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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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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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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Mathematics Word Wall with Diagrams
A set of 60 Mathematics-related vocabulary words with accompanying diagrams to explain key mathematical terms across three strands.
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Prefix Words Classroom Display
Build a classroom word wall and boost vocabulary skills with a printable prefix classroom display.
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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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States of Matter Word Wall Vocabulary
Review vocabulary related to matter with a printable illustrated States of Matter Word Wall.
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Light Word Wall Vocabulary
Print out vocabulary cards for your light unit.
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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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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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Transportation Word Wall Vocabulary
Create a fun transportation word wall with a set of printable word and picture cards featuring different modes of transport.
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Technology Word Wall Vocabulary
Create a technology related vocabulary word wall for your classroom or computer lab with a printable and editable set of 72 Technology vocab cards.
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Printable Remembrance Day Word Wall Vocabulary
Display and discuss Remembrance Day related vocabulary words with a printable Remembrance Day display.
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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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Night and Day Word Wall
A set of vocabulary words related to night and day.
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Recount Writing Word Wall
A set of 30 vocabulary words related to recount writing.
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Narrative Vocabulary Word Wall
A set of words to help your students when writing narrative texts.
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Lights, Camera, Action - Theatre Word Wall Vocabulary
Lights, camera, action word wall vocabulary cards to expand your students' theatre vocabulary.
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Persuasive Writing Word Wall Vocabulary
Persuasive language for a word wall.
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History of Planet Earth - Word Wall Display
Introduce your students to Earth's history with a printable vocabulary word wall.
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Wildlife Conservation Vocabulary Words
Build academic vocabulary with a printable Animal Conservation 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 Disaster Word Wall Vocabulary
Use this teacher-created resource to explore natural disaster vocabulary with your primary school students.
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Water Cycle Vocabulary Cards With Definitions
Learn the vocabulary and definitions associated with the water cycle.
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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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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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Christmas Word Wall Vocabulary
Create a Christmas Vocabulary display with a set of 60 Christmas terms for a 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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Greek and Latin Root Words - Illustrated Word Wall
Use word wall displays to build student vocabulary with daily exposure to Greek and Latin root words.
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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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Weather Word Wall Vocabulary
Use this teacher-created weather resource to teach weather vocabulary. Build a weather word wall with your students during your weather lessons.
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Strong Verbs Word Wall
Print a set of strong verbs word wall cards to help your students boost their writing skills!
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Biography Writing Word Wall
A set of 30 vocabulary words related to biography writing.