Word Walls for Teachers
Are word walls a part of your strategy for boosting literacy skills in the classroom? Or maybe you're looking for word wall ideas and printables to add to your teacher toolkit?
The Teach Starter teacher team has carefully created and curated this collection of word walls for primary teachers to cover your needs — whether you're helping your kindergarten class stay on track with sight words or introducing new social studies vocabulary to your year 3 class!
New to this concept? Our expert English teachers have got you covered with a few quick tips to help you determine if a word wall is right for your classroom!
What Is a Word Wall?
A word wall is pretty much what the name implies — a classroom wall display with words in large print that can be read by students from across the room.
What goes on a word wall? Oh, the possibilities!
- Sight words
- Unit vocabulary
- Parts of speech
- Prepositions
- Content area words
- High-frequency words
- Word families
- Spelling words
- And more!
Used as an interactive tool, word walls tend to start out small and grow as you progress through a lesson or unit and students learn new sight words or vocabulary to be added to their word wall.
One idea for a word wall is to add words throughout the school year as students learn new vocabulary.
How to Make a Classroom Word Wall
If this all sounds good so far, let's talk about how to actually create a word wall. There are plenty of ideas out there, from using pictures alongside the words to printing your words on fun shapes, but here are some important tips our teacher team stands by:
- Make sure your words are printed in large text that can be easily read even by students seated across the room.
- Keep contrast in mind to ensure readability — you might want to use a dark background with lighter text.
- The organisation is key! Many word walls are set up in alphabetical order to make it easier for students to find the words they are looking for right when they need them, but you may want to organise unit vocabulary terms by how they connect to one another or group word families together.
- Choose a spot on your classroom wall that has space for additional words to be added.
- Keep your students' usage in mind when you mount words to the wall. Using sticky tack or similar mounting putty will make it easier for students to remove a word and take it back to their desks when necessary. You can also set up a word wall with wall hooks and place words on book rings (or looseleaf rings) so students can take them down to flip through!
Easy Word Wall Ideas
Looking for easy-peasy word wall ideas? Our team has got those for you, too, with word lists developed by teachers for teachers! Explore this collection of printable word walls that cover a variety of subjects and grade levels to save your precious planning time.
- Print and display the vocabulary cards that are provided.
- Use the customise option to add content words of your own.
- Use the blank cards at the end of the resource to add any specific words that your class finds during their learning experiences.
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Modality Word Wall With Information
Immerse your students in high, medium and low modality words with this set of 56 word wall cards.
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Time Connectives Word Wall
Help your students demonstrate the passage of time in their writing with 35 time connective word cards.
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Properties of Materials Word Wall Vocabulary
Forty-eight 'properties of materials' vocabulary cards.
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States of Matter Word Wall Vocabulary
Review vocabulary related to matter with a printable illustrated States of Matter Word Wall.
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Onomatopoeia Examples - Word Wall Display
Display a fun onomatopoeia word wall in your classroom with printable cards containing 45 onomatopoeia examples.
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Statistics Word Wall Vocabulary
A comprehensive selection of statistics vocabulary for use on a Mathematics Word Wall.
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Persuasive Vocabulary Word Wall
Help your students enhance their persuasive writing skills with a set of 40 persuasive vocabulary word cards.
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Water Cycle Vocabulary Cards With Definitions
Learn the vocabulary and definitions associated with the water cycle.
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Natural Disaster Word Wall Vocabulary
Use this teacher-created resource to explore natural disaster vocabulary with your primary school students.
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Weathering, Erosion and Deposition Vocabulary Posters
Display this set of science vocabulary posters in your classroom when teaching about weathering, erosion and deposition.
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Describing Matter – Word Wall
Help your students learn to describe matter using physical properties with an illustrated matter word wall.
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Animal Adaptations Vocabulary Display
Introduce animal adaptation and behaviour vocabulary with a word wall featuring photographs and definitions of adaptation-related words.
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Natural Disasters - Illustrated Vocabulary Display
Reinforce science vocabulary in your classroom with this set of illustrated and annotated natural disaster word wall cards.
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Persuasive Writing Word Wall Vocabulary
Persuasive language for a word wall.
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Impacts of Colonisation Word Wall
A Word Wall of the Impacts of Colonisation on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
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Past and Present Word Wall Vocabulary
A set of 30 vocabulary words related to teaching about the past and present.
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Describing Rocks and Minerals Chart Pack
Use a Describing Rocks and Minerals Chart to help your students describe the properties of rocks and minerals.
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Mixtures & Solutions – Vocabulary Cards
Reinforce science vocabulary in your classroom with this set of word wall cards that focus on mixtures and solutions.
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Space - Word Wall Vocabulary
Use these space vocabulary words and space terms to unlock the solar system for your elementary students as they learn about space, the solar system, and the world far beyond your school.
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First Fleet Word Wall
A vocabulary word wall to display and use in the classroom when learning about the First Fleet.
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Australian Money Word Wall Vocabulary
Seventy-five money vocabulary cards.
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Cartesian Planes and Graphing – Vocabulary Cards
Introduce cartesian planes to your students with this set of 18 vocabulary cards.
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Year 3 Heat Energy Vocabulary Cards
Explore heat energy vocabulary with this set of thermal energy vocabulary cards.
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Living and Non-Living Things - Word Wall Vocabulary
Discover the world of living and nonliving things, starting with a printable vocabulary word wall.
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Fraction, Percentage and Decimal Word Wall Vocabulary
Print your own fraction, percentage and decimal vocabulary for use on a maths word wall.
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Informative Writing Word Wall
Display key vocabulary related to informative writing with a set of 48 word wall cards.
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Australian Gold Rush – Word Wall 2
Thirty-one content-specific vocabulary cards for a word wall based on the Australian Gold Rush.
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Recount Writing Word Wall
A set of 30 vocabulary words related to recount writing.
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Procedure Writing Word Wall
Display this set of 30 procedure writing words in your classroom when teaching your students how to write a procedure.
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Australian Habitats Word Wall Vocabulary
A set of Australian habitats related vocabulary word wall cards.
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How We Use Water Word Wall Vocabulary
A set of water related vocabulary cards for a word wall.
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Wildlife Conservation Vocabulary Words
Build academic vocabulary with a printable Animal Conservation word wall.