, what is the purpose of the word wall? Will its purpose be to support:

Phonemic awareness
Systematic phonics instruction
Sight words memorization
Vocabulary building
Topic specific vocabulary
Acquisition of math formulae/algorithms
Or something entirely different

Also consider, is a need to have multiple word walls within the classroom? Research supports the use of separate word walls to focus student and teacher attention on the purpose of the wall and the words on it rather than overloading one wall. Dividing up the following three categories of words might work best for you and your students:

day to day words, organized alphabetically, starting with names, words from current books etc
Phonics/phonemic awareness: word chunking, sound letter correspondences etc
Sight words

Dimension 2 : Positioning - arrangement literacy tools (word walls) within the classroom.

A word wall is a literacy tool. A tool by definition is a device usually held in hand used to carry out a particular function. If we want our word wall to be used as a tool then its placement within the classroom and display arrangement becomes incredibly important. It is helpful to keep in mind that:

20-50% of walls need to stay clear. So, thinking back to the recommendation for 3 different types of walls, make deliberate choices about what to include. Don’t add more than one word with the same ending, e.g. play and stay
We don’t want to use different colors, shapes, etc. to try and help kids with word chunks. This only distracts students from attending to the actual words.
The wall should be at students eye level and easily accessible for students and teachers to interact with it.

Dimension 3: Participating - gaining student interest in literacy tools (word walls).

Despite how you choose to use the word wall or where you choose to place it within the classroom, one thing remains consistent…

the power of a word wall lies in our hands as teachers.

Be conscious about how you introduce your class to the word wall being sure to plan instruction that requires students to have a high level of interactivity with the wall in an effort to stimulate student interest. Providing students with word choice is also a way to give students ownership of the wall. As students and teachers add words to the wall (with purpose) it then becomes imperative that:

learning activities are planned to develop knowledge and understanding of new words as they are added to the wall
students are referred to the wall frequently during independent working time
teachers point out words on the wall that can help students to spell other words (i.e. say and play, but also thinking about greek and latin word roots, prefixes and suffixes, and other advanced spelling rules)
design learning activities that involve the wall as an element

A word wall isn’t something you have, it is something you do!

Dimension 4: Promoting - sustaining student interaction with literacy tools (word walls)

This is by far the most complex of the four dimensions as it takes deliberate, conscious thought and planning on the part of the teacher. Planning instruction that motivates students to explore, evaluate, reflect and apply word knowledge in meaningful contexts helps to sustain student interaction with word walls.

We found an excellent example of the latter two dimensions in Harmon, Wood, Hedrick, Vintinner & Willeford’s ‘Interactive Word Walls: More Than Just Reading the Writing on the Walls’ (2009). The researchers were curious about middle schoolers’ perceptions of the usefulness and purpose of Word Walls, finding that many were unaware that they could be used to actively learn new words, rather than act as a kind of dictionary display.

They worked with two groups of students - one control group and one test group - to find out whether their approach to creating and using a Word Wall as a tool for vocabulary development would be effective. With their test group, they worked through three phases to learn each word:

Introducing Words

The students were given choice in selecting the words they wanted to learn, but they didn’t simply choose from a list: their teacher guided them to rate the words on the list under 4 levels of familiarity from 1 - I have never seen this word, to 4 - I know this word and can use it in my speaking, reading and writing.

They then worked in groups using guiding questions to help select 5 words that they felt would be useful to know. From this large list, the groups voted on the most important, and worked to learn two words in each group.

Having chosen their words, they defined them, and identified a color they associated with each word, using that color card to write the word on for the Word Wall.

Making Connections with the Words

To deepen their understanding and help them remember the words and their meanings, the students then identified a symbol to add to their word on the Wall, and complete a sentence using their words.

Applying the Word to Real Situations

Next, the students thought about a real situation where their word might be used. They then illustrated that situation and wrote a sentence about it.

Presenting Words to the Class

Finally, the student groups presented their words and their work to each other, explaining the rationale behind their color, symbol and sentence choices. In subsequent lessons, activities were then designed to refer students from all groups to use all the words on the Wall.

In a follow up vocabulary test, the researchers found that the students in the test group “demonstrated a sustained higher level of understanding of the word meanings and were able to successfully apply them to the meaningful prompts.” And of course, the ability to understand and apply a word in context is the goal of vocabulary learning!

So, as you look around your classroom and think about how you use your Word Wall with your students, ask yourself if your Word Wall:

supports student independence,
allows students to be strategic problem solvers when reading and writing,
acts as a visual scaffold that assists students,
is a part of your daily literacy conversations with students.

And remember:

Click to open and download this resource as a PDF file

“Print rich” doesn’t mean “display overload”. Print needs to exist in a variety of formats throughout the learning environment.
Never sacrifice windows for word walls, and make sure to keep 20-50% of your wall space clear.
Word walls aren’t something you make at the start of the year: they grow over time in response to student needs, and according to your instructional plan.
Word walls aren’t something you have, they are something you do. Use them actively as an interactive literacy tool to help students build literacy independence.

Why not share a picture of your Word Wall and how you use on our social media?

You can also download this quick reference to use in your conversations at school, or refer to as you work to build or update your Word Wall now or in the future.

Thanks for listening!

Sarah and Katierose