I have written about word walls here before. And in fact, a few of my teacher resources have substantial sections on them. Why? Because they’re highly effective tools in our classrooms when used intentionally! And yet, I’m genuinely surprised by how many classrooms don’t have them.
When I ask students what is difficult about writing–no matter the grade level–someone always says “spelling.” We can’t afford to let spelling interfere with our students’ writing. We can’t afford to let the question “How do I spell…?” stop us from giving our students daily opportunities to write. (If they incessantly ask us this question, we haven’t yet empowered them to take risks and use their phonetic knowledge.) Word walls are a powerful tool that we can use to lessen the worry and increase confidence in our student writers.
Let’s be clear: it’s not just that the words are posted. It’s what we do to get them there. By adding words three at a time every week throughout the year, we have the opportunity to talk about the patterns in words, specific graphemes that represent sounds, the meaning of words, the differences between (and when to use) homophones, and on and on and on.
The intentional teaching surrounding the words that go on our word wall is what makes them effective. Then, once the words are on the wall, the students know they are there and can use this visual reference on a daily basis. When we refer to the word wall often, our students will remember to check it. My word wall, no matter the grade, was playfully called my “no-excuse-word-wall”. “Once it’s on the word wall, there’s no excuse for spelling it wrong!” And when you hold students accountable for those words on the word wall, they form good habits: checking the spelling if needed, or simply taking the time to look for those no-excuse-words in their writing.
Do I expect students to spell every word they write correctly? Not at all. They can use the strategies they’ve learned (i.e. those patterns we teach) to take risks when trying to spell unfamiliar words. But those word wall words, you bet I’ll ask them to correct the spelling of those.
If you haven’t used a word wall before, consider it for next year. A little bit of planning and ten minutes of instruction each week, will make your job considerably easier throughout the year, and even more importantly, provide students with an incredibly empowering tool.