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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Recount Writing Word Wall
A set of 30 vocabulary words related to recount writing.
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Landform Word Wall Vocabulary
Show your students examples of different landforms with a set of printable Landform word and picture cards.
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Exploring Environments and Places - Geography Word Wall Vocabulary
77 environments and places vocabulary cards.
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Australian Money Word Wall Vocabulary
Seventy-five money vocabulary cards.
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Dinosaur Word Wall Vocabulary
Use a dinosaur vocabulary word wall display to introduce your students to the world of dinosaurs.
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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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The Middle Ages Word Wall Vocabulary
A medieval themed middle ages poster and accompanying word wall vocabulary cards.
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Early Explorers - History Word Wall Vocabulary
Forty-two Early Explorer related vocabulary cards.
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Australian Habitats Word Wall - Write The Room Activity
Explore and write about Australian habitats with a printable Habitats Word Wall and Write the Room Activity pack.
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Animal Flash Cards - Word Wall Display
Read, write and show your students animals around the world with an animal flash cards word wall display for your classroom.
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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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Illustrated Ocean Animals Word Wall Cards
Introduce your students to the amazing animals in the sea with an illustrated ocean animal word wall.
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Adverb Vocabulary Cards
Display this word wall featuring a list of adverbs in your classroom to encourage your students to explore and use adverbs in their writing!
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Water Cycle Vocabulary Cards With Definitions
Learn the vocabulary and definitions associated with the water cycle.
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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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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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Narrative Writing Word Wall
Review terms related to narrative texts and narrative writing with a set of 33 narrative vocabulary word wall cards.
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Acclimatised Civilisations – Word Wall
Content-specific vocabulary cards for a word wall based on the Acclimatised Civilisations Geography resources.
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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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Mathematics Word Wall
A set of Mathematics related vocabulary to immerse students in mathematical terms.
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Geography Word Wall Poster
Use this Word Wall Poster to identify geography vocabulary in your classroom.
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Early Explorers Word Wall
A vocabulary word wall to display and use in the classroom when learning about early explorers up to the late eighteenth century.
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Learning Areas - Word Wall - Numeracy
A set of Numeracy-themed vocabulary word wall cards.
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Exploring My Local Community - History Word Wall Vocabulary
20 vocabulary cards about exploring the local community.
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Earthquake Vocabulary Word Wall
Display and review Earth Science vocabulary with printable Earthquake Vocabulary Word Wall cards.
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Colonial Australia - History Word Wall Vocabulary
36 vocabulary cards to use in the classroom when learning about Colonial Australia.
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Word Wall - Rock Cycle Vocabulary Terms
Promote daily rock cycle vocabulary review with a printable word wall & rock cycle vocabulary display.
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STEM Vocabulary Word Wall Cards
Use our free printable STEM vocabulary word wall to display essential STEM and STEAM-related vocabulary words.
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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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Describing Matter – Word Wall
Help your students learn to describe matter using physical properties with an illustrated matter word wall.
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Compound Words With Pictures - Word Wall
Combine words to make compound words and boost vocabulary skills with a printable combining words word wall.s.
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Features of Animals Write the Room Activity Pack (F-1)
Help your young students read and write about features of animals with a printable Animals and Characteristics Write the Room activity.