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 elementary 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 3rd-grade class!
New to this concept? Our expert ELA 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.
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 who are seated across the room.
- Keep contrast in mind to ensure readability — you might want to use a dark background with lighter text.
- Organization 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 organize 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're mounting words to the wall. Using sticky tack or similar mounting putty will make it easier for students to be able 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 customize 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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States of Matter Word Wall Vocabulary
Review vocabulary related to matter with a printable illustrated States of Matter 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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Time Order Words - Transition Words Word Wall
Help your students demonstrate the passage of time in their writing with 35 time-order transition word cards.
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Onomatopoeia Words - Vocabulary Display
Display a fun onomatopoeia word wall in your classroom with printable cards containing onomatopoeia examples.
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Narrative Writing Word Wall
A set of 44 vocabulary words related to narrative texts and narrative writing.
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Sound Word Wall Vocabulary
Build academic vocabulary with a set of 28 sound vocabulary cards.
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Prefix Word Wall - Words with Un, Re, Pre, Dis, In, and Mis
Build a vocabulary bulletin board of words with un-, re-, pre-, dis-, mis-, and in- with a printable prefix word wall display.
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50 States and Capitals Word Wall Cards
Display the 50 states and capitals with 50 states map and word wall display.
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Describing Rocks and Minerals Chart Pack
Use a Describing Rocks and Minerals Chart to help your students identify and describe the properties of rocks and minerals.
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Fall Word Wall Vocabulary
Print a beautiful fall word wall display with a free autumn word wall printable.
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Poetry Terms Word Wall Display
Display and discuss terms related to poetry and figurative language with a set of 30 word wall cards.
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Geometry Vocabulary - Word Wall
Use a word wall to review geometric math terms.
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Women's History Month Word Wall
Celebrate important terms, events, and people in women’s history with this set of 37 vocabulary cards for your classroom word wall.
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Rock Cycle Vocabulary Word Wall
Promote daily rock cycle vocabulary review with a printable rock cycle vocabulary word wall.
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STEM Word Wall Cards
Use our free printable STEM word wall to display essential STEM and STEAM-related vocabulary words.
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Scientific Method Word Wall Vocabulary
Introduce your students to vocabulary surrounding the Scientific Method with a printable science word wall.
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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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Illustrated Landform Vocabulary Word Wall
Show your students examples of different landforms with a set of printable Landform word and picture cards.
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Muscular System Word Wall Vocabulary
Learn about the vocabulary related to the human muscular system with a printable science word wall.
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Compound Words with Pictures - Combining Word Cards
Combine words to make compound words and boost vocabulary skills with a printable combining words word wall.
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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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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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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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Electricity Word Wall Vocabulary
Use this teacher-created electricity resource to teach electricity-related vocabulary. Build a word wall with your students during your electricity lessons.
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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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Cause of the Seasons – Word Wall Cards
Reinforce science vocabulary in your classroom with this set of word wall cards that focus on what causes the change of seasons.
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Financial Literacy for Kids - Finance Word Wall
Introduce your students to the world of financial literacy with an illustrated personal finance word wall for kids.
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Moon Phases – Vocabulary Cards
Reinforce science vocabulary with a set of 15 vocabulary cards covering the different phases of the moon and related terms.
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Life Cycle of a Frog – Vocabulary Cards and Puzzles
Reinforce science vocabulary with this set of word wall cards and vocabulary puzzles covering the life cycle of a frog.
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Earthquake Word Wall Vocabulary
Display and review Earth Science vocabulary with printable Earthquake Vocabulary Word Wall cards.
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Light Vocabulary Word Wall Cards
Print out and use our Light Vocabulary Word Wall to introduce new vocabulary for your light energy unit.
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Red Ribbon Week - Write the Room Activity
Use these Red Ribbon Week Writing prompts with your students during literacy centers.