Have you heard of a word wall? Basically you put vocabulary you’re studying up on your wall, in a visually striking, memorable way (if at all possible). When I’m doing these, I like to assign each student a word and have them create a regular paper-sized poster with their word on it along with complementary images, synonyms, the definition, etc. It’s a good idea to make sure word wall fonts are BIG so they can be read from across the room, and putting your word wall area up on the part of the wall students are most often facing.

 

You can choose to put the word wall posters up AFTER whatever vocabulary assessment you use, building a huge wall of posters throughout the year, or you can have them up all week and then take them down before the assessment. It probably goes without saying, but you won’t want them up during any vocabulary quizzes!

 

My own personal twist on the word wall concept is that I like to do a get-up-and-move activity with my students once they’ve created their posters. I divide the class in half, and have each half form a circle – one inside the other. Then they turn so they’re each facing a partner. (See Inner-Outer Circle.) I give everyone thirty seconds to present their word wall posters with their partners, then call for one of the circles to rotate. We repeat this until the circles have gone around. While they won’t see every word during this rapid-fire vocabulary stream, they see a lot, and it’s always fun.