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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Rock Cycle Vocabulary Word Wall
Promote daily rock cycle vocabulary review with a printable rock cycle vocabulary word wall.
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Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - Environmental Word Wall
Help your young students learn about recycling and conservation with an illustrated word wall.
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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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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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Easter Word Wall Vocabulary
Create a fun Easter-themed write-the-room activity and boost vocabulary skills surrounding the Easter holiday with a printable Easter word wall.
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Water Cycle Words - Illustrated Word Wall
Boost vocabulary skills and understanding with an illustrated water cycle word wall.
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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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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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Word Wall - Earth's History Vocabulary Cards
Introduce your students to Earth's history with a printable 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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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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Animal Flash Cards & Word Wall
Read, write and identify animals around the world with a printable animal word wall with pictures.
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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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Ocean Animals Word Wall Cards with Pictures
Introduce your students to the amazing animals in the sea with an illustrated ocean animal word wall.
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Ocean & Marine Word Wall Vocabulary
64 marine life word wall vocabulary cards.
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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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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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Space - Word Wall Vocabulary
Use these space vocabulary words and space terms to unlock the solar system for your elementary students as they learn about space, the solar system, and the world far beyond your school.
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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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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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Narrative Writing Word Wall
A set of 44 vocabulary words related to narrative texts and narrative writing.
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Geometry Vocabulary - Word Wall
Use a word wall to review geometric math terms.
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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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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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Scientific Method Word Wall Vocabulary
Introduce your students to vocabulary surrounding the Scientific Method with a printable science word wall.
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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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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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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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Persuasive Words – 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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Onomatopoeia Words - Vocabulary Display
Display a fun onomatopoeia word wall in your classroom with printable cards containing onomatopoeia examples.