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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Describing Matter – Word Wall
Help your students learn to describe matter using physical properties with an illustrated matter 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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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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Exploring Australia's Connection with Other Countries - Geography Word Wall Vocabulary
37 exploring Australia's connection vocabulary word wall cards.
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What Places Are Like - Geography Word Wall Vocabulary
23 features of places vocabulary word wall cards.
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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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Sound Word Wall Vocabulary
Build academic vocabulary with a set of 28 sound vocabulary cards.
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Plant and Animal Adaptations – Word Wall Vocabulary
Build scientific vocabulary skills with a printable display of words relating to plant and animal adaptations.
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Narrative Vocabulary Word Wall
A set of words to help your students when writing narrative texts.
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How Are People and Places Connected? - Geography Word Wall Vocabulary
51 people and places vocabulary word wall cards.
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Plant v. Animal Cell Vocabulary Word Wall
Help your students understand the different cell structures found in Plant v. Animal Cells with printable Plant and Animal Cell Vocabulary Cards.
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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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Wildlife Conservation Vocabulary Words
Build academic vocabulary with a printable Animal Conservation word wall.
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Insect Word Wall - Insect Names and Pictures
Use a printable insect word wall to introduce your students to the creepiest, crawliest creatures on the planet.
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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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Units of Measurement Word Wall Vocabulary
Print a pack of measurement vocabulary cards to help your students review academic vocabulary.
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Night and Day Word Wall
A set of vocabulary words related to night and day.
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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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Fairy Tales Word Wall Vocabulary
Seventy-two fairy tale themed vocabulary cards.
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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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Nervous System Word Wall Vocabulary
A set of word wall cards with nervous system vocabulary.
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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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Natural Disaster Word Wall Vocabulary
Use this teacher-created resource to explore natural disaster vocabulary with your primary school students.
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Gravity Word Wall Vocabulary Cards
Immerse your students in gravity vocabulary with this set of 15 illustrated vocabulary cards perfect for a word wall display.
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Friction Word Wall Vocabulary Cards
Immerse your students in friction vocabulary with this set of 15 illustrated vocabulary cards perfect for a word wall display.
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Earth, Sun and Moon – Vocabulary Cards and Puzzles
Reinforce science vocabulary with this set of word wall cards and vocabulary puzzles covering the Earth, sun and moon.
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Save Planet Earth - Science Word Wall Vocabulary
Print and display Earth Day-related terms in your classroom to improve vocabulary and discussion about Earth Day.
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Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - Environmental Word Wall
Help your students learn about recycling and conservation with an illustrated word wall.
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Explanation Writing Word Wall
A set of 27 vocabulary words related to explanation writing.
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Poetry Vocabulary Words – Word Wall
Display and discuss vocabulary related to poetry and figurative language with a set of 30 word wall cards.
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Original Inhabitants of Australia Word Wall
A vocabulary word wall to display and use in the classroom when learning about the original inhabitants of Australia.
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Exploring Environments and Places - Geography Word Wall Vocabulary
77 environments and places vocabulary cards.