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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Money Word Wall Vocabulary
A comprehensive set of word wall vocabulary cards related to money.
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Nervous System Word Wall Vocabulary
A set of word wall cards with nervous system vocabulary.
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Dinosaur Word Wall Vocabulary
Fifty-four dinosaur related vocabulary cards for a word wall.
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Desert Word Wall Vocabulary
Spark discussion and build academic vocabulary with a desert related vocabulary word wall.
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Weathering and Erosion Word Wall Vocabulary
Expand your students' science vocabulary with a weathering and erosion 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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Groovy Flowers – Word Wall Template
Create a generic word wall with this groovy flowers inspired design.
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Insect-Themed Flashcards and Writing Prompts
Inspire young entomologists to read and write about insects with minibeast writing prompts and word wall cards.
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Chemical Sciences: Clever Changes – Word Wall
Seventy-eight content-specific vocabulary cards for a word wall based on Chemical Sciences.
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2D Shapes Word Wall
A set of word wall cards showing a visual representation of common 2D shapes and their names.
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Mathematics Word Wall
A set of Mathematics related vocabulary to immerse students in mathematical terms.
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Farm Yard - Word Wall Template
A set of farm yard themed vocabulary word wall cards.
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Colour Adjectives Word Wall
A colourful word wall display to help support students colour adjective use.
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Early Explorers Word Wall
A vocabulary word wall to display and use in the classroom when learning about early explorers up to the late eighteenth century.
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Fractured Fairy Tales Word Wall Vocabulary
Seventy-two fractured fairy tale themed vocabulary cards.
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Impacts of Colonisation Word Wall
A Word Wall of the Impacts of Colonisation on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
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Early Explorers - History Word Wall Vocabulary
Forty-two Early Explorer related vocabulary 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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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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Water Cycle Vocabulary Cards With Definitions
Learn the vocabulary and definitions associated with the water cycle.
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Plant Words - Illustrated Word Wall
Discover the world of plant-related vocabulary with an illustrated plant word wall display.
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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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Objects in the Sky – Vocabulary Cards and Writing Templates
Create a vocabulary and writing center with a word wall and writing templates that cover objects in the sky.
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Ancient Egypt Word Wall Vocabulary
Download a printable set of 36 Ancient Egypt-themed vocabulary word wall cards for your classroom
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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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Biography Writing Word Wall
A set of 30 vocabulary words related to biography writing.
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28 On the Farm Vocabulary Words
28 on the farm-related vocabulary word cards for use on a word wall.
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Spaces and Places – Word Wall Vocabulary
30 spaces and places word wall vocabulary cards.
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Rainbow Word Wall Vocabulary
A set of vocabulary cards for your classroom word wall.
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Scientific Method Word Wall Vocabulary
Thirty-nine scientific method vocabulary cards for a word wall.
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Landform Word Wall Vocabulary
44 landform vocabulary cards for a word wall.
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Exploring Environments and Places - Geography Word Wall Vocabulary
77 environments and places vocabulary cards.