Word Wall in First Grade
Building Sight Recognition and Spelling of High-Frequency Words (Virtual Tour)
Stage of Literacy Development:
Stage 1: Beginning LiteracyStage 2: Consolidation / Fluency
Ages:
4-9
Grade Range:
K 1st 2nd 3rdFood Groups:
Primary: Spelling & Word Study Secondary: Reading Fluency & Expression, Classroom Tips
Transcript
This is the Word Wall that we use in the first grade in my classroom. Here you would see all the words that I introduce, that are usually high frequency words, sight words. I want my students to know as soon as they see them, they would recognize them. You don't have to analyze them, you don't have to think about it, you just look at it and you know what it says. When we start the year, there's nothing here, only the letters of the alphabet. The way I do this is every time that we are doing language, usually I introduce a couple of words. When I introduce them, my students also get the opportunity to use those words in their writing or form those words with other kinds of letters, words that are similar, or belong to the same word family. All kinds of activities that relate to that word that we just introduced. That's a nice way to follow up on the introduction of that new word in the Word Wall. The use of these words is simple. When they are writing, they get to look and see if the word that they want to spell is here. If thats the case, they copy from there until they get to know exactly how to spell the word without looking at the Word Wall. When they're writing, students usually tend to ask a lot: "How do I spell this word, how do I spell this word?" I always ask them, "Did you look at the word wall first?" This is something that my students really use and they get used to the idea that they have to look here first. Then, it's when they start figuring out if it's not there, the second thing that they should do is to sound it out, and to use informal spelling. After that, when they have written all the page, it's when I meet with them and then I tell them formal spelling at that point. But they have the feeling that they don't need to know the formal spelling, unless it's here. If it's here, then I tell them, Oh, but that was on the word wall. You should have copied from there." Even if it's not there and I know it's not there, I tell them, "Did you look at the word wall? That forces them to come here and refer to it. It is a very useful tool in the first grade.
Related References
Additional Links:
Reading Rockets: Word Walls http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/word_walls
Activity Objective
The goal of Word Wall in First Grade: Building Sight Recognition and Spelling of High-Frequency Words (Virtual Tour) is to teach and practice a set of grade-appropriate common words, a few per week (about 5). These words are added to the word wall once they have been taught and the number of words on the wall gradually increases throughout the year. Daily activities and games involving the "word wall words" provide engaging practice in reading and spelling the words. After words have been posted on the word wall, students are responsible for spelling them correctly. During writing activities, if students are uncertain how to spell words, they are encouraged to refer to the alphabetically organized word wall to see if the particular word is there. If it is, they need to copy the correct spelling of the word to avoid making spelling errors on everyday words that come up in reading and spelling on a regular basis. For words that are not on the word wall, students are encouraged to sound them out and to use sound-letter correspondences and spelling patterns to spell the words inventively.
Quick Tips
Additional Comments:
- Place your word wall in a spot where students can see it easily from their seats. - Add to the Word Wall regularly from a grade-appropriate list of common high-frequency words. - It is important to distinguish between word wall words and vocabulary words. The purpose of the word wall is to ensure that students learn to recognize and spell the common high-frequency words that they are expected to know at their grade level. The word wall is not the place for building word meanings because the words are common everyday words that the students already understand and use in oral language. - Expanding vocabulary is also an essential learning goal across the elementary grades. Dedicate a special location in the classroom for a vocabulary wall or wonderful words where you and the students can place interesting words that may come up during read alouds or in students own reading. The focus in the selection of these words is primarily to expand students understanding and use of a rich and varied vocabulary in their classroom discussions and in their writing. Students participate by discovering interesting words during the day and nominating them for inclusion on the vocabulary wall. Teaching word meanings, rather than teaching correct spellings, is the goal of the vocabulary wall, so students should be encouraged to spell these words inventively in their writing if they are above grade expectations for spelling.
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