Word Walls are important for incorporating literacy into an early childhood classroom environment. Word Walls are usually bulletin boards that display important words for the children to see. These words can include names, sight words, theme words, etc. Word Walls can be interactive and change throughout the year.
Some early childhood educators place the letters of the alphabet across the Word Wall, and have the words listed below each letter, based on the corresponding first letter of the word. Others simply have a collection of grouped words for students to see.
Thanksgiving is a great time to introduce a variety of words relating to harvest time. Here is a list of suggestions for 36 words to introduce:
| America | Indian |
| Bake | Leftovers |
| Corn | Mashed Potatoes |
| Cornucopia | Mayflower |
| Cranberry Sauce | Native American |
| Dinner | November |
| Drumstick | Parade |
| Eat | Pie |
| Fall | Pilgrim |
| Family | Plymouth Rock |
| Feast | Pumpkin |
| Food | Rolls |
| Football | Settle |
| Gobble | Stuffing |
| Gravy | Thankful |
| Harvest | Thanksgiving |
| Hat | Thursday |
| Holiday | Turkey |
We like these 5 Tips for Introducing Word Wall Words (adapted from preschoolteacher81.blogspot.com):
1. Put the word card with picture in a mystery box. You can give hints and try to get the kids to guess the word or just have someone come up and draw one out and say what it is.
Variation: Use the same mystery box, only put real objects or items in that go along with the word.
2. Pass the word around the circle (musical chairs style) until the music stops and whoever is holding it must identify the word (by looking at the picture) and then place it on the word wall. Also, this gives every student a chance to look closely at the picture before putting it on the wall where it may seldom be looked at again by some children.
3. Play the loud/soft game. Have the children repeat the word loudly at first, then keep repeating it while getting quieter until you can no longer hear them. You can also do it with fast/slow or other variations, just make sure not to do it so much that the word ends up getting distorted and they are not really sure of the correct pronunciation.
4. Sing a song. For example: (Tune of: Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush) This is the word we put on the wall, put on the wall, put on the wall. This is the word we put on the wall. The word is ______.
Another version could be a chant or clapping how many syllables in the word.
5. Choose a child whose name begins with the same letter as the word to put the word on the wall. To make it a little more challenging, say the word emphasizing the beginning sound and ask whose name begins with the same sound? Or if no one’s name begins with that letter, whoever thinks of another word that begins with the same letter first gets to put the word up.