Why Are Word Walls Important? Here are 5 Awesome Reasons!

What is a Word Wall?

Have you ever heard of word walls? Why are word walls important? Do you have any clue? Well, I’m here to tell you that what a word wall is and why it is a MUST have for all classrooms, and yes, definitely a middle school classroom.

A word wall is a collection of vocabulary words, ideally aligned to your state standards and content, that can provide a visual for students. They can be posted on a bulletin board, the wall, or some other surface to display in the classroom. Research shows that there is a strong correlation between student word knowledge and academic achievement.

Some anecdotal evidence for you…I know that when my students knew the vocabulary words on a topic, they could pass any test!

Vocabulary is such a key in any classroom, any grade level, and any subject. So, why not display these terms for your students as much as possible?

Word walls are an AWESOME resource for students.

Word Walls Provide a Permanent Display of Key Vocabulary

I have used word wall cards that displayed key vocabulary words in each domain.

I would never post them all at once, but each day, as we learned new words, I would add them to the wall. I never took them down, of course, until the end of the year. They were consistently up on the wall for student reference.

Ever see those wandering eyes when kids tune out? Give them something too look at! Here are some more effective decor ideas to add to you classroom along with word walls.

I remember when I was a student in school, I’d constantly look to the wall (possibly when I was distracted), and I noticed the classroom decor, motivational signs, and content-related material on the wall. Ever see those wandering eyes when kids tune out? Give them something too look at! Students still do this!!

It’s important to have content-related material for students to look at, especially visual learners. Word walls, don’t only have to be a classroom decor type item (which is still great), but they can also be interactive, and I’ll get to that later.

Accompany Anchor Charts

I particularly like the word walls that include the term, as the most visual piece, a definition, and a picture to go along with it. This allows the student to see multiple perspectives.

I also think that anchor charts are important. Having some sort of diagram, graphic organizer, acronym, or anything that helps students visualize a topic is great for the students!

Having both options in your classroom will help students to succeed and build their content skills.

For me, I would keep my word wall up all year long and add to it. For anchor charts, I would switch them out for each unit that I taught.

Also – teacher tip! I can’t draw anything to save my life. If you are like me, a tip would be to write out any information on your anchor chart that you’d like to use, and then have a student (there are some great artists in your classroom), draw for you. They love it! It’s a win-win!

There’s also the option to just buy some from somebody that has already created them! This saves SO much time.

What are Anchor Charts?

Aid in Spelling

Real talk…in this digital world, with spell check and all the works, it’s kind of hard to convince students that they absolutely need to learn how to spell their vocabulary words! Middle school students can be stubborn sometimes. Am I right?

Word walls can be a great visual tool to help students with spelling key vocabulary words without them even knowing that they are learning. 

I constantly referred to my word wall when speaking about a topic. I constantly asked my students questions about key vocabulary words. Every time that you bring up your word wall, guess what? Your students are going to look at it, and every time that they are exposed to the vocabulary word, the spelling will get easier.

Benefit ELLs

By providing a picture along with the word, this allows ELL students, and for that matter, all students, to grasp the meaning of the vocabulary word.

To take it a step further, you can also provide a word wall in their native language to have another perspective and obtain a better understanding.

Here are some ideas to use word walls in the classroom!

Can Be Interactive

As mentioned above, word walls don’t just have to sit on the wall for classroom decor. Word walls are very effective for several reasons. They will still have a positive impact just being on the classroom bulletin board or wall, and even better if the teacher constantly brings up the word wall, but there are also some ways that word walls can be interactive.

• Let students use the words to create graphic organizers.
• Create a student vocabulary notebook.
• Play games with the word wall.
• Conduct formative assessment requiring students to reference the word wall.
• Have your students create class anchor charts to support the word wall.