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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Rainbow Word Wall Vocabulary
A set of vocabulary cards for your classroom word wall.
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Silk Road Word Wall
A set of vocabulary cards for a silk road word wall.
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Dinosaurs - Word Wall Template
A set of dinosaur themed vocabulary word wall cards.
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Exploring Environments and Places - Geography Word Wall Vocabulary
77 environments and places vocabulary cards.
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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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Digestive System Word Wall Vocabulary
Learn about the vocabulary related to the digestive system with a printable 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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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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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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Hibernation Word Wall - Illustrated
Discover the world of hibernation-related vocabulary with an illustrated hibernating animals word wall display.
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Kindness Vocabulary Word Wall
Learn vocabulary around the topic of kindness with this set of word wall cards.
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Music Word Wall Vocabulary
Build a comprehensive music vocabulary display with a set of 80 printable music vocabulary word cards.
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Bills and Laws in Australia – Word Wall
Learn vocabulary related to bills and laws in Australia with this set of 16 word wall cards.
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Homophone Matching Cards
A set of homophone cards to use for display or literacy activities.
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52 Shopping List Vocabulary Words
52 grocery shopping-related vocabulary word cards for use on a word wall.
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Penguins – Word Wall Template
A set of Sorcerer Supplies themed vocabulary word wall cards.
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Technology and Technologies Terminology - Word Wall
96 vocabulary word wall cards and a poster about technology, to display in your classroom.
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Farm Yard - Word Wall Template
A set of farm yard themed vocabulary word wall cards.
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Shapes Pattern - Word Wall Template
A set of shapes pattern themed vocabulary 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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Australian Habitats Word Wall Vocabulary
A set of Australian habitats related vocabulary word wall cards.
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Australian Government Word Wall Vocabulary
Learn vocabulary related to Australia's Federal Government with this set of 42 word wall cards.
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British Colonisation of Australia - Word Wall
An Australian Colonisation themed word wall to use in the classroom.
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Learning Areas - Word Wall - History
A set of History-themed vocabulary word wall cards.
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Exploring a Diverse World - Geography Word Wall Vocabulary
22 exploring a diverse world 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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How People Use Places - Geography Word Wall Vocabulary
40 places and their uses vocabulary word wall cards.
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Skeletal System Word Wall Vocabulary
A set of word wall cards with skeletal system vocabulary.
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Sound Families Word Wall
A set of 45 word wall cards featuring common sound families.
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Letters Word Wall Template
A colourful letter themed word wall template.
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Changing and Managing Places - Geography Word Wall Vocabulary
48 changing and managing places vocabulary cards.
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The Middle Ages Word Wall Vocabulary
A medieval themed middle ages poster and accompanying word wall vocabulary cards.