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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Word Wall - Plant and Animal Cells
Help your students understand the different structures found in Plant vs Animal Cells with printable Plant and Animal Cell Vocabulary Cards.
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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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Describing Rocks and Soils Vocabulary Cards
Introduce your little learners to the academic vocabulary they need to describe rocks and minerals with a printable rocks vocabulary word wall.
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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 (Illustrated)
Help your students learn to describe matter using physical properties with an illustrated matter word wall.
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Coordinate Planes and Graphing Vocabulary Card Set
Introduce coordinate planes to your students with this set of 18 vocabulary cards.
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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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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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Animal Characteristics - Write the Room Activity
Help your young students read and write about features of animals with a printable Animal Characteristics Write the Room activity.
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Animal Adaptations Vocabulary Display
Introduce animal adaptation and behavior vocabulary with a word wall featuring photographs and definitions of adaptation-related words.
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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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Ocean & Marine Word Wall Vocabulary
64 marine life word wall vocabulary cards.
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Sound Word Wall Vocabulary
Build academic vocabulary with a set of 28 sound vocabulary cards.
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Bird Word Wall Vocabulary
Introduce your students to the features of birds and different bird species with bird related vocabulary cards for a word wall.
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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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Simple Machines Word Wall
Use this set of 28 printable vocabulary word wall cards to enhance your students vocabulary surrounding force, motion, and simple machines.
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Diwali Word Wall Vocabulary
Use these twenty-seven Diwali related vocabulary cards for a word wall display when learning about the Festival of Lights.
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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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Thermal Energy Word Wall Vocabulary
Explore heat energy vocabulary with this set of thermal energy vocabulary cards.
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Thanksgiving Word Wall Vocabulary
Build vocabulary and inspire holiday writing with a free Thanksgiving word wall.
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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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Seasonal Changes Words and Definitions Display
Display this easy-to-read seasons word set in your classroom as you investigate seasonal changes with your young students.
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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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Veterans Day Vocabulary Cards and Writing Center
Help your kindergartners and first graders understand the meaning of Veterans Day with a Veterans Day Write the Room display.
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Weathering, Erosion and Deposition Vocabulary Posters
Display this set of science vocabulary posters in your classroom when teaching about weathering, erosion and deposition.
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Soil Word Wall Vocabulary Cards
Immerse your students in subject-specific vocabulary related to soil types and their properties with this set of 16 illustrated vocabulary cards.
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Inventions Word Wall Vocabulary
Print a set of vocabulary word wall cards to introduce Invention and Innovation concepts to your students during your Inventions Unit!
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Camp - Word Wall Template
A set of camp-themed vocabulary word wall cards.