I'm linking up with Jen R. over at The Teachers' Cauldron and April over at Wolfelicious. Like Jen, I've also had problems with my Word Wall this year.
It started off like this:
This was at the start of the year, before the kids even arrived. It took up the top half of my two whiteboards. I didn't like it. I really needed that space for other things so over the recent holidays I moved it to my windows (unlike Jen, I don't even have cabinets to put it on! I sure would love me some cabinets or even a cupboard....). This is what it looks like now.
On the back of each word wall letter is a students' name (you can kinda see the reflection through the paper. I've typed their name on paper, glued it to the coloured paper and laminated it). I had each student do a little self-portrait or other drawing when they came back from holidays and I attached it below their name facing out. As you walk towards the classroom, it's really nice to see the bright drawings! There is a missing piece of paper for Q but I've done that up for a new student who arrived before the holidays.
I like the position of the Word Wall now because all students can see it, which they couldn't before because of the glare on the whiteboards. Secondly, there is no glare now because the Word Wall is on the windows that caused it! I also like how each letter is separated, making words easy to find.
At my school, we have HF words that each grade is expected to learn. The first words that go up are always the names of my students, but after that I started reviewing Grade 1 words and then start on Grade 2 words. We play games with the Word Wall to help us learn the words that are on there. I use activities and games from this book the most.
I store my cards for each term in these nifty little expanding folders. They are only about 24cm x 15cm so are a good size for the word cards. I have one in a different colour for each term and I label each divider with a week number (Week 1, Week 2 etc). I got them at Big W for a couple of bucks each.
Do you have a Word Wall? Why not link up with Jen R. from The Teachers' Cauldron and April over at Wolfelicious . Visit both for lots of ideas.
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