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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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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STEM Word Wall Vocabulary
Display important S.T.E.M. and S.T.E.A.M vocabulary words with a free printable STEM word wall.
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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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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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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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Magnets Word Wall Vocabulary
Expand your students' science vocabulary with printable Magnets word wall vocabulary 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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Night and Day Word Wall
Use this set of word wall cards when teaching concepts and vocabulary related to Earth's day and night cycle.
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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 Word Wall
Use this set of financial literacy vocabulary cards when teaching about income, budgets, taxes, methods of payment, and financial records.
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Civil War Word Wall
Build academic vocabulary skills with an illustrated Civil War vocabulary word wall.
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Industrial Revolution Word Wall
Build academic vocabulary skills with an illustrated Industrial Revolution vocabulary word wall.
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Roaring Twenties Word Wall
Build academic vocabulary skills or supplement your Great Gatsby vocabulary instruction with an illustrated Roaring 20s vocabulary word wall.
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WWII Word Wall - World War 2 Words
Build academic vocabulary skills with an illustrated World War 2 vocabulary word wall.
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Geography Vocabulary Word Wall Cards
Print a set of 100 geography-related vocabulary word cards for a word wall.
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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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Natural Disasters Word Wall Vocabulary
Use this teacher-created resource to explore natural disaster vocabulary with your elementary students.
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Election Words - Election Vocabulary Word Wall Cards
Printable election-related vocabulary word wall for teaching election vocabulary.
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Weather Word Wall Vocabulary
Use this teacher-created weather resource to teach weather vocabulary. Build a word wall with your students during your weather lessons.
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Coordinate Planes and Graphing – Vocabulary Cards
Promote math vocabulary development with this set of 18 graphing and coordinate plane cards.
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All About Insects - Vocabulary and Writing Activity
Inspire young entomologists to read and write about insects with bug-themed writing prompts and word wall cards.
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Dinosaurs - Vocabulary Cards and Writing Prompts for Second Grade
Inspire young paleontologists to read and write about dinosaurs with a dinosaur-themed writing center and word wall.
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Westward Expansion Visual Word Wall
Build vocabulary with a visual/picture word wall aligned with your Westward Expansion unit of study.
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Independence Day - Word Wall
A word wall to display in the classroom that encourages students to learn and use the language associated with Independence Day.
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Procedural Writing Word Wall
Display this set of 30 procedural writing words in your classroom when teaching your students how to write a procedure.
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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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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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Desert Word Wall Vocabulary
Spark discussion and build academic vocabulary with a desert related vocabulary word wall.